Abstract
The Digital Imaging and Remote Sensing Image Generation (DIRSIG) model has been developed at the Rochester
Institute of Technology (RIT) for over two decades. The last major update of the model, DIRSIG 4, built on an
established, first-principles, multi- and hyper-spectral scene simulation tool. It introduced a modern and flexible
software architecture to support new sensor modalities and more complex and dynamic scenes. Since that time,
the needs of the user community have grown and diversified in tandem with the computational capabilities
of modern hardware. Faced with a desire to model more complex, multi-component systems that are beyond
the original intent and capabilities of an aging software design, a new version of DIRSIG, version 5, is being
introduced to the community.
This paper describes the core of DIRSIG 5 that is responsible for linking the disparate sensor, scene, and
environmental models together, spatially, temporally, and parametrically. The spatial relationships are governed
by a planet-centric universe model encompassing a whole globe digital elevation and optical property model, the
scene model(s), globally varying atmospheric models, and a space model. Temporal relationships are driven by
a formal modeling and simulation architecture based on approaches used in engineering and biological sciences
to model highly dynamic and interactive systems. Finally, the parametric interfaces are described by a universal
data model that facilitates scripting, inter-dependent properties and user interface construction. The design of
these components will be presented along with specific module implementation details. These simulation tools
will be used to demonstrate some of the new capabilities and applications of DIRSIG 5.
