Visible Signatures of Hypersonic Reentry

Abstract

Aerothermal heating of hypersonic reentry bodies can generate significant radiation of visible light. Here, we investigate the conditions for ground-level visibility and what we term noticeability of that radiated light to the unaided human eye. We consider radiated visible light, transmission to ground level as a function of relative observer position, sky background contrast, human contrast perception limits, and psychophysical considerations for attention capture. Considering both pure ballistic trajectories and lifting-body trajectories, we show some examples where we calculate the spatial and temporal viewing zones for both detectability and noticeability. In some cases, these viewing zones extend a significant distance from the impact location and/or include the impact location for a potentially significant period of time before impact.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 2013
Accession Number
ADA605793

Entities

People

  • Jeremy Teichman
  • Leon Hirsch

Organizations

  • Institute for Defense Analyses

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerodynamic Heating
  • Air Masses
  • Atmosphere Entry
  • Ballistic Trajectories
  • Contrast
  • Flight Paths
  • Ground Level
  • Light Sources
  • Observers
  • Perception
  • Radiation
  • Scattering
  • Sea Level
  • Spectra
  • Stagnation Temperature
  • Trajectories
  • Visible Spectra

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Acoustics.
  • Human-Computer Interaction (HCI).
  • Missile Defense Systems.

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Flight