gif 13 2 3 final

The Magazine of the National Intelligence Community

Innovation Architect

Betty SappDirectorNational Reconnaissance Office

UAS Intelligence O Secure Borders O Spatial Data AnalysisIntelligence Integration O Satellite Future

March/April 2015 Volume 13, Issue 2/3

www.GIF-kmi.com

Special Supplement

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Cover / Q&AFeatures

Betty SappDirector

national Reconnaissance Office

17

Departments Industry Interview2 editor’S perSpective4 program NoteS/people14 iNduStry raSter27 reSource ceNter

roN coleSenior technical adviserchair, iSR center of excellenceRiverside Research

March/April 2015Volume 13, Issue 2/3GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE FORUM

6authoritative geoiNt eNrichmeNtthe effective integration of high-resolution imagery with other sources of geospatial data and advanced analytics creates a rich resource of content and related capabilities for the analyst. this resource serves as a force multiplier that supports the establishment of context.By Colleen “Kelly” MCCue and Christopher inCardona

8Spatial data aNalyticSnew database technology is promising help for military, intelligence and other analysts seeking to understand and act on masses of location-based information streaming in from sensors and other sources. Such technology is needed, say advocates, because the internet of things and sensor-enabled operations are overwhelming the ability of traditional GiS and database systems to manage data. By harrison donnelly

22peeriNg iNto the Satellite Futureas government and industry leaders ponder the future of government and military space, a national Reconnaissance Office official recently suggested ideas such as new operations and maintenance models, common satellite buses, alternative contacting strategies, leveraging the commercial market and changing the ground infrastructure.By harrison donnelly

28

“One area we are focused on is persistence,

developing those long-dwell

and diverse sensor handoff

capabilities that will enable us to maintain a chain of custody

and effective persistence on a target of

interest.”

— Betty Sapp

100% Dedicated to the Mission of the U.S. Intelligence Community

Now in our 13TH year!

10SeNSorS, SoFtware BooSt uav uSeSeffective exploitation of drones requires new tools and applications, and industry is responding to the need. uaVs must be managed differently, and sensor data must be interpreted in innovative ways for new purposes.By henry Canaday

18who’S who iN Nroa guide to the organization and people of the national Reconnaissance Office (nRO).

24Border geoiNta growing array of geospatial technologies is available to help make sense out of the large amounts of confusing, and often contradictory, information that border protectors must work with in order to achieve their missions. By peter BuxBauM

Military customers can rapidly find the maps they need to locate routes and operating areas with the help of a new catalog available in the Department of Defense Electronic Mall (DoD EMALL).

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) interactive map catalog gives customers the advantage of using online catalog features like visual displays of map coverage, reducing the chance that they will order the wrong prod-ucts and create waste. The new features are improvements over spending hours scrolling through national stock number lists or leafing through pages of out-of-date, hard-copy catalogs, according to Robert Rogers, DLA map catalog system manager.

Although online versions of the catalog have long been favored over disc-based or paper catalogs because of their ability to offer the most current information, increasing security restrictions and operating system compatibility issues are making the online catalog even more popular.

The catalog’s product data is updated weekly, ensuring the most relevant and up-to-date information is available. The catalog presents a streamlined interface with tools for selecting products directly on a map. Users can filter their search results by typing any relevant information about the product, including NSN, city and country. As information is entered into the catalog search engine, potential matches automatically appear to help users quickly narrow down their search results.

A product selected for ordering is added to the DoD EMALL shopping cart for checkout, eliminating the need to submit a separate request.

“The online catalog also removes technical snags that can occur with the stand-alone version and the users’ computers,” Rogers said. “With the online version, there are no Java or operating system compatibility problems to resolve before doing map searches.”

An unclassified stand-alone version of the Interactive DLA Map Catalog application and updated product data files can be downloaded from DoD EMALL. Classified and unclassified versions of the catalog are also available on CD for customers with limited access to the Internet. The stand-alone and CD versions of the catalog are released twice a year.

More information about the catalog is available at www.dlis.dla.mil/mapcatalog/default.aspx.

Harrison Donnellyeditor

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE


editorialManaging Editorharrison donnelly [email protected]

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Geospatial Intelligence Forum

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Woolpert late last year received approval from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly its unmanned aerial system commercially in Ohio and Ship Island, Miss., making it the first surveying and aerial mapping company to be approved to fly a UAS commercially in designated airspace. [Photo courtesy of Woolpert]

www.metavr.com

Real-time screen captures are from MetaVR’s visualization system. The 3D virtual terrain is of a geospecifi c desert area with 1 inch per pixel imagery collected by the MetaVRC™ platform. The operational readiness testing of the MetaVRC was performed as described by the FAA and AMA applicable airspace operation rules and regulations. (AMA National Safety Code and FAA AC 91-57.) Data was collected as part of this testing. This screen cap-ture is unedited except as required for printing. The real-time rendering of the 3D virtual world is generated by MetaVR Virtual Reality Scene Genera-tor™ (VRSG™). 3D model is from MetaVR’s 3D content libraries. © 2015 MetaVR, Inc. All rights reserved. MetaVR, Virtual Reality Scene Generator, VRSG, MetaVRC, the phrase “Geospecifi c simulation with game quality graphics,” and the MetaVR logo are trademarks of MetaVR, Inc.

Aerial imagery collectionGround-level photographyTerrain compilation3D content modelingScenario creationReal-time visualization

MetaVR’s portable UAV can collect 1 inch-per-pixel imagery that you can use in your sensor simulation for intelligence training.

MetaVR visuals are used for simulating HD H.264 simulated sensor video with accurate KLV metadata in U.S. Army UAV training simulators.

With 3D terrain built from 1 inch per-pixel resolution imagery captured by our MetaVRC UAV, the sensor view with real-time thermal material classifi cation simulates, with a high degree of accuracy, the actual sensor payload imagery of ISR assets.

www.GIF-kmi.com4 | GIF 1 3 . 2 / 3

PROGRAM NOTES Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

At BAE Systems, Tom Arseneault has assumed the role of president for electronic systems while retaining his positions as chief operating officer for BAE Systems Inc. and member of the BAE Systems executive committee.

Tony Frazier, formerly senior vice president and general manager of DigitalGlobe’s Insight business, has taken on a

new role as senior vice president of government solutions.

General Dynamics has selected S. Daniel Johnson to be executive vice president of Information Systems and Technology, succeeding David K. Heebner, who has retired. Johnson will also continue in his role as president of General Dynamics Information Technology. As executive vice

president for the Information Systems and Technology group, Johnson will be responsible for General Dynamics Information Technology and General Dynamics Mission Systems.

David C. Wajsgras has been named president of Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services, succeeding Lynn A. Dugle, who is retiring. Anthony F. “Toby” O’Brien will succeed

Wajsgras as vice president and chief financial officer.

LizardTech, a provider of soft-ware solutions for managing and distributing geospatial content, has announced that Jeff Young will expand his role to become the company’s new global busi-ness development manager for geospatial solutions, supporting growth of its Express Suite line of geospatial products.

PEOPLE Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Tom Arseneault

S. Daniel Johnson

David C. Wajsgras

Jeff Young

The Defense Advanced Projects Agency has invited interested parties to become involved with its Collaborative Operations in Denied Environment (CODE) program, which aims to develop algorithms and software that would extend the mission capabilities of existing unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) well beyond the current state of the art. The goal is to improve U.S. forces’ ability to conduct operations in denied or contested airspace.

CODE would enable mixed teams of unmanned aircraft to find targets and engage them as appropriate under established rules of engagement, leverage nearby CODE-enabled systems with minimal supervision, and adapt to situations due to attrition of friendly forces or the emergence of unanticipated threats—all under the command of a single human mission supervisor. CODE envisions improvements that would help trans-form UAS operations from requiring multiple people to operate a single UAS to having one person able to oversee six or more unmanned vehicles simultaneously.

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has released an applica-tion that simplifies and economizes the storage and processing of large-scale raster data, reducing the time it takes analysts to search, download, preprocess and format data for analysis.

MapReduce Geo (MrGeo), a collaborative effort with DigitalGlobe, is designed to provide raster-based geospatial capabilities performable at scale by leveraging the power and functionality of cloud-based architecture.

“Available to the public through NGA’s GitHub account, the software can be useful in many situations,” said Chris Rasmussen, NGA’s public soft-ware development lead. “Sharing it with the public gives users at all levels another tool to help solve geospatial problems. For example, first responders could use it to plan the best ways in and out of dangerous areas, taking into account terrain, land use and changes in weather.”

The next slated release from the agency is the Disconnected Interactive Content Explorer (DICE) mobile application. This will be NGA’s second publicly released mobile application, following release last fall of the Anti-Shipping Activity Message database.

The DICE application, which will be available via the Apple iTunes and Google Play commercial app stores, allows users to load interactive content generated in HTML, CSS and JavaScript to a mobile device and have the ability to display and use that content without a network connection. It can also include local data such as tiles and vector data for interactive maps. Code for the DICE app is already available via NGA’s organizational account on GitHub, an open-source, collaborative software development environment.

http://www.darpa.mil/uploadedImages/Content/NewsEvents/Releases/2015/CODE-CON.jpg[2/16/2015 2:23:06 PM]

MrGEO Solves Geo-Problems One Person, Many UASs

www.digitalglobe.com/expertise

Profiles in real-world expertise » H EATH RASCO Then: Federal First Responder Now: Senior Geospatial Scientist

Disaster Insider

During Hurricane Katrina, Heath Rasco spent 20-hour days layering New Orleans street maps with GEOINT of the flooded city.

Q: How does having been there influence your work? I understand the stress and constraints facing first responders. And the kind of decisions that have to be made at the tactical level. During Katrina, we were initially supporting helicopter pilots trying to locate people stranded on rooftops. That expe-rience eclipsed every other disaster relief effort I’ve led.

Q: In retrospect, what challenges stand out?Existing street maps were useless without current imagery. These pilots were seeing water—not streets—and flooding conditions changed quickly. But imagery came in slowly. It was already dated by the time we got it.

Q: How are you solving that problem today?With our Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery Program. Now a deployed team can access up-to-date imagery on their mobile devices. I work to make that intel even more useful. With human geography datasets or analytics that help decision- makers focus resources.

Q: What USG mission are you serving? The work I do supports disaster response and humanitarian assistance. I advance efforts like our Insight Common Opera-tional Picture which directly impacts first response at the tactical level.

www.digitalglobe.com/expertise

Profiles in real-world expertise » H EATH RASCO Then: Federal First Responder Now: Senior Geospatial Scientist

Disaster Insider

During Hurricane Katrina, Heath Rasco spent 20-hour days layering New Orleans street maps with GEOINT of the flooded city.

Q: How does having been there influence your work? I understand the stress and constraints facing first responders. And the kind of decisions that have to be made at the tactical level. During Katrina, we were initially supporting helicopter pilots trying to locate people stranded on rooftops. That expe-rience eclipsed every other disaster relief effort I’ve led.

Q: In retrospect, what challenges stand out?Existing street maps were useless without current imagery. These pilots were seeing water—not streets—and flooding conditions changed quickly. But imagery came in slowly. It was already dated by the time we got it.

Q: How are you solving that problem today?With our Global Enhanced GEOINT Delivery Program. Now a deployed team can access up-to-date imagery on their mobile devices. I work to make that intel even more useful. With human geography datasets or analytics that help decision- makers focus resources.

Q: What USG mission are you serving? The work I do supports disaster response and humanitarian assistance. I advance efforts like our Insight Common Opera-tional Picture which directly impacts first response at the tactical level.


In mid-19th century London, a cholera epidemic raged through the city’s Soho dis-trict. While numerous theories about the epidemic were advanced, Dr. John Snow made an important medical breakthrough by elucidating the source of the disease.

