With the proliferation of service-oriented architectures, cloud computing, and distributed-interconnected systems, distributed fusion is taking on a larger role in a variety of applications from environmental monitoring to crisis management. Featuring contributions by leading experts around the world, this book offers insight on the state of the art of data fusion in distributed sensing, communications, and computing environments. Topics covered include signal and image processing, estimation, situation awareness, and more. Combining theoretical and applied research, it tackles critical challenges and solutions in this emerging field.

Perspectives on Distributed Data Fusion. Distributed Data Fusion: Overarching Design Concerns and Some New Approaches. Network-Centric Concepts: Impacts to Distributed Fusion System Design. Distributed Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks. Fundamentals of Distributed Estimation. Essence of Distributed Target Tracking: Track Fusion and Track Association. Decentralized Data Fusion: Formulation and Algorithms. Toward a Theoretical Foundation for Distributed Fusion. Object Classification in a Distributed Environment. A Framework for Distributed High-Level Fusion. Threat Analysis in Distributed Environments. Ontological Structures for Higher Levels of Distributed Fusion. Service-Oriented Architecture for Human-Centric Information Fusion. Nonmyopic Sensor Management. Test and Evaluation of Distributed Data and Information Fusion Systems and Processes. Human Engineering Factors in Distributed and Net-Centric Fusion Systems. Distributed Data and Information Fusion in Visual Sensor Networks. Index.