Evaluation Of Night Vision Goggles Nvg For Maritime Search And Rescue Hh 3 Hh 60 Comparison Report PDF Download

Three experiments were conducted in 1989, three in 1990, and one experiment was conducted in 1991 by the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development (R and D) Center to evaluate night vision goggles (NVGs) for their effectiveness in detecting small targets at night. Three types of NVGs have been evaluated: the AN/AVS-6 Aviator's Night Vision Imaging System (ANVIS) was evaluated onboard U.S. Coast Guard HH-3F, CH-3E, and HH-60J helicopters, and HU- 25C and RG-8A fixed-wing aircraft. The AN/PVS-5C and AN/PVS-7A NVGs were evaluated onboard U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard Search and Rescue Units (SRUS) in the 200-foot size range and onboard U.S. Coast Guard 41-foot utility boats (UTBs). During the Spring 1991 experiment, 4- and 6-person unlighted life rafts with retroreflective tape and 18- and 21-foot white boats were employed as targets during realistically-simulated search missions. Three new SRUs were evaluated and new information obtained are discussed. A total of 4098 target detection opportunities were generated for all the target types employed during the six experiments. These data were analyzed to determine which of 25 search parameters of interest exerted a statistically-significant influence on target detection probability. Lateral range curves and sweep width estimates are presented for SRU/target type combinations that contained sufficient data to support this detailed analysis. Human factors data are presented and discussed. NVGs proved to be an effective nighttime search aid for helicopter searches for small SAR targets. The results for NVG use for SAR on CG Utility Boats indicated that NVGs did not significantly enhance search performance, and their routine use is not recommended. NVG enhanced the nighttime.