By not only mapping the location of the specific cases but also the underlying infrastructure, the now infamous connec-tion between the source of the disease and the Broad Street pump was uncovered. This humble map, which is familiar to students of geography and epidemiology, represents one of the earliest examples of the effective use of GEOINT to provide context in support of novel insight and meaningful response to an apparently intractable challenge.

Moving forward to the 21st century, GEOINT is playing a similarly critical role in the Ebola epidemic currently devastat-ing West Africa. By using satellite imagery, data science, crowdsourced mapping and human geography, the GEOINT commu-nity is enabling the type of enhanced insight that permits information-based approaches to understanding the origins and spread of the disease, as well as allocation and optimization of scarce health care resources and other approaches to response and consequence management.

In contrast to the methods utilized by Snow, the community today has access to imagery of unprecedented res-olution and clarity through the content delivered by commercial satellite imag-ery provider DigitalGlobe. With the launch of WorldView-3 (WV-3) last summer,

DigitalGlobe expanded its constellation to include six sensors. In addition to the expanded coverage, WV-3 also includes short-wave infrared and cloud, aerosol, vapor, ice and snow multispectral capabili-ties that reduce atmospheric attenuation, and unprecedented roughly 30 cm ground resolution to give the community power to see the earth clearly and in new ways.

InsIght InItIatIve

While other domains are beginning to explore the concept of big data, DigitalGlobe has been realizing the promise with its Geospatial Big Data (GBD) initiative. The daily take of almost 4 million square miles of satellite imagery translates to the col-lection of more than 50 terabytes of new data each day. Underscoring the extraor-dinary volume of this resource, the size of the DigitalGlobe imagery archive as of spring 2014 was 63 petabytes, which put it at roughly 20 times that of Netflix, an identi-fied analytic competitor and big data owner.

Harkening back to the Broad Street pump example, the geospatial environment and related content provide the context nec-essary for novel insight and related action. This geospatial context enables meaningful integration of disparate resources, includ-ing invaluable “street-level knowledge” or domain expertise, which facilitates trans-disciplinary “prosumer” collaboration in support of novel insight and innovative solu-tions by creating a space where the whole truly is greater than the sum of the parts.

Using this model, the analyst is able to effectively incorporate tacit knowledge and domain expertise, and fluidly transcend functional domains in support of novel insight and solutions.

Therefore, in addition to the imagery archive co-registered to foundation GEOINT layers such as buildings and roads, the increased availability of additional geospa-tial content, including human geography, further enriches GBD as a resource. It pro-vides additional context and enables analysts to effectively model the true complexity of physical and human terrain as they interact to define and influence behavior.

Leveraging the 13 human geography-based themes outlined by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the human geography content collected and complied by DigitalGlobe includes an array of vari-ables that can be used to establish the culture of a particular region, which also incorporates significant events. As a pri-mary shareable source, this content provides the context necessary to effectively interpret GEOINT. It also enables the development of multivariate models that better reflect the complexity of location, including more com-prehensive, information-based approaches to geospatial predictive analysis.

From documenting and analyzing the subtle dance between displaced people and the predatory extremist groups that exploit them, to effectively responding to natural disasters, optimizing the alloca-tion of scarce resources and monitoring infectious diseases, the ability to effectively

Authoritative GEOINT Enrichment

By Colleen “Kelly” MCCue and ChrIstopher InCardona

CapaBIlItIes offer novel InsIght, MeanIngful response and sustaInaBle solutIons.

www.GIF-kmi.com GIF 1 3 . 2 / 3 | 7

integrate both human and physical terrain in support of truly informed analysis enables novel insight and meaningful approaches to prevention, thwarting, mitigation and consequence management.

In many situations, however, collection is necessary but not sufficient to create the insight required for meaningful solutions. Increases in the ability to effectively exploit GEOINT, including advances in high-per-formance computing, have enabled fluid and dynamic exploration and exploitation of GBD only previously imagined. Marked improvements in knowledge management and processing capabilities have enhanced the ability to effectively compile and exploit imagery and associated geospatial content, while also enabling the dynamic pursuit of “what if” questions in real time. That gives the analyst the ability to accurately map and measure the true complexity of the environ-ment, both physical and human.

These GBD and associated advances in high-performance computing offer the ana-lyst the ability to effectively characterize and discover current trends, patterns and rela-tionships. The use of geospatial predictive analysis in particular, and related data sci-ence capabilities, provides additional insight regarding the existence and location of unre-ported or otherwise hidden patterns as well as future trends and patterns, including dis-placement in response to operations.

These capabilities support informed resource allocation and optimization deci-sions, particularly in a resource-constrained environment. In addition, the effective char-acterization and scoping of the challenge supports analysis of where data is lack-ing, thus enabling the creation of mean-ingful responses that more directly fit the unique attributes of the challenge posed. Ultimately, the use of data science and geospatial modeling provides the type of anticipatory guidance that supports truly informed influence and response, including information-based approaches to preven-tion, thwarting, mitigation, response and consequence management.

DigitalGlobe offers several complemen-tary approaches to analysis that support the effective exploitation of GEOINT. For exam-ple, the company’s automated feature extrac-tion utilizes machine learning algorithms to provide rapid, reliable and accurate analysis of large amounts of imagery data. Instances of this include the rapid processing of imag-ery after the Japanese earthquake and tsu-nami in support of timely insight.

Moreover, capabilities like high-reso-lution urban globe, an image classifica-tion algorithm that can detect human built-up structures, can provide rapid analysis of imagery to identify human settlements. It can support population esti-mation and analysis, emergency response, disease eradication, resource allocation and urban planning.

CooperatIve analysIs

Some imagery analysis tasks, however, are not easily accomplished by existing machine learning algorithms or other auto-mated efforts, thus requiring the human visual system and perceptual ability to detect subtle differences and nuance. An oppor-tunity arising from the unique transdisci-plinary collaboration environment created by NGA’s Map of the World is the ability to enhance imagery analysis capabilities and expand content generation by leveraging the “prosumer” model. The model recognizes the inherent value that traditional consum-ers of GEOINT can bring to the process by contributing their mission-specific content.

This model of crowdsourcing represents a novel approach to effectively exploiting GBD and creating new user-generated con-tent for the greater benefit of the community. By using statistical analysis, authoritative content can be determined in an effort to ensure accuracy and reliability of the new content created, which can be customized through the use of thematic styling.

Social media capabilities and resources increasingly are being used for commu-nication, recruiting and propaganda, cre-ating a rich body of open-source content available for exploitation and analysis. Extremist groups have been particularly adept at exploiting social media for influence and action and creating tailored messag-ing that resonates with specific groups and recruiting targets.

Exploitation of open-source social media content represents an important means by which to identify key individuals, networks and locations as well as trends and patterns in strategic communications and ideol-ogy. Additional integration of DigitalGlobe’s geospatial capabilities and content provides a unique opportunity to enrich and extend open-source social media exploita-tion and analysis.

The 19th-century use of geospatial capa-bilities to illustrate the distribution of chol-era cases and provide the context necessary

to identify the disease source represented a great advancement in the use of GEOINT to provide insight in support of informed response. The intervening years have been associated with a marked advancement of GEOINT content and capabilities that represents far more than simple summaries can convey.

The effective integration of high-reso-lution imagery with other sources of geo-spatial data and advanced analytics creates a rich resource of content and related capa-bilities for the analyst. This resource serves as a force multiplier that supports the estab-lishment of context and the associated cre-ation of multivariate models that enable the analyst to model the true complexity of loca-tion and its relationship to human activ-ity in support of informed anticipation and influence. Ultimately, this geospatial con-tent and related data science capabilities offer novel insight, meaningful response and sustainable solutions to some of our most challenging problems. O

Colleen McCue is senior director, social science and quantitative methods, and Chris Incardona is senior director, NGA strategic program development, for DigitalGlobe.

For more information, contact GIF Editor Harrison Donnelly at harrisond@kmimediagroup.

com or search our online archives for related stories at www.gif-kmi.com.

Chris Incardona

Colleen McCue


New database technology is promising help for military, intel-ligence and other analysts seeking to understand and act on masses of location-based information streaming in from sensors and other sources.

Such technology is needed, say advocates, because the Internet of Things and sensor-enabled operations are overwhelming the ability of traditional GIS and database systems to manage data, particularly at the speed needed for real-time decision-making.

The primary impetus for this spatial database analytics—or geospatial big data—is coming from the commer-cial market, as companies use location-based data for marketing and operations. But the benefits are also evident for such security purposes as counter-ing IEDs or studying population behavior through activity-based intelligence.

The need for new approaches to spatial data has been underscored by the explosive growth of social media, which has generated yet more information about popular attitudes with the all-important char-acteristics of location and time.

“In the national security realm, every commander wants a common operating picture so they can have situational awareness of the battlespace. What we’re seeing, and where our technology solutions can help, is that something new is being added to the com-mon operating picture, which is bringing together formerly disassociated data types into a geospatial context,” said Bob Palmer, senior director for SAP National Security Services, a United States-based company that provides its international parent com-pany’s HANA in-memory database technology as a solution to many of these problems.

“It’s becoming more prevalent to want to use social media data in your common operating picture. Twitter and other social media have become the chan-nel of choice for the adversary, so the ability to incor-porate multisource INTs with traditional geospatial context can be a real benefit to situational awareness,” he said. “That’s something that’s new, in addition to the traditional uses of databases.”

“The modern day battlespace is the ultimate Internet of Things, where everything is instrumented and sensored. Look at how many sensors there are on military personnel, vehicles and weapons, plus UAVs and overhead assets,” said Dane Coyer, CEO of SpaceCurve, which recently launched a database system purpose-built for large volumes of high-velocity spatial data, such as sen-sor data, and the fusion of this data with any combination of other data sources.

“When you look at existing technologies, including GIS and tra-ditional databases, neither was architected to be able to handle the real-time streaming, machine-generated data that is coming in at an unprecedented rate. How do you handle all that data?” Coyer asked.

CoMputatIonal geoMetry

The product of years of development ultimately spun off from technology used in Google Earth, SpaceCurve integrates every avail-

able data source in real time while allowing immedi-ate access to the live data model using ArcGIS and other standard interfaces. SpaceCurve’s ability to con-tinuously index and store this data concurrent with queries enables fast, interactive spatial analytics.

This is combined with a computational geome-try engine designed to ensure maximum fidelity for applications with global scope. The product includes a database engine designed to support the continu-ous ingestion and high-dimensionality indexing of spatial data at the extremely high data rates typical of machine-generated data sources. It also enables ad-hoc queries and complex operations that run concur-rent with data ingestion, immediately reflecting all new data.

To make this possible, SpaceCurve implemented a new approach to computational parallelism that enables highly scalable ingest, storage and analysis of complex space and time relationships across very large and diverse data sources. It was developed to be able to run on commodity hardware.

The new approach was needed because the meth-ods used for handling spatial data—GIS systems or traditional relational databases—were not ready for the explosion of sensor-based data, SpaceCurve execu-tives contend, adding that the shortfall even included relational databases built for spatial data.

“If you look at another spatial database, it was built for numbers transactions. It is optimized for using numbers, but not for using polygons or path analysis. Every platform has the fingerprint of its original use case, and it’s hard to get away from that,” said J. Andrew Rogers, SpaceCurve’s founder and chief technology officer.

“It is similar with the Hadoop ecosystem, which was originally developed to analyze relationships

between webpages. Much like the traditional database, analyzing relationships between webpages is a very different problem than infrastructure that’s designed to do spatial temporal analysis,” Rogers continued. “What differentiates SpaceCurve from every other

Bob Palmer

Dane Coyer

new dataBase teChnologIes Manage MountaIns of loCatIon-Based sensor data for fast deCIsIons.

J. Andrew Rogers

Spatial Data Analytics

By harrIson donnelly, gIf edItor

GIF 1 3 . 2 / 3 | 9 www.GIF-kmi.com

database platform is that, at every level, the use case that it was opti-mized for was doing sensor aggregation, data fusion and analysis in real time.”

