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Discover the Best Technology for

Border Surveillance

Discover the Best Technology for Border Surveillance

Information on this page is subject to change without notice. © FLIR Systems, Inc., 2016

When designing the best technological solution to secure your country’s borders, the fact that there is no one-‐size-‐fits-‐all answer for effective border surveillance is readily apparent. The obvious reason for this is that no two borders are the same in terrain, climate, and threat profile. In fact, a single length of border can often require different tactics, technology, and techniques in order to ensure an optimal security posture. Typical choices include patrolling personnel, fences/walls/trenches, unattended ground sensors, unmanned aerial sensors, radars and imaging systems. Even with all of this variation, the two primary technologies used to detect threats to border security are radars and imaging systems. Radar manufacturers would often have you believe that radars alone are enough. On the other hand, makers of long-‐range imaging systems tout their ability to outperform radar at certain crucial tasks, and do so at a lower cost.

But these bold assertions only beg more questions. What kind of radar? Certainly all radars are not created equal, so which radar technology is best suited to a border surveillance role? The same can be said of cameras – which sensing technology, resolution, and lens configurations are the most effective when trying to secure a border?

So, radars or cameras? The only honest answer is: both. This white paper will demonstrate how the use of radars and multi-‐sensor thermal imaging systems are more than just a tactical necessity in today’s high-‐threat environment, but that by deploying systems that are designed to work in tandem this complimentary whole is indeed greater than the sum of its parts.

Overview Border security and coastal surveillance are 24/7 operations that can’t afford downtime or periods of reduced readiness. Guarding against illegal immigration, smuggling, and terrorism demands reliable long-‐range threat detection and positive identification of potential threats all day, all night, and in all conditions. Any 21st-‐century border surveillance design must leverage the advanced technologies that are readily available in order to enable operators to “do more with less” while maintaining uncompromised standards of performance.



Whether the inbound targets are small boats on the water or people crossing borders on foot, border surveillance needs to be based on an interconnected detection infrastructure that is adaptable enough to detect and monitor multiple inbound threats, all at the same time. Therefore, the optimal border surveillance solution consists of the right mix of high-‐performance cameras and radars that covers more ground with fewer sensors, reducing system complexity and program cost while increasing detection effectiveness and providing persistent surveillance with the required early warning and threat assessment.

21st Century Border Surveillance Effective radar coupled with long-‐range thermal and visible light imaging systems provide advanced warning of inbound threats, as well as the visual threat assessment needed to formulate an effective response. While the initial investment in hardware may be more than for a lesser solution, the long-‐term operational cost actually results in a net savings. By coupling long-‐range optical systems, the nature and threat levels of intrusions can be determined remotely in the command center or forward observation post instead of having personnel respond to every alarm in their sector. In other words, what’s spent with the initial acquisition is saved whenever your response teams don’t have to waste time and resources visually verifying the causes of false alarms. Additionally, this saves having to put people out near the threats and in harm’s way. The combination of radar and long-‐range imaging is also more adaptable to changing threat structures, threat speeds, and even topography. The cameras, radars, and other sensors that can effectively detect and track vehicles crossing a long desert land border today will be just as effective at spotting people walking through hilly terrain tomorrow, and boats approaching an exposed, vacant beach next week.

Each technology has its strengths and weaknesses. Using them as complimentary sensors allows operators to use the strengths of one to overcome the weaknesses of the other. For instance, while radar can provide persistent, 360° coverage every second out to distances of more than 5km, it can neither identify friend or foe, nor determine the intent of what it detects. Conversely, an imaging system can identify the target, but in doing so it is covering a

comparatively narrow field of view. This effect is exacerbated as the distance to target increases and the camera zooms in using narrower and narrower fields of view of the camera.



Combining the two technologies provides a persistent coverage of multiple targets, while the camera (or cameras) can automatically slew to targets of interest and identify them. Effective radar detects threats out great distances, providing important reaction time. Additionally, it is virtually impossible for targets to advance without detection, including slow moving targets and even crawlers. Radar provides important target parameters – range, bearing, course, speed and GPS coordinates. With these parameters, and a long-‐range thermal imager, situational awareness is greatly increased and the appropriate response can be quickly determined and taken. But knowing that a combined radar/long-‐range thermal imager multisensory solution is the best answer is only part of the decision. Next it is important to decide which radar technology and frequency, as well as what type of imaging system, should be selected.

Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) vs. Pulse Doppler (PD) Radar This diversity in methods of violating a border hints at the crimes and threats the invaders seek to perpetrate. From smuggling drugs and arms, to human trafficking to terrorist insurgencies, todays threats are ever-‐changing and require solutions based on new thinking, new technology, and new techniques to be defeated. First, effective border surveillance solutions must be able to detect both fast-‐ and slow-‐moving smaller targets with equal efficacy. Ground surveillance radars detect and track



multiple threats simultaneously, providing precise location, heading, and speed details. The market offers two radar technologies: Pulsed Doppler (PD) and Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW). Most Pulsed Doppler radars are derivatives of legacy military battlefield radar being re-‐purposed for wide area surveillance use, while the new generation FMCW radar technology was developed for wide area surveillance, site security, and force protection from the beginning. It was specifically developed to detect and track walking personnel. FMCW radars are packaged in a ruggedized, MIL-‐spec design for exceptionally fast, class-‐leading target detection, acquisition performance, and extremely low false alarm rate. FMCW radars differ from PD radar technologies in a number of important ways. Pulse Doppler radars operate on the Doppler principle, which states that all moving objects will exhibit a frequency shift from the transmitted signal to the received signal that is proportional to the speed of the target in the direction of the radar. However, background clutter like trees and bushes also have some apparent speed when the wind blows. In order not to have a large number of false alarms, that low speed signal return from the clutter must be filtered out.

A virtual velocity threshold (blind speed) is created below which targets will not be reliably detected. That means that some slowly moving targets could be filtered out along with the clutter. It also means that higher speed targets moving “across” the radar beam may be filtered out because speed only generates a Doppler signal proportional to the incoming or outgoing speed, which is called radial speed (approaching or receding in the beam).

Conversely, FMCW radars operate on the imaging principle; that is, they break up the background into small segments, or resolution cells, and then measure changes in the signal return from each cell to detect small targets, such as walking people. Typical resolutions for long-‐range FMCW radars are less than 1 meter in range and less than 1 degree in azimuth. The smaller the cell the easier it is to detect and track a target. This translates into target discrimination – an FMCW radar will report several walkers in close proximity vs one target as reported by a PD radar. FMCW operation is independent of the speed or direction of travel of the target, only its size with respect to the resolution cell in which it is located matters. Modern FMCW radars can detect people moving at near zero speed and walking in any direction with respect to the radar.



These characteristics provide FMCW radar operators a number of distinct advantages over legacy PD radar technologies: Much lower false alarm rates Detects smaller and slower moving targets in any direction More accurate range and bearing target information Higher resolution provides more valuable target information All of these are key advantages when detection of a wide range of target profiles is an absolute necessity. Because each installed radar can see more targets – and see them from farther away – a given area of terrain can be covered by fewer systems that are spaced farther apart. This greatly decreases both system cost and complexity while simultaneously increasing detection performance. When selecting a long-‐range radar, it is very important to consider its operating frequency. Lower frequencies propagate through the atmosphere and weather (especially rain) much better, making them a better choice for longer range radars. The typical frequency of choice for longer range radars is X-‐band (defined as 8.0 to 12.4 GHz), while shorter range radars typically use Ka (27 to 40 GHz) or Ku (12.4 to 18 GHz) bands. When selecting a longer range radar, be sure to specify X-‐band or lower.

Multi-‐Sensor Thermal Imaging Detecting a potential threat is just the first step. Once an object of interest is detected, it must be identified, and its threat level assessed. Without clear, long-‐range visual analysis of detected threats on land or water, operators can’t discern between false or nuisance alarms and alerts that require interdiction. These long-‐range multi-‐sensor imaging systems must combine high definition infrared and visible-‐light imaging sensors in a stabilized, integrated solution that is easily networked with other sensors as well as command and control software. Many people mistakenly believe that thermal imaging is only effective at night or in cold climate. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, high-‐definition thermal imagers with powerful zoom optics can often outperform their visible-‐light counterparts, providing reliable threat detection at ranges so extreme that

they’re limited more by topography or the curvature of the earth than by the energetic limits of the sensors themselves. Of course, these long-‐range cameras must use the latest



image processing to cut through atmospheric effects if they are to provide the early detection and precise intelligence of advancing threats border security depends upon. Merlin ASX is an intelligent image processing suite that extracts every last bit of range and image detail performance out of both thermal and visible light imaging systems. Without a doubt, the number-‐one atmospheric factor limiting the performance of imaging systems in hot environments is scintillation – those wavy lines you see rising up from the ground and distorting your view. Merlin ASX essentially eliminates the effects of scintillation and other atmospheric effects, so your imaging sensors can assess threats nearly as far away as your FMCW X-‐band radars

can detect them. This makes for the most effective, efficient system possible. After all, there’s no point in coupling a 50km radar with a 5km camera system, or vice versa. The benefit of having these two systems together is not just that they’re both deployed, but that they complement one another to create a solution that is more powerful than they would be if they were working independently.

Conclusion The mission of securing a nation’s borders is challenging for many reasons, chief among them is the sheer size of the area that needs to be effectively monitored and patrolled. Border surveillance solutions from FLIR provide the cutting-‐edge FMCW radar and multi-‐spectral imaging sensors needed to meet this demanding mission, as well as command and control software that enables the creation of a flexible, scalable border security infrastructure that can meet the demanding, ever-‐changing threats encountered every day. For more information, contact FLIR at [email protected]

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