Sensor Collection and Analysis of Radio Frequencies (SCARF)

In today's net-centric warfare environment, effective management and use of the electromagnetic spectrum is critical. Increasing demands on wireless spectrum from radio traffic, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communication, wireless networks, improvised explosive device (IED) jammers, and sensor networks result in sources competing for, and at times conflicting over, limited frequency spectrum. From an intelligence perspective, having a clear understanding of the RF environment, both friendly and foe, is an important essential of battlefield management. This paper presents the Sensor Collection and Analysis of Radio Frequencies (SCARF) system with a focus on the information processing requirements of the sensors and various system components. The overall architecture, sensor processing and fusion challenges, visualization algorithms, and current implementation status are discussed.