With the database, there will be “no limits on how you use your sensor data,” Coyer said. “You can use it in real time, without limita-tions by the platform or software architecture. You can create a real-time model of your area of operation, with a complete view of what is going on when you need it.”

analytICal engInes

Although people have been putting data on maps for years, more recently there has been a desire to have a nexus between multiple sources of data with geospatial context, Palmer observed.

That is possible with the help of SAP’s relatively new computing platform, SAP HANA, which uses in-memory processing to achieve great speed. The system also includes four analytical engines:

• Text analysis, for natural language processing from social media or other data.

• Geospatial, which allows data to be queried in a polygon or a radius around a point.

• Predictive analysis, which performs classification algorithms.• Graph, which differs from traditional databases in that the

relationship between entities is a first-class citizen in the data models.

“In a regular database, you can infer relationships between things by doing a query. You get a result that tells you relationships, but only as of the time you ran the query. It doesn’t persist as a rela-tionship type. In the graph representation of data, the actual rela-tionship between things lives on as a persistent object in the data,” Palmer explained.

“So now I can query not just on what the things are, but also on the types of relationships between things that I’m looking for. This can be used in threat analytics, targeting or situational aware-ness. The graph representation of data is going to become more used in the future,” he said.

With the four analytical engines in one server, “we can bring to bear multiple modes of analysis to join with geospatial analysis and other data types to provide a more complete common operat-ing picture,” Palmer continued. “The ability to synthesize an oper-ating picture across multisource data types will allow an analyst or commander to understand evolving trends in the operating area and enable better execution of the observe, orient, decide and act loop.”

synthesIs tools

Other work on spatial databases and geospatial big data contin-ues on both the academic and industry fronts.

The National Science Foundation, for example, recently awarded a $1.5 million grant over three years to a team based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which will create scalable capabili-ties for synthesizing spatial big data.

This project will address the challenges in working with spa-tial big data, and will create a suite of tools for spatial data synthesis through scalable data aggregation and integration based on cloud computing and cyber GIS, which it defines as GIS science and sys-tems based on advanced cyber-infrastructure.

Many scientific problems cannot be solved without the aggrega-tion and integration of large and varied spatial data from a multi-tude of sources, team members noted. Yet existing approaches and software cannot effectively synthesize the enormous amounts of complex spatial data that often are available. The team will resolve problems associated with the use of complex and massive spatial data, thus facilitating work dependent on this type of data for scien-tific problem solving and providing opportunities to gain dynamic insight into complex phenomena.

DigitalGlobe’s cloud-based Geospatial Big Data offering, mean-while, is a platform-as-a-service model that provides easy access to DigitalGlobe’s vast image library. It is designed to create a new eco-system in which partners and developers can leverage their expertise and APIs to create new customer solutions without the cost of own-ing and operating costly IT infrastructure.

“We are committed to investing in Geospatial Big Data in order to create a living digital inventory of the surface of the earth, enabled by our unmatched satellite constellation, commitment to ecosystem partners, and ability to convert imagery at scale into searchable, analytics-ready information layers,” said Shay Har-Noy, DigitalGlobe’s senior director for geospatial big data. O

For more information, contact GIF Editor Harrison Donnelly at [email protected] or search our online archives

for related stories at www.gif-kmi.com.


With federal regulations beginning to open up domestic airspace to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), and their uses for both security and commercial purposes growing rapidly around the world, this industry is entering a new era of impor-tance. Moreover, market-driven develop-ment of advanced UAV technology for commercial needs is likely to lead to enhanced benefits for the military and intelligence users who pioneered the field.

But effective exploitation of UAVs for many new uses requires much more than just the units themselves or their traditional sensors. New use cases demand new tools and applications. Sensors must do different jobs on tight civilian bud-gets. UAVs must be managed differently, and sensor data must be interpreted in innovative ways for new purposes.

These advanced sensors and software will come partly from the tools developed for military uses adapted for non-military needs. Or they may come from geospatial intelligence tools developed for manned aircraft, compressed for UAV carrying. Finally, a new base of civilian start-ups is reinventing sensors and software from the ground up based on commercial appetites for economy and very wide flexibility.

One industry pace-setter with a long record of involvement is Exelis Integrated Sensing Solutions, which makes both UAV sensors and systems for exploiting sensor data. The company is launching a new sensor, CorvusEye, which provides both electro-optical (EO) day and infrared (IR) night images over wide areas at two frames per second.

Full motion video (FMV) sensors typically must focus on small areas, creating imagery data that is frequently compared to view-ing the world through a soda straw. But CorvusEye provides a circle of persistence of 3 kilometers in daytime and 2 kilometers at night,

from 15,000 feet. Users can chip out 10 areas of interest at a time and set up watch boxes or tripwires for suspicious activ-ities, dramatically reducing manpower required for monitoring.

CorvusEye is the only system of its kind with both EO and IR in a single tur-ret, according to Dwight Greenlee, direc-tor of regional surveillance. The turnkey CorvusEye can do processing onboard, yet weighs only 145 pounds. Without cus-tomization, it can be mounted on any UAV that holds a 15-inch ball turret. The com-

pany rolled out the EO capabilities late last year, and IR will be available this spring.

Executives describe the system’s tracking, detec-tion and decision-making software as highly auto-mated and very fast. For example, 20 minutes after the first 15 minutes of collection by CorvusEye, Exelis can generate a 3-D model of the area observed, accu-rate within 10 meters. Exelis software tracks every-thing that happens in the circle of persistence.

CorvusEye’s tripwires, watch boxes and recording are ideal for forensics. After an incident, analysts can track people or vehicles backward to their origin. If a road averages a set number of vehicles moving at cer-

tain speeds, for example, the system flags variations from averages for analysts to examine.

New software also allows users to rotate images taken from dif-ferent angles to look behind structures, measure building height or see into a sniper position.

vIdeo analysIs

The Geospatial eXploitation Products (GXP) division of BAE Systems has developed a broad set of products for exploiting UAV capabilities, said Product Manager Robert Stout. SOCET GXP is an

effeCtIve exploItatIon of drones requIres new tools and applICatIons, and Industry Is respondIng to the need.

By henry Canaday

gIf Correspondent

Robert Stout

The Geospatial eXploitation Products division of BAE Systems has developed a broad set of products for exploiting UAV capabilities, including Xplorer, which does search and discovery. [Image courtesy of BAE Systems]


image exploitation application, and GXP Xplorer catalogs and dis-seminates results. GXP’s InMotion Video Analysis Suite analyzes recorded videos, tracks events during live missions, assists collabo-ration among analysts and creates accurately defined targets.

The Analysis Suite has a desktop application and server which manages tasks for large enterprises. The server can ingest and stream real-time video and DVR-like video recordings. It automates video registration, distributes mission management and enhances collaboration among groups.

“Video recorded by any UAV or other feed is streamed to the server within a millisecond,” Stout said. “Live feeds are streamed to the server and then multicast to every analyst in a mission work-group for review and analysis.”

GXP’s Desktop offers easy access to powerful tools, from simple viewing and screen capture to full video editing. “It was specifically designed to support real-time missions,” Stout noted.

The tool supports such areas as forensic analysis, confirmation of illicit activities, monitoring of ports and borders and surveil-lance. A built-in sensor model yields accurate positions.

GXP’s suite has a very wide range of capabilities, Stout explained. Xplorer does search and discovery, while SOCET ana-lyzes images and handles photogrammetry, remote sensing and video processing. The Analysis Suite delivers end-to-end pro-cessing, dissemination and analysis. Combining all these func-tions in one suite reduces training time and maintenance cost. GXP applications are now used by U.S., Canadian and Australian defense forces.

GXP tools work with data from standard military UAVs—includ-ing MQ-1 Predator, MQ-5 Hunter, RQ-7 Shadow, MQ-8 Fire Scout and MQ-9 Reaper—as well as small personal UAVs. These tools were originally developed to meet military requirements using mostly FMV. But not all UAV data is video. “As more affordable, smaller UAVs

3-D Terrain Adds to Training RealismAs military and intelligence

deployments of UAVs continue to expand, and with them the need for trained operators, one critical emerging requirement is for high-resolution 3-D environ-ments providing enhanced vir-tual training realism.

To respond to that evolving use case, MetaVR, a 3-D visu-alization software provider, has developed a low-cost aircraft data collection and process-ing workflow yielding real-time 3-D terrain imagery with geo-graphically specific 1-inch-per-pixel resolution. When that is combined with elevation data using MetaVR’s Terrain Tools for Esri ArcGIS, the result is a realistic synthetic environment rendered in the company’s Virtual Reality Scene Generator (VRSG) product.

The data is collected with the MetaVRC, a small, porta-ble UAV equipped to take still-frame images; the images are then orthorectified and used to build 3-D terrain for render-ing in VRSG.

“High-resolution geo-specific synthetic environments are important for achieving the level of realism required in suc-cessful training environments, and the realism of the synthetic environment in sensor mode is particularly important,” said W. Garth Smith, MetaVR’s president and co-founder.

“The overarching reason to produce 1-inch-per-pixel res-olution imagery was to improve our day and thermal sensor modes as well as reduce the cost of accessing high-reso-lution imagery for building 3-D synthetic environments. By being able to obtain and compile 1-inch-per-pixel resolution imagery for 3-D terrain, the level of realism is improved dra-matically,” he continued, adding that at that resolution, items such as small rocks become visible.

MetaVRC’s imagery data collection, which can cover 25 sq. km. in a day, yields imagery that is better in qual-ity and lower in cost than satellite data, while also avoiding

use restrictions imposed by imagery providers.

One common use case for the company’s UAV simulator technology, Smith explained, is to teach operators how to spot someone planting an IED in a dense urban environment. Similarly, high-resolution mod-els of various vehicles can be used to help operators learn to identify combat vehicles in the context of terrain.

“The higher the resolution of the terrain imagery, the bet-ter the resulting simulated sensor view,” he noted. “With 1-inch database imagery resolution compiled from imagery cap-tured with our MetaVRC UAV aircraft, users can create a phys-ics-based IR profile of their terrain with a very high degree of realism.”

VRSG’s technology also continues to evolve, with the recent addition of simulated real-time track impressions on the terrain made by people or vehicles, for example. “VRSG’s simulated sensor payload view became very realistic as the thermal signatures from the track impressions themselves are modeled. Track impressions from entities on lower-resolution terrain imagery, such as on 1-meter-per-pixel imagery, stand out unrealistically, but now the resolution of the terrain imagery and the terrain effects are well-matched,” he said.

A related new product is the VRSG Scenario Editor appli-cation, which enables users to build up scenarios on real-world 3-D terrain. “With this software, one can easily create ground vehicle simulations, simulate the pattern of life with realistic 3-D character models, and ultimately create mission rehearsal training scenarios,” Smith said. “Users can simply drag and drop models onto 3-D terrain and build up densely populated areas of culture. Also, users can easily script the paths of vehi-cles, airplanes and character models and render these scenar-ios in VRSG. In VRSG, users can play back the scenarios in a networked environment and also record their scenarios.”


emerge, the civilian market is attaching frame cameras to them,” Stout observes.

This will yield structure-for-motion data, which makes it possi-ble to estimate 3-D structures from sequences of 2-D imagery. GXP’s Analysis Suite is perfect for this, Stout said, because it works directly with SOCET GXP and structure-for-motion data. “Using SOCET GXP, frame data can be registered, triangulated and analyzed, mak-ing tasks such as pipeline observation and crop analysis easy.”

L-3 has just released Insyte 5.0 to support the company’s VideoScout, which works with almost every UAV used by U.S. defense forces.

Insyte manages video for entire UAV missions, from planning through intelligence gathering, re-tasking, analysis and playback. Insyte 5.0 lets users capture unlimited and simultaneous FMVs, each with a seven-day buffer. The software clips, streams, maps, archives, annotates and recalls video and metadata from UAVs, data-link receivers, intelligence and other feeds.

Leidos provides customers with a range of solutions support-ing UAVs, said Senior Vice President Rob Zitz. It offers system engi-neering and integration for UAV ground stations, advanced sensors including LiDAR, advanced signal processing and real-time algo-rithms for change detection. In addition, Real-time Aerial Video Exploitation provides precise positioning.

“We deliver a video processing capability (VPC) system that receives, processes and archives FMV,” Zitz noted.

Leidos’ VPC, the Advanced Intelligence Multimedia Exploitation Suite (AIMES), enables analysts to fully exploit FMV from UAVs. Leidos’ ISR CrossCue software enhances collaboration between UAV analysts and operators. Leidos also supplies avionics and mainte-nance of UAVs.

Leidos leads in real-time integration of FMV and exploiting mul-tiple sources of geo-intelligence and other intelligence when time is critical, Zitz said. “AIMES streamlines processes with advanced search video playback, chat, drag and drop interfaces.”

AIMES also has add-on applications. Its MI Reflector reads and redirects data from one user or transmission protocol to another on the fly, and switches between uni-casting and multicasting and vice versa. The MI Restream add-on re-streams multiple sequential files at different frame rates. Leidos’ Primary Image Capture and Transformation Element provides real-time streaming and capture of multiple types of FMV.

The company’s video processing tools support standard military files, but can also integrate uncon-ventional files and formats when needed. Zitz said he expects more varied UAVs in the future, including micro UAVs, adding that Leidos tools suit military, intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement and will support commercial uses.

aCtIonaBle IntellIgenCe

Another player in this field is 2d3 Sensing, which got its start making special effects for Hollywood. The company has since moved into helping defense users exploit UAVs and will soon launch powerful software for civilian markets.

2d3 software capabilities include cleaning, synchronizing, geo-referencing, stabilizing and focusing images, increasing resolution, correcting for lens distortion and merging images with other data. For example, the software can take thousands of hours of video

and find specific types of objects, such as blue cars, turning un-actionable masses of data into actionable intelligence, explained Vice President Robin Pengelly. The solution can also combine real-istic videos of terrain with symbols of important assets or civilian infrastructure.

2d3 tools have been used with defense UAVs such as Predator, Reaper and Scan Eagle, and they are now being used for precision agriculture, pipeline monitoring and law enforcement. They work with any image—still or video, EO, IR or synthetic aperture radar—and can merge other data such as latitude and longitude. The soft-ware runs on laptops and Android-based devices.

2d3’s new civilian software will be cloud-based with functions and pricing that suit commercial markets, “down to one man, one drone,” Pengelly said, adding, “We spent 15 years making feature-quality images, not just databases and mosaics.”

Woolpert has been doing aerial mapping and surveying from manned aircraft for 40 years and is transferring its software to UAVs, explained Research Scientist Matt Hutchinson. The company is working with Altavian’s Nova F6500 Block III, an all-electric drone for which Altavian has customized a metric camera.

Unlike standard EO, metric cameras are built to the demanding standards of photogrammetry, which makes exact measurements from photos of surface-point positions. “They are more robust, with better calibration and testing to understand internal errors in the charge-coupled device arrays,” Hutchinson explained.

The metric camera makes accurate images, and Woolpert pro-cesses images into accurate maps and surveys. To account for terrain variations—the closer proximity of some points to the cam-era—Woolpert orthorectifies images into a mosaic of accurate pix-els, mathematically correcting errors. The resulting mosaics can be used confidently for agricultural and environmental management.

Woolpert also operates UAVs, and has been selected by FAA as the first mapping firm allowed to fly the devices in the United States. Hutchinson said he believes Woolpert is also the first to fly a UAV with a metric camera. Altavian’s F6500, with a 9-foot wing-span, carries a camera weighing only 3 pounds versus a 100-pound camera on a Cessna.

Altavian’s camera gets excellent resolution, with each pixel cap-turing 1-by-1 centimeters. The F6500 is flexible, can fly in any weather, be launched by hand, be carried by pickup truck, and land

in water and on ground. UAVs are particularly suited for small areas, Hutchinson noted. “A big aircraft could not do small areas economically and get good resolution.”

CoMpressIon tools

LizardTech works for a variety of military and civilian customers and offers several tools for UAVs. Jon Skiffington, director of product management, noted that most UAVs generate high-resolution images, many of which overlap with one another.

High resolution and many overlaps mean images are large and numerous.

LizardTech’s MrSID format is perfect for handling the chal-lenges of size and volume. “It provides outstanding image-com-pression capability, excellent visual quality and fast loading times,” Skiffington said, noting that MrSID works with almost all remote-sensing applications on the market.

Jon Skiffington


MrSID images are created using LizardTech’s GeoExpress soft-ware. LizardTech also offers Express Server for providing MrSID images over the network. Express Server works seamlessly with all other GIS applications and servers.

The solution offers two different compression options—lossless and lossy. Lossless compression reduces image size about 50 per-cent while retaining every pixel’s original data. “This means that the compressed image is mathematically identical to the source image,” Skiffington said.

MrSID can also compress images by discarding some data to make images smaller. In most cases, images can be reduced to 5 per-cent of their original size without loss of visual quality. “This means that the human eye won’t be able to tell the difference between the source image and the compressed image,” he explained.

MrSID also uses selective decompression. “In layperson’s terms, this means that it can automatically extract any portion of the image at any resolution,” Skiffington said. “So even if you’re deal-ing with images of 10 terabytes or larger, panning and zooming are instantaneous.”

The LizardTech tools work with many different UAVs and sen-sors. MrSID itself is independent of sensor type. As long as data arrives as a georeferenced image, LizardTech tools can compress and deliver it rapidly.

Most users of MrSID and other LizardTech tools have large vol-umes of geospatial image data, Skiffington noted, but the exact workflows that these customers use is not important. “We just do the heavy lifting of making sure that images are usable in their applications, whether that is image exploitation, analysis or other image use.”

CoMMerCIal applICatIons

Several companies are taking a fresh look at what UAVs and their sensors could do in commercial applications. While focusing on the civilian market, these companies are developing technologies that may well end up offering benefits for military and intelligence users over the long haul.

Airware, for example, is building UAV technology specifically designed for commercial operation, which is more flexible and eco-nomic than military drones and more reliable and safe than amateur civilian equipment. The company wants to enable users to seam-lessly connect airframes, actuators, sensors, payloads and applica-tion-specific software. It is essentially building an operating system for commercial UAVs, or what some call a “DOS for drones.”

Airware has developed an autopilot, a Linux-based box to be installed on UAVs. It is now being beta-tested by drone manufactur-ers, a government agency and university researchers. The company partners with producers of aircraft, payloads, sensors and applica-tion software, rather than making these components itself.

Airware’s box also collects the sensor data. Its software inter-faces with user-chosen sensors, cameras, actuators and communi-cation tools and configures their settings. The software manages the missions and transfers image data to the cloud, where it is available for customer exploitation.

Airware has raised over $40 million from investors, and is also working with NASA to develop a UAV traffic management system.

Another company attempting to make UAV sensors more flexi-ble and economical is Visual Intelligence, which describes its iOne Software Sensor Tool Kit Architecture as offering a more efficient

approach to combining sensors on UAVs. IOne has developed a criti-cal piece of hardware, the Advanced Retinal Camera Array, embed-ded in software.

“Like the original Dell with PCs, we want to make it much more economic for small UAVs to use multipurpose cameras,” explained CEO Armando Guevara. His aim is to allow multiple EO cameras—nadir, oblique and stereo imaging—to use one array. These cam-eras could then be built very economically and using them with a common array that would provide a small, efficient package ideal for small UAVs.

The reconfigurable iOne software can work with imagery of 6,000 to 30,000 pixels across. “If I have nine camera modules with 29 megapixels each, I can make a virtual image look like one cam-era took it,” Guevara explained.

The company’s cameras are rigorously geometric and radio-metrically calibrated, with errors of less than half a pixel. They can thus be used for photogrammetry to build up 3-D models of areas observed. Visual Intelligence can also co-mount and co-register with other sensors, such as LiDAR, IR and radar, and fuse images on the fly.

Guevara said he plans to release an iOne kite for small UAVs later this year. He is also developing a content ecosystem to interpret images that could serve virtually any use case. O



CorvusEye from Exelis Integrated Sensing Solutions provides both electro-optical and infrared night images over wide areas at two frames per second. [Image courtesy of Exelis Integrated Sensing Solutions]

Leidos offers system engineering and integration of advanced sensors including LiDAR, such as this image of New York City. [Image courtesy of Leidos]


INDUSTRY RASTER

Riverside Research, a not-for-profit scientific research company, has received the Advisory and Assistance Services, Geospatial and Signatures Intelligence contract from the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC). The five-year, $49 million, single-award contract enables Riverside Research to continue supporting NASIC in the advancement of technologies that preserve national security. The effort encompasses a range of technical and management pursuits including execution of research and development in the aforementioned domains, guidance of operations and maintenance activities, and assistance in information technology system acquisition. Ultimately aiming to cultivate a collab-orative environment between the center’s Department of Defense and intelligence community partners, Riverside Research will also facilitate outreach and technical engagement.

Benjamin Leach;[email protected]

In response to the rapidly increasing demand for high-quality geo-data of the Arctic

Ocean, Earthstar Geographics has compiled a detailed satellite imagery mosaic of the entire region and released it in map projections optimized for visualizing the northern polar areas. TerraColor satellite imagery, long used by organizations and web-mapping portals worldwide, provides

an accurate, high-value mapping compo-nent for scientific research, navigation, logis-

tics and natural resource exploration. The imagery base map portrays all major landmasses

and islands within the Arctic Circle in minimal

ice conditions with nearly all coastlines visible. The TerraColor dataset also includes previously unreleased 15-meter imagery of the far north archi-pelagos of Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Severnaya Zemlya. TerraColor is a precision orthorectified global imagery base map built primarily from pan-sharpened Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 satellite imagery, and is suitable for mapping at scales of 1:60,000 and higher. Applications include web-based mapping, GPS tracking, scientific research, natural resource exploration, military/defense logistics, flight simulation and 3-D visualization.

Mikel Savides;[email protected]

Esri has announced that ArcGIS 10.3 is now available with the release of ArcGIS Pro. ArcGIS 10.3 realizes the vision of web GIS, which empowers customers to use information anywhere and on any device. It includes new apps and enhancements that continue to revolutionize the science of geography and GIS and enable users to more readily share their work throughout their orga-nizations. The release of ArcGIS 10.3 transforms the entire ArcGIS platform and is headlined by the introduction

of ArcGIS Pro. Designed as a multi-threaded 64-bit application for Windows, ArcGIS Pro takes advantage of modern technology that allows users to visualize, edit and analyze data faster than ever before. With ArcGIS Pro, users can create and work with geographic layers in both 2-D and 3-D and share map informa-tion as feature layers, imagery, maps, analysis services, 3-D web scenes and web maps.

Robby Deming;[email protected]

Satellite Imagery Shows Arctic Ocean

Contract Supports GEOINT Learning at NGA

Web GIS Empowers Information on Any Device

http://textron.q4web.com/files/doc_news/2015/Feb16-2015-B-Nexus9_geosearch_chinshan_framed_300.jpg[2/18/2015 12:26:57 PM]

Textron Systems Geospatial Solutions, a Textron Inc. busi-ness, has announced the initial release of its newest product, the RVcloud web-based electronic light table (ELT), offering many of the image exploitation capabilities of its popular RemoteView GEOINT software. The release of RVcloud enables organizations to transform the way in which they deliver geospatial analysis capabilities to their users. Its web tech-nology reduces customer costs, allows organizations to avoid the overhead required to deploy and update desktop prod-ucts, and accelerates integration of new features and custom modules. Ease of use and simplified deployment of the RVcloud application broadens access to GEOINT for new, nontraditional users while meeting existing analyst needs. Developed with the latest HTML5 technologies, RVcloud runs in modern browsers and is designed for both desktop and mobile platforms. Its streaming display presents a high-fidelity view of source data and enables users to instantly access all standard GEOINT image formats without first downloading the full image.

Tom Williams;[email protected]

http://media.directionsmedia.net/directionsmag/channels/pressreleases/TerraColor_Arctic_Ocean_Overview.jpg[2/13/2015 4:45:52 PM]

Web-Based Light Table Enables Image Exploitation


NGA Portal Deployed on Commercial Cloud

NOAA’s Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) has been launched on its way to an orbit 1 million miles from Earth, where it will give NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center more reliable measurements of solar wind conditions, improving its ability to monitor poten-tially harmful solar activity. When it reaches its final destination and completes a series of initialization checks, DSCOVR will be the nation’s first operational satellite in deep space, orbiting between Earth and the sun. Data from DSCOVR, coupled with a new forecast model that is set to come online later this year, will enable NOAA forecasters to predict geomagnetic storm magnitude on a regional basis. Geomagnetic storms occur when plasma and magnetic fields streaming from the sun impact Earth’s magnetic field. TASC provided engineering mission assurance and independent verifi-cation and validation expertise for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle procured by the Air Force from SpaceX. The Falcon 9 launch was the first executed by the Air Force under its Orbital/Suborbital Program-3 contract, to which TASC is the mission assurance contractor.

Diane Clark;[email protected]

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has awarded BAE Systems a five-year contract with an estimated total value of $43 million to provide mission-essential training and instructional support to NGA analysts and intelligence officers stationed around the world. Under the GEOINT Learning Program contract, BAE Systems experts will provide NGA analysts with a robust training curriculum that includes more than 70 different courses from entry through expert level. The courses promote a core curriculum

designed to sharpen analysts’ expertise in tradecraft areas such as imagery analysis, activity-based intelligence and human geography. These courses also provide context and background on different tools and sensors to help analysts expedite data collection, enrich their talents in processing intelli-gence and enhance their skills in imagery collection management.

Amanda Schildt;[email protected]

Deep Space Satellite Monitors Solar Activity

http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/space/photo/pressrelease/2015/dscovr_epic_1.jpg[2/13/2015 5:23:58 PM]

A new Lockheed Martin instru-ment launched aboard the Deep Space Climate Observatory space-craft, the Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) will provide imaging of the entire sunlit side of Earth in one view, which hasn’t been done before from a satellite. Today, real-time Earth images are patched together from various satel-

lites. With the whole-disk image—one that shows the entire face of the planet in one shot—scientists will have a broad view of the planet’s atmosphere at work. Using EPIC, scientists can monitor clouds and atmospheric particles moving across hemispheres, which will improve models for storms, droughts, dust, pollution and global climate.

Satellite Camera’s Got the Whole World in One Shot

Contract Supports GEOINT Learning at NGA

Lockheed Martin and Esri have deployed commercial software to the Amazon Web Services Commercial Cloud Services (C2S) environ-ment for the first time with an intelligence community customer, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. The deployment of the portal for Esri’s ArcGIS software provides a single environment for analysts to securely organize and share data throughout the intelligence commu-nity and Department of Defense. It also represents a foundational step in consolidating multiple geospatial intelligence portals into the single NGA-provided portal, resulting in technology and license cost savings. This is NGA’s second step in the cloud after the agency moved its Map of the World application to the C2S environment late last year.

Colin Thorn;[email protected]

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff


Betty Sapp was appointed the 18th director of the National Reconnaissance Office on July 6, 2012. Sapp began her government career as an Air Force officer in a variety of acquisition and finan-cial management positions. In 1997, Sapp joined the CIA. She was assigned to NRO, where she served in a variety of senior manage-ment positions. In 2005, she was appointed the deputy director, NRO for business plans and operations.

In May 2007, Sapp was appointed the deputy under secretary of defense (portfolio, programs and resources), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Sapp was appointed principal deputy director of NRO in April 2009.

Sapp holds Bachelor of Arts and Master of Business Administration, management degrees, both from the University of Missouri, Columbia.

Q: What are the top priorities for NRO in 2015?

A: NRO’s priorities are to maintain its stellar record of acquisition and program success, while delivering a more capable, integrated, resil-ient and affordable NRO architecture for the future. This future archi-tecture must respond to and keep pace with emerging threats and dynamic mission needs so we can maintain the U.S. decision advan-tage against increasingly capable adversaries. Specifically, we must increase our persistence from space if we are to improve our perfor-mance against, for example, mobile missiles.

We will continue to incorporate into our architecture the revolu-tionary new technology necessary to realize that more capable, inte-grated, resilient and affordable future. These technologies are made possible by our investments in research and development, and we will continue these investments to ensure our capabilities remain rele-vant and resilient. In the near term, we will continue to improve our ground and operational capabilities to ensure we get the most from our current operational space systems—adapting those on-orbit sys-tems to support current warfighter needs.

Q: What do you see as some of the most important areas of R&D for your organization, and what are you doing to encourage innovation?

A: For NRO, R&D is not a “nice to do,” it is a “must do.” We are focus-ing on several areas that I believe are critical to the intelligence mission. The NRO operating environment continues to grow in com-plexity, and our adversaries are aggressively pursuing denial and deception techniques, as well as capabilities to threaten our collection assets. We must continually seek increasingly innovative approaches to keep pace and improve our capabilities. One area we are focused on is persistence, developing those long-dwell and diverse sensor hand-off capabilities that will enable us to maintain a chain of custody and

effective persistence on a target of interest. We are also developing a full spectrum of multi-intelligence (multi-INT) capabilities that will orchestrate multiple, diverse sensor types simultaneously to address and discriminate the target of interest.

We are rapidly advancing end-to-end automation and agility of the overhead architecture to greatly increase the speed, timeli-ness and accuracy of intelligence collection. Our goal is to enable an automated, multi-INT, problem-driven collection system that will revolutionize current operations. This focus on efficient, accu-rate intelligence collection will allow analysts more time for expert analysis, freeing them from lengthy and mundane data searches. We have been very successful in this area with Sentient and we are continuing to push the envelope, striving for even more advanced collection capabilities.

Targets are becoming increasingly vague and fleeting, so we are vigorously pursuing new sources and methods that will broaden our spectral diversity, countering the threat with new sensors and phe-nomenology. We are thinking out of the box to create unusual or unexpected uses of existing sensor systems. Our adversaries continue to develop new and improved means to destroy our freedom of action in space, so we must develop collection systems with enhanced sur-vivability built in from the beginning. And finally, we must also factor in affordability. We are designing architectures, systems and technol-ogies to increase intelligence collection value, improve efficiency and reduce cost of ownership.

Betty J. SappDirector

National Reconnaissance Office

Innovation ArchitectIncreasing Space Persistence to Improve Performance

Q&AQ&A

NAtIoNAl RecoNNAIssANce offIce

TRUSTED ADVISOR ON GEOINT PROGRAMS,PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES

TASC.COM

2015

AS&TAdvanced Systems

& Technology Directorate

BPOBusiness Plans & Operations Directorate

OSLOffice of Space Launch

COMMCommunications

Systems Directorate

MODMission

Operations Directorate

MIDMission

Integration Directorate

SIGINTSignals Intelligence

Systems Acquisition

Betty SappDirector

Frank CalvelliPrincipal Deputy

Director

Brigadier General

Anthony J. Cotton

Deputy Director

NRO Organization

TRUSTED ADVISOR ON GEOINT PROGRAMS,PRACTICES AND STRATEGIES

TASC.COM

Senior Mission Partner

RepresentativesCIANGANSA

Corporate Staff

SCOSpecial

Communications Office

SAOSurvivability Assurance

Office

GEDGround

Enterprise Directorate

IMINTImagery Intelligence Systems Acquisition

Directorate

MS&OManagement

Services & Operations Directorate

SEDSystems

Engineering Directorate


Innovation enables us to lead the world in intelligence domi-nance. To ensure that we are always on the leading edge with the newest technologies, I have one office, the Advanced Systems and Technology Directorate (AS&T), that is focused on research and devel-opment. AS&T explores, tests, develops and transitions revolutionary new capabilities to our current and future architecture. AS&T hosts a variety of forums and collaborative research programs with indus-try, government and academia, always searching for the most prom-ising new technologies.

My Director’s Innovation Initiative (DII), which is managed in AS&T, fosters revolutionary new ideas by reaching developers not traditionally associated with the NRO. The DII provides a risk-toler-ant environment to invest across the United States in cutting-edge technologies and high-payoff concepts relevant to NRO’s mission. But AS&T is not the only innovative place within NRO. In fact, we encourage innovation throughout NRO though an initiative called the Innovation Campaign to identify new opportunities across the entire NRO enterprise to innovate not only in technology, but also in business processes, acquisition, security and a whole range of NRO activities. NRO began its existence by innovating—creating capabili-ties that did not exist— and it continues to create extraordinary intel-ligence collection capabilities, continuously redefining the boundaries between science fiction and science fact.

Q: What are NRO’s responsibilities in creating the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise (IC ITE), and what progress have you made so far?

A: A core aspect of the IC ITE is the suite of enterprise-wide IT infra-structure services operated by common service providers for the IC. NRO is responsible for working jointly with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and other IC elements to define IC ITE, adopt IC ITE common services within NRO and be the IC ITE service pro-vider for networks. In our role as service provider for networks, we have made excellent progress working with our IC partners to define the IC network reference architecture and identify common net-work services for both campus area networks and wide area networks across the IC.

Q: How do you see the IC ITE changing the way NRO conducts business?

A: The IC ITE is not only changing the way we run IT at NRO, but it is also changing how we utilize capabilities from other IC elements—that is, the IC ITE services. In short, IC ITE is going to be a huge enabler for NRO and allow us to expose much more of our data to ana-lysts and users, much earlier and much more often than we had previ-ously been able to do. It really is a game-changer for us. NRO is already putting metadata of collected imagery into the IC ITE cloud environ-ment, making it more accessible to the IC. We have also started utiliz-ing the hardware in the cloud architecture for development and test of some ground software systems. NRO is also preparing for transition to the IC ITE common desktop environment in 2016.

Q: What steps are you taking to improve NRO acquisition programs? What role does the Acquisition Research Center 2.0 play in that?

A: NRO’s long history of acquisition excellence has provided our nation with unmatched global surveillance capabilities supporting

our warfighters and national decision-makers. The foundation of NRO’s acquisition success is our strong acquisition workforce, the application of best practices, and our close and enduring partnership with our industry partners.

A critical NRO organizational asset is the Acquisition Center of Excellence (ACE). For the past 17 years, ACE has provided targeted acquisition training and acquisition support services and helped to ensure open communications with industry. The targeted training augments the acquisition training NRO employees receive from their “parent” organizations, and ACE continually assess both the content of the training courses and the needs of the workforce to improve NRO acquisitions. In fiscal year 2014 alone, ACE provided 80 courses for hundreds of students. ACE also provides vital acquisition support services to the NRO workforce, particularly for competitive acqui-sitions. It provides the facilities, tools and support for competitive source selection processes. In doing this, ACE helps to ensure that NRO selects the best-value solution to its mission requirements.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, ACE provides a com-munication capability with our industry partners. The Acquisition Research Center 2.0 (ARC 2.0) provides classified and unclassified websites as portals for industry into NRO business opportunities, including upcoming solicitations and on-going acquisitions. We could not do our work at NRO without partnering with industry, and the ARC 2.0 capability allows industry to access data on upcoming NRO acquisitions and helps ACE reach a broader industry base for NRO’s mission requirements. The ARC 2.0 capability also allows industry to communicate with NRO early in the acquisition planning phase. This is extremely important since early industry input can help us revise our requirements to attract the widest industry interest. One new fea-ture of ARC 2.0 is the Innovation Portal. This feature gives industry a single location for business opportunities to provide innovative solu-tions to some of the most complex challenges facing NRO. We also use ARC 2.0 to ensure industry has a chance to review and comment on proposed NRO contracting policy changes.

Q: How do you see NRO’s ground infrastructure evolving in the years ahead?

A: As the NRO space segment moves to increased persistence and diversity, the ground will use new innovative means to improve prod-ucts, create new products, counter physical gaps in coverage and improve analytics, multi-INT opportunities, activity-based intelli-gence, object-based production and predictive models.

The move to the cloud-based IC ITE will enable the NRO ground to continue to provide current capabilities and products while striving to improve ground resiliency through flexible, sensor-agnostic apps and services hosted anywhere in the world. The NRO ground archi-tecture will include a new enterprise collection orchestration (ECO) function to maximize and optimize collection opportunities, fully exploiting integrated intelligence alerts, providing a more automated tipping and cueing capability to enable collections that are relevant, and utilizing all available sensors. The goal is to allow the role of the analyst to evolve from sifting through large amounts of data to work-ing the actionable, relative data that is provided to them.

ECO and the rest of NRO’s future ground architecture (FGA) will be hosted on a common mission environment that will leverage exist-ing and future sensors and extend to non-overhead and nontraditional data providers. This will create an interactive, automated, iterative loop throughout a non-linear and dynamic mission management,


collection and processing cycle. The NRO ground infrastructure will continually adapt and provide evolving and expanding capabili-ties to our mission partners by using new spacecraft sensors, tak-ing advantage of commercial technologies and leveraging the IC ITE to enable the sharing of data and products via technology and algo-rithm improvements. This is a challenging but promising time for NRO ground as we continue our move to FGA cloud-based technolo-gies that use automated and advanced analytics to address critical IC needs to further integrate the tip-cue mission.

Q: How would you describe NRO’s recent experiences with competition in launch contracts, and what future do you see for that concept?

A: We almost always procure launch services through the Air Force, and we fully support their strategy. That strategy seeks to lower launch costs by reintroducing competition for national security space (NSS) missions while meeting operational needs and maintaining mission success. The NRO Launch-79 (NROL-79) mission was the first launch service acquisition pursued in response to that strategy. The Air Force issued the con-tract solicitation in July 2014, with contract award required by December 2014 to ensure a December 2016 on-time launch to meet mission requirements. On January 7, 2015, the Air Force announced that no new entrants had completed certification, a prerequisite to any award of a low-risk-tolerant NSS mission. Subsequently, on January 28, 2015, the Air Force determined it was in the best interest of the government to cancel the NROL-79 competitive solicitation.

NRO remains committed to enabling competition in future launch service acquisitions as launch service capabilities are demon-strated and certified, and in full cooperation with our partners in the Air Force. However, I am also concerned about the potential unin-tended consequences of both competition and legislative restrictions on the only current launch provider certified and capable of delivering the full suite of NSS missions to space.

Q: What has NRO been doing in the past few years to support the warfighter?

A: Core NRO overhead reconnaissance capabilities are integral to supporting U.S. operations in Afghanistan and other the-aters, but NRO also has programs specifically focused on support to the warfighter. For example, we steward the personnel recov-ery program that synchronizes national collection assets to assist in combat search and rescue operations. Another example is an NRO-developed system called Red Dot, which leverages multi-INT sources to provide an integrated IED situational awareness “pic-ture” that can be provided directly to the warfighter at the unclas-sified level and in near-real time. Red Dot has been extremely successful; from 2012 to 2014, it contributed to the removal of at least 714 IEDs from the battlefield, preventing the loss of countless lives and limbs.

NRO develops warfighter-support tools, as well as systems. We help make sense of large volumes of data, allowing the warfighter to distinguish “normal” from “abnormal.” We provide automated tipping, cueing and alerting capabilities, improving the find-fix-finish cycle. Finally, we are leading the way in migrating tools to apps so that new capabilities do not require new hardware and

are much easier and faster to integrate into warfighter systems and processes.

As a final point in our support to the warfighter, I must mention the outstanding field representatives we put in place at the combat-ant commands and in the theater battlespace. These representa-tives must understand the needs of the warfighters they serve and the capabilities NRO has available to help. It is their job to make the link between needs and capabilities—or to bring the need back to NRO for the larger enterprise to address. Our field representatives have a very critical, demanding job, and they do it very, very well.

Q: How would you assess the current state of the U.S. space industrial base, and what is your strategy for ensuring it remains viable?

A: NRO is concerned about the state of the U.S. space industrial base. Independent studies led by the Department of Commerce, the National Defense Industrial Association and the Aerospace Industries Association have all highlighted a similar concern: that the United States is facing a shrinking pool of talent at the prime contractor level. At the subcontractor and supplier levels, the situ-ation is often even more worrisome.

We are addressing this in two ways. First, we try to ensure our development programs are as stable, predictable and doable as pos-sible. “Stable” means that we plan so as to keep primes and sup-pliers going at a manageable rate, without stops and re-starts. “Predictable” means that the prime contractors can forecast what they will need and when they will need it, thus improving chances for acquisition success. And “doable” means that the technol-ogy leap-aheads we require to keep up with targets and threats are developed and demonstrated in our research and development office before being transitioned to an acquisition program. The sec-ond way NRO tries to help is as part of the broader U.S. space com-munity, collaborating with the Air Force, Missile Defense Agency and NASA to collectively address risks in the space industrial base.

Q: What are some of the key steps under way to strengthen the skills and enhance the careers of the NRO workforce?

A: Since we were formed more than 50 years ago, NRO has never owned its own workforce, but borrowed personnel from across the Department of Defense and the IC. Over time, that workforce model became increasingly problematic. Now, thanks to the support of Congress, CIA and DoD, NRO will have much more stability in the technical portion of its workforce. Specifically, we have stabilized the CIA element of our technical workforce by establishing the Office of Space Reconnaissance (OSR). Similarly, the secretary of defense just approved transition of former Air Force and Navy civil-ians serving at NRO to permanent DoD NRO cadre. Together, the OSR and DoD cadre comprise about one-third of our government workforce. This “stable element” will allow us to ensure in-depth NRO experience, with career assignments, employee develop-ment and training focused on specific NRO needs. The remainder of our workforce will continue to come from CIA and DoD (mili-tary) rotations. The combined workforce will give us the additional stability in core functions necessary for success in complex space acquisitions, with the broad-based experience and different think-ing that comes from individuals who have done different things in different places. O


As government and industry leaders ponder the future of gov-ernment and military space, a National Reconnaissance Office official recently put forward ideas such as new operations and main-tenance (O&M) models, common satellite buses, alternative contract-ing strategies, leveraging the commercial market and changing the ground infrastructure.

Tina Harrington, director of NRO’s Signals Intelligence Systems Acquisition Directorate, appeared at a panel session titled “The Future of Government and Military Space: Safe Bets and Bold Predictions,” which was held during the Satellite 2015 conference in Washington, D.C. Members of the panel included Air Force Colonel Chris Crawford, director of space policy implementation in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, as well as executives of leading satel-lite companies in both the communications and geospatial/ISR fields.

Panelists agreed that the current era represents a critical turning point for military space programs, especially given anticipated budget constraints. As the conference program noted, “The Department of Defense’s space programs and policies are at a crossroads, with exist-ing military satellite procurement programs nearing the end of their delivery cycles, and numerous studies and new procurement models under internal consideration.”

Harrington’s insights were particularly noteworthy in light of the fact—noted more than once by the session moderator, Vice Admiral Lyle Bien (Ret.)—that officials of NRO, whose programs are largely classified, have not been frequent presenters at the Satellite confer-ence and many such open forums.

relIanCe on spaCe

In her remarks, Harrington began by noting the ongoing impor-tance of space programs. “Reliance on space isn’t going to go away. It has grown for the past 20 years and will continue to grow, not just in communications, but also positioning, navigation and timing and a lot of things that no one thought 20 years ago we would be doing, such as [public] GPS. Satellites are a key component of our lifestyle.”

But Harrington also acknowledged challenges that will have to be dealt with, including the facts that space is increasingly being seen as a contested environment and that military budgets are not expected to grow. “Over the last four years, every year we have had discussions about what we are going to shift in order so to continue delivering critical capability at a lower price point,” she said.

In response, the agency is emphasizing the principle of doing in common what is commonly done, which has also been the watch-word for the intelligence community’s Information Technology Enterprise initiative. “Why do I want to buy my own IT, communi-cations or ground systems when those things are already out there? How do I better leverage the things that are being built for others so that I do not spend my limited resources on developing that area?” Harrington asked.

Another area for change is in updating O&M models, she contin-ued. “Some of the O&M models were developed 30 years ago. That’s not the world we live in today. When you look at commercial versus

government O&M models today, it is not a good ratio. How do we leverage the practices of the commercial world so that we can draw down on them and do a better job in using money for things that are unique to the government? We will figure those things out.”

One of the things the government will need to address will be a better way to use common satellite buses, Harrington suggested. “We have historically built our own bus, even though a lot of times the buses exist out there. Why do we need a specialized bus, and why should I spend my money there? Aren’t I better off spending money on sensors that only I need? We’re starting down that path, but I see that as a place where people will continue to grow into.”

ContraCtIng alternatIves

Development of alternative contracting strategies is also impor-tant, she said. “In the past, we have done everything the same way, and when you do that, costs grow. But what are my alternatives, and how do I acquire differently, using fixed price instead of cost plus? How do I motivate people differently? Do I have to own the entire sys-tem, or can I be hosted on someone else’s system? These changes in acquisition strategy will enable us to get more for our dollars.”

But experience has also revealed the pitfalls of change, she recalled somewhat ruefully. “Twenty years ago, we had a strategy of better, faster, cheaper, and learned a lot of lessons, most of which were not to take any risks if you were a government official. So we stopped taking risks. But you can’t be in a risk-averse posture and make good, smart, bold moves.

“You have to balance that, and decide where you have to take risks in order to move forward and where you can’t take any risks at all. That is being looked at, and I see the government changing its posture so that as we move forward, we do the things where we need to have 99.999 percent mission assurance. But not everything needs to be in that category,” Harrington said.

Research and development remains a critical priority, she said. “We also need to make sure we are still making the R&D investment. One of the things that could kill us in the future is only building the same thing. The more I build the same thing, the less I drive innova-tion and the next generation of engineers.

“You also have to look at how we leverage the commercial mar-ket,” she continued. “We need to be using the commercial market in all ways that we can, because we are better off using limited dollars to buy commercial when we can rather than building our own. From our perspective, we need to stay in communication with our indus-try partners. That’s one of the things that has made NRO successful.”

Changes in satellite programs’ ground infrastructures are sim-ilarly vital, Harrington said. “Ground is where a lot of the magic occurs, and it is the place where we invest in last. But it’s one of the things that we can make the greatest leaps with.”

One key in Harrington’s eyes is to use a system architecture that enables cooperation and interoperability. “What we need is an architecture to make sure that we don’t keep building all of these stovepipes,” she said. “How can I tap into other infrastructures,

Peering into the Satellite Futurenro offICIal sees Changes ahead In the strategy and BusIness of governMent and MIlItary spaCe.By harrIson donnelly, gIf edItor


and use that so I don’t have to rebuild it? There are a lot of things that we have to keep in-house, but there are other places where we can’t build just one. At today’s prices, we just can’t build everything as one-offs.”

hosted payloads and sMall sats

In response to audience questions, Harrington displayed a mix-ture of support and skepticism about highly touted alternatives to current satellite strategies.

Recalling that she had been involved in a hosted payload program some years ago, Harrington noted the problems that arose in sharing information, which boiled down to the old “tennis shoe” method of putting data on a disc and handing it to someone else.

“That is still often the case,” she observed. “Someone will bring up the idea of a hosted payload, and as soon as you try to get it into the right system, you’re back to the tennis shoe method. When we look at hosted programs, it needs to be more end to end. We can’t rely on people in the mailroom. You might end up spending all the money you saved in a higher O&M bill over the life of the program.”

Small satellites and miniaturized CubeSats offer exciting pos-sibilities, Harrington said. “You can look at experiments that we might not want to do with a larger satellite, and we can bring things in at a lower price point. We frequently don’t want to do things because of the price, and if I can do it a different way, I see a lot of advantage there.

“I don’t know how well SkyBox, Planet Lab and some of the other companies are going to work,” she said. “But I think it’s a great oppor-tunity for people to look at things differently. I know that we like to think of ourselves as all-knowing, but we’re not. I don’t know how well these are going to do or how many will actually get on orbit. But it’s a great opportunity to look and push the envelope and see what new things we can do.”

In a subsequent interview, Harrington outlined some of the steps under way at NRO to respond to these future trends.

“We have already begun changing our models, where appropri-ate, especially from a contracting approach,” she reported. “In the last four years, we have used several contract types beyond pure cost plus (CP) including fixed price (FP) deliver for the entire system, FP bus with CP payload, and CP system with an FP payload. We also model the test/risk profile to the contract type and mission criticality. These efforts are helping to inform our future approach.

“Taking chances and proving we can execute successfully with an alternate approach is allowing us to move forward on the ‘safe bets and bold predictions’ that we talked to in the panel, and appropriately tailor the contract type, program risk and total cost based on the mis-sion need,” Harrington concluded. O



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One of the biggest challenges facing those charged with protect-ing U.S. borders involves the sheer size of the area that needs to be covered. They also must deal with the diversity of the terrain, the long ranges at which they must operate and a myriad of distractions that could prevent them from seeing and responding to threats such as illegal immigrants, drug smugglers or even potential terrorists.

All this makes it difficult to achieve border area situational aware-ness and a common operating picture. Fortunately, a growing array of geospatial technologies is available to help make sense out of the large amounts of confusing and often contradictory information that border protectors must work with in order to achieve their missions.

Embedding geospatial capabilities in sensors allows items of interest to be pinpointed on a digital map that can be shared across an organization. Enhanced ana-lytical capabilities can process the output of sensors to provide operators and analysts with suggestions for closer surveillance and cross-cue sensors to focus on suspicious items, individuals and activities.

“Geospatial technologies used in aid of border protection address the same challenges as in other applications,” said Jim Youker, a director of sales and marketing at BAE Systems. “Situational awareness and building layers of information that enable a com-mon operating picture allow analysts and operators to develop techniques, tactics and procedures that miti-gate the threats to border security.”

“What we see is that there are growing numbers of sensors out there,” said Christoph De Preter, chief commercial officer at Luciad. “These can be motion detectors, unmanned aerial systems with video or static cameras, hyperspectral imaging sensors and others.

“Geospatial technology comes into play by con-necting all of these sources of data to make sense of them geospatially,” he noted. “They let operators and analysts know what place on Earth it is that a UAV or a satellite or a sensor is looking at so that accurate data can be sent to surveillance teams on the ground.”

“Geospatial technologies can be used for border surveillance to provide users with enhanced situa-tional awareness, improved detection and a more logi-cal means to communicate between assets,” said Larry Bowe, president and CEO of PureTech.

“Geospatial also facilitates the automation of sensors, such as pan-tilt-zoom cameras, with spotlights, range finders and loud hailers. Items of interest detected from all types of sensors, whether ground-based or airborne, geospatial video, radar, fence sensors or vibration sensors, can all be displayed on the same geospatial map-based com-mon operating picture. Border patrol vehicles and agents can be also outfitted with GPS to know their whereabouts, which can aid in items of interest interceptions,” Bowe added.

vIdeo analytICs

Border surveillance differs from run-of-the-mill outdoor perimeter protection mostly due to the size of the border area to be surveilled and the diversity of the terrain, according to Bowe. “These factors introduce a whole new set of challenges for sensors, including video analytics,” he said. “The analytics must oper-ate on data taken at longer ranges in diverse terrains, which means coping with more background clutter, platform motion and atmospheric scintillation, just to name a few.”

“The use of full motion video (FMV) and the exploi-tation of imagery allow analysts and operators to see the environment and develop patterns of life or threat behaviors that can be understood forensically,” said Youker. “They can also be analyzed for repeatable pat-terns that might tip and queue triggers that can poten-tially point to future threats.”

But full motion video doesn’t provide a complete solution for border surveillance applications, accord-ing to Dwight Greenlee, director for regional surveil-lance at Exelis. “FMV tends to provide a soda straw view of territory,” he said. “The problem with border security is that it involves such a wide area. Our solu-tion provides 30 times the coverage and watches the pixels for you. There is no need for just one person to have to watch several screens and possibly miss the bigger picture.”

Exelis has developed wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) systems that address the problems associated with the broad swaths of real estate that border protec-tors must monitor.

Video analytics that can map the image space into the terrain space can help hold down the rate of

surveIllanCe and analytICal teChnologIes provIde sItuatIonal awareness and a CoMMon operatIng pICture of the natIon’s lengthy Borders and CoastlInes.

Larry Bowe

Jim Youker

By peter BuxBauM, gIf Correspondent

Dwight Greenlee


nuisance alarms, such as those caused by animals or weather condi-tions, for example. “The benefit of knowing the location of items of interest is obvious, but video analytics is also much more challenging at longer ranges with variable topography,” said Bowe. “The video ana-lytic algorithms must be much more robust.”

Operators and analysts today are often asked to look at a multi-tude of screens, one displaying a static map and others showing live imagery and video feeds. “All of these are separate,” said De Preter. “Where geospatial technology adds value is simply on the basis of the GPS position of a sensor. Projecting that imagery on a map view in real time, as well as integration of all the different sensor data, develops a single common operational picture for use by all.”

Geospatial technologies also facilitate interactivity and interop-erability, allowing operators to project a live video feed on a map, where they can more easily see trends. “Pulling all of this data together makes it more intelligible for the operator,” said De Preter. “They are able to discern patterns and make faster decisions. Geospatial technology is the glue that pulls it all together.”

sensor aCCuraCy

Sensor accuracy, advances in computing and the availability of advanced analytical and exploitation tools that eliminate functional stovepipes have made the application of geospatial technology to border protection more affordable as well as effective.

“All of the sensor technologies are improving in accuracy,” said Bowe. “This is being enabled by the increase in performance of off-the-shelf computers, which enable more powerful sensor algorithms and systems to be developed and yet be affordable.”

“The availability of advanced exploitation tools represents a migration in legacy software that previ-ously only allowed UAV pilots to fly and watch activ-ity,” said Youker. “Now, software like GXP InMotion not only connects the UAV operations of the mission, but also links the workflow and facilitates chat, feature extraction, mensuration and image processing in real time so that the production and dis-semination of geospatial intelligence is instantaneous with UAV flight operations. The tasking, collection, processing, exploitation and dissemination process has been rewritten so that it is no longer a time-consuming linear exercise.”

GXP InMotion, BAE Systems’ video analysis suite, is available in a desktop version or through a server connection.

“More and more integration is coming to geospatial sys-tems, eliminating stovepipes,” said De Preter. “A system-of-systems approach allows for one unified view of the situation. With every-thing operating in the cloud, border surveillance systems are no lon-ger tools for specialists only. When we equipped customers with our systems a few years ago, we were talking about 20 or 30 seats access-ing the system. Now when we set up systems, we are talking about hundreds and sometimes thousands of users, all accessing relevant data in the cloud.

“Cloud computing gives system access to a very wide audience without endangering the performance of the system. That is a real game-changer,” he added.

Exelis’ WAMI sensors, which include both electro-optical and infrared varieties for daytime and night operations, are essen-tially low-rate video units that can capture wide swaths of real

estate and the individuals, objects and activities to be found on it, ensuring that systems that don’t need to be tasked to specific tar-gets. Multiple users can find different targets in the field of view of the sensor.

“We have products that provide regional persistent surveillance over areas of 2 to 3 kilometers,” said Greenlee. “The sensors stare down at that region and record activity for as long as you want. The 2-kilometer range at night and the 3-kilometer range during the day are wider than anything else on the market. We have the abil-ity to detect moving pixels to track individuals or groups. The video can also be rewound to ascertain where individuals, groups or vehi-cles came from.”

Analytical capabilities within the Exelis product identify areas and activities that require more intensive attention, whether from sensors or human eyeballs. The ability to chip out pieces of WAMI imagery enables operators to track multiple targets within a single field of vision at the same time.

“The systems generate a box on the viewing screen that tells the operator to take a closer look at a specific area or situation,” said Greenlee. “That way you don’t need 15 pairs of eyeballs view-ing video. You have a box pop up that says that it looks like some-thing is going on. The operator can then click on the box to a get a higher-resolution view of that specific area. The system can also cre-

ate tripwires to alert operators when people are mov-ing through a certain area.”

Every pixel generated by any of Exelis’ sensors, whether mounted on an aerostat, UAV or manned aircraft, is geo-located, noted Bernie Brower, senior product development manager for integrated sensing solutions at Exelis.

“Once we find something moving in an area of interest, we can geo-locate that and put it on a map,” he added. “We can also generate watch boxes that tell operators to keep a watch out for certain locations. Data from activity detected by ground sensors can

also be used to generate watch boxes. We can also quickly make 3-D models of areas, which enable us to evaluate terrain and determine where it might be easy to cross a border.”

long-range surveIllanCe

PureTech Systems is focused on development and refinement of a geospatial-aware video analytics system, particularly for video sur-veillance at long ranges of land and water.

“Our product, called PureActiv, is a wide-area surveillance and perimeter intrusion detection system that leverages geospatial tech-niques,” said Bowe. “It uses our geospatial video analytics and inte-grates with other perimeter intrusion sensors to provide automated detection and video corroboration of intrusion events, which reduces cost and increases flexibility. Essentially, we turn visible and ther-mal video cameras into intelligent geospatial detection and tracking sensors, and integrate them into our geospatial common operating picture. Our product works on both live and recorded video.”

PureActiv also performs sensor collaboration with other geospa-tial and non-geospatial devices. Its features include a map-based, point-and-click interface that allows the user to control pan-tilt-zoom cameras and other sensors through interaction with both maps and video images. It also makes possible the use of real size and speed to accurately detect items of interest at long distances,

Bernie Brower


and allows users to add geographical place-markers, distance mark-ings, bearings and route indicators.

The system also includes a “camera auto follow” feature. “This is not a geospatial feature per se,” said Bowe. “But after a camera has been steered to a location using geospatial technology, this fea-ture will lock on the target and automatically keep it centered in the camera’s field of view.”

The PureTech system is typically used by customers with geo-graphically expansive or distributed operations that need to pro-tect critical assets and lives. “This includes installations at airports, seaports, subways, railroads, utilities, borders, bridges and mili-tary bases,” said Bowe. “In addition to these critical infrastructure protection applications, our ability to apply geospatial concepts to video has also enabled us to develop solutions for other non-security applications, such as man-overboard detection for cruise ships, car counting and queue management.”

“The most recent development that we have seen is the increased use of unstructured data and big data to develop pattern analysis and predict possible future border dangers and violations,” said De Preter.

Luciad’s modular software has been developed in conjunction with SAP’s HANA computational platform, which combines data-base, data management and multicore processing capabilities. These capabilities facilitate quick and accurate analytics by exposing all the elements of very large data sets, instead of only a sampling, to com-plex algorithmic processing.

The more data points used in the algorithm, the more accurate predicted outcomes are. SAP uses a Luciad product as the geospatial plug-in module for HANA.

“We have applications in the field of human geography,” said De Preter. “All sorts of unstructured data, such as diplomatic cables, press releases and news reports, can be loaded into the application, and all this data becomes geo-referenced to allow analysts to predict how, for example, political events can impact migratory flows and border security situations.”

The unstructured data is geo-referenced through the use of business intelligence software that picks up words in the text that have a geographical connotation. The system has been used by the governments of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Spain, France and Greece, as well as several others in South America and North Africa, to protect maritime and air space.

Luciad develops software in a modular fashion so that it can be incorporated into other, larger systems. “We build geospatial software not as a finished product, but as a set of building blocks that allow other developers to build it into their own systems,” said De Preter. “Governments and system integrators no longer want finished solutions, but instead something nimble that can be integrated into existing infrastructures and can interface with third-party sensors and systems. We don’t know what the sensors of tomorrow will look like or who the users of these systems will be in a couple of years.”

IMagery exploItatIon

BAE Systems delivers software tools for the processing, exploi-tation and dissemination of imagery for border security, counter-terrorism and counter-drug missions. “GXP tools are being used by multiple agencies across the Department of Defense, intelligence community and federal government,” said Youker. “Future devel-opments are likely to include shared data access across domains between international mission partners and federation of data sources for faster response times to threats.”

Bowe foresees the incorporation of capabilities to uniquely iden-tify a specific subject using video analytics, enabling the tracking of specific targets and their whereabouts back in time through auto-mated data-mining of recorded video. “This can be a very powerful forensic tool for investigations of terror events occurring in urban environments,” he said.

“What we really want is to move from data to real information,” said Brower. “The cross-cueing of sensors, gathering data from mul-tiple sensors and correlating that data, no matter its source, will facilitate quicker and more confident decisions.”

Exelis has demonstrated that capability by using hyperspectral sensors to identify potential targets and then cross-cue high-resolu-tion, high-frame-rate video cameras to track the targets.

“The big key to it all is the geospatial information,” said Brower. “Geo-referenced data of all kinds, including imagery as well as other information from other ground sensors and other sensors, enables easier correlation of data by computers and the presentation of more accurate information to users.” O



Intelligence Information: Interoperability and Resuse for the Warfighter

The annual demonstration of industry alignment with the Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise (DI2E)Information Enterprise (DI2E)

DI2E Plugfest exposes vendorsto leaders from DCGS programs,Military Services, JIOCs and the IC agencies.

Visit www.afei.org/events/5A07for more information on how to exhibit, sponsor and attend.to exhibit, sponsor and attend.

George Mason UniversityFairfax, VirginiaMay 19, 2015www.afei.org/events/5A07


Compiled by KMI Media Group staffGIF RESOURCE CENTER

Advertisers index

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Navy Air/Sea is an authoritative review of U.S. Navy, Coast Guard and maritime news and technologies.

A PUBLICATION WWW.NPEO-KMI.COM

PUBLISHED DIGITALLY

EVERY TUESDAY

Navy Air/Sea looks at programs at the individual level and how they

become integrated into systems of systems. General topics include

fixed wing, rotary wing, ships, submarines, unmanned systems,

communications, sensors and optics, detection and surveillance

systems, survivability, missile defense, logistics, maintenance,

weapons and ordnance, to name a few.

Each issue of Navy Air/Sea includes...ConTraCT awards

current fiscal year. The Pearl harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl harbor, is the contracting activity.

Lockheed Martin Corp., Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co., Fort Worth, Texas, is being awarded a $35,600,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order against a pre-

viously issued Basic Ordering Agreement (N00019-14-G-0020) to complete a Joint Strike Missile (JSM) risk reduction and in-tegration study of the F-35 Air System for the government of Norway. The objectives of the study are to further mature JSM weapon design and to ensure compat-ibility of the weapon with the F-35. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas (50 percent) and kongsberg, Norway (50 percent), and is expected to be completed in March 2018. International partner funds in the amount of $10,000,000 are being obligated on this award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patux-ent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

H & H builders inc., (small busi-ness) Tooele, Utah, is being awarded a maximum amount $30,000,000 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-

quantity job order contract for electrical, mechanical, painting, engineering/design, paving (asphaltic and concrete), flooring (tile work/carpeting), roofing, structural repair, fencing, heating, ventilation and air conditioning and fire suppression/protection system installation in the Naval

Facilities engineering Command South-west area of responsibility for the San Diego, Calif., metropolitan area. No task orders are being issued at this time. Work will be performed at Facilities engineer-ing and Acquisition Division (FeAD) Naval Base Point Loma, FeAD Naval Base San Diego and FeAD Naval Base Coronado (excluding Naval Auxiliary Landing Field San Clemente Island). The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months with an expected completion date of Febru-ary 2020. Fiscal 2015 operation and maintenance (Navy) contract funds in the

amount of $5,000 are being obligated on

this award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was com-petitively procured as a service-disabled veteran-owned small-business set-aside via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with 12 proposals received. The Naval Facilities engineering Command, Southwest, San Diego, is the contracting activity (N62473-15-D-2415).

Sikorsky Support Services inc., Stratford, Conn., is being awarded an $11,582,807 modification to a previ-ously awarded firm-fixed-price contract

(N00019-09-C-0024) to exercise an option for organizational, selected intermediate and limited depot-level maintenance for aircraft operated by Adversary Squadrons. Work will be performed at the Naval Air Station (NAS) key West, Fla., (40 percent), NAS Fallon, Nev., (30 percent) and the Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Ariz., (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in June 2015. Fiscal 2015 operations and maintenance (Navy Reserve) funds

in the amount of $11,582,807 are being obligated at time of award, all of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patux-ent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., is being awarded a $9,603,500 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024 13 C-5403) for Standard

Missile 2 (SM-2) and Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) engineering and technical services. This contract will provide for engineering and technical services in support of SM-2 and SM-6 to ensure continuity in produc-tion, design integrity and total systems integration of the missile round and its components. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Navy (23 percent) and the governments of Japan (50.2 percent), Taiwan (14.8 percent), the Neth-

erlands (4.3 percent), korea (4.2 percent), Germany (2.9 percent) and Spain (0.6 percent) under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program or cooperative agree-ments. Work will be performed in Tucson,

and is expected to be completed by De-cember 2015. FMS, fiscal 2015 research,

development, test and evaluation, fiscal 2014 weapons procurement (Navy) and Cooperative Agreements funding in the amount of $9,603,500 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.

Krempp Construction inc., (small business) Jasper, Ind., is being awarded $6,699,538 for firm-fixed-price task order 0003 under a previously awarded multiple award design-build construction contract (N40083-14-D-2722) for renovations to Building 2034 and Building 2035 at the Naval Support Activity, Crane. The work to be performed provides for all labor, equipment, tools, supplies, transportation, supervision, quality control, professional design services and management neces-sary to perform asbestos abatement, gutting the existing buildings, construc-

tion of interior partitions, installation of fire-rated ceiling, fire suppression system, electrical and mechanical upgrades, addressing seismic issues, accessibil-

ity compliance, installation of interior finishes, installation of anti-terrorism force protection compliant windows and the installation of an exterior insulation finish system. Work includes but is not limited to design, general construction, alteration, repair, demolition and work performed by special trades. Work will be performed in Crane, and is expected to be completed by July 2016. Fiscal 2015 Navy working capital funds contract funds in the amount of $6,699,538 are being obligated on this award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Four proposals were received for this task order. The Naval Facilities engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic, Public Works Department Crane, Crane, is the contracting activity.

Correction: Contract awarded Feb. 3, 2015 to Maritime helicopter Support Co., Trevose, Pa., (N00383-11-D-0003F) for $25,499,598, should have stated the completion date as February 28, 2015. The short timeframe is to cover a one-month extension.

WWW.NPeO-kMI.COM

44 | FeBRUARY 10, 2015

PEO Air ASW, ASSAult & SPEciAl MiSSiOn PrOgrAMS

2015

Cindy BurkeBusiness/Financial

Management

Cmdr. Laura SchuesslerChief of Staff

Rear Adm. CJ JaynesProgram Executive Officer

Bruce DinopoulosAssistant Program Executive OfficerLogistics

Jim McLaughlinRDT&E

Shawn SladeScience & Technology

David MeiserAssistant Program Executive OfficerRDT&E

Jim SchmidtTest & Evaluation

Steve NickleContracts

Glenn PerrymanDeputy Program

Executive Officer

Chuck CobaughLogistics

Mac BrownAssistant Program Executive Officer

Test & Evaluation

NAVAIR SUPPORT

HEADqUARTERS

LOGISTICS

RDT&ETEST & EVALUTATION

low-profile Cargo handling System The Boeing CompanyCountry of origin: uSAlanguage: englishAircraft have different spaces and areas. Some of the areas may be

cargo areas for carrying cargo. Cargo areas may be on the main deck

or on the lower deck of the aircraft. while an aircraft is on the ground,

the cargo area may be unloaded and loaded. Existing cargo conveyance

systems used in aircraft may be installed on top of the floor of the cargo

area. The roller systems may be mounted on axles in a track channel,

or tray, that rests on the floor of the compartment. The upper surface of

the rollers, where the cargo will contact, may extend 2’”‘ to 3”‘‘ above

the cargo floor. Since the cargo area may have a fixed height, the height

of the cargo to be loaded may be restricted and the overall useable

volume of the cargo compartment may be reduced. Current cargo conveyance systems may incorporate several roller

trays in a cargo compartment. The roller trays may be oriented along the

longitudinal axis of the aircraft. In addition, transverse trays with balls

may be present in a cargo doorway area. The balls may be metal and

freely rotating. Freely rotating may be defined as rotating in any direction

and around any axis. Existing commercial cargo handling systems allow

the loading of standard or non-standard cargo containers, palletized

cargo or special equipment. Some applications, such as fuselage-mounted auxiliary fuel tanks,

may be loaded or unloaded during maintenance. These fuselage-

mounted auxiliary fuel tanks may increase the amount of fuel that can

be carried but are limited in volume by the restrictions imposed by exist-

ing cargo conveyance systems. Increasing the amount of fuel carried

may be used to increase the range of an aircraft or increase the amount

of fuel that can be offloaded by a tanker aircraft. This design relates generally to a cargo handling system and, in

particular, to a low-profile cargo conveyance system. More particularly,

the present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for allowing

the loading of taller cargo into a cargo area on an aircraft and increasing

the cargo area volume compared to current cargo conveyance systems.

10 drawings

underwater Vehicle SimulationU.S. NavyCountry of origin: uSAlanguage of origin: englishDaily global ocean forecasts that include a four-dimensional (4-D)

(latitude, longitude, depth and time) estimation of ocean currents can

be generated. An approach taken for the estimation of vehicle position

over time is to start with a known position from infrequent fixes (global

positioning system (GpS), ultra-short baseline (USbL), terrain-based,

etc.) and use the vector sum of the vehicle velocity (heading and speed

through the water) with the forecast current. Validation of this approach can be accomplished using log data that

was received from underwater gliders which provides GpS positions at

each dive and surfacing point. An underwater glider propels itself using

a buoyancy engine and wings that create lift to produce horizontal mo-

tion. From a vehicle motion modeling perspective, an underwater glider

must have vertical motion to move horizontally. Since underwater glid-

ers do not use engines for propulsion, they generally have substantial

endurance suitable for ocean sampling, underwater plume tracking and

sustained surveillance. however, these vessels are slow, with sustained

horizontal speeds typically below 0.5 m/s, and navigating them is chal-

lenging, as ocean currents can exceed 2 m/s. The Naval Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) was developed to gener-

ate daily global ocean forecasts predicting temperature, salinity and

currents. Figures 1 and 2 show representative current forecasts during

underwater glider deployment exercises. In these figures, color 303

represents current speed in m/s and arrows 301 indicate the current

direction. Figure 1 shows the current at the surface with speeds as great

as 0.8 m/s. Figure 2 shows the current at 1000 m, the maximum depth

of the glider dives, where the speed is predominately below 0.02 m/s.

position estimation for underwater vehicles operating in the open

ocean can be problematic with existing technologies. Using GpS can

require the vehicle to surface periodically, which poses a potential navi-

gation hazard and subjects the vehicle to the faster currents near the

surface. Inertial systems can be ineffective without the use of Doppler

Velocity Logs (DVL) whose ranges can be too limited for deep ocean op-

eration unless the vehicle is very near the seafloor. Surface- or bottom-

mounted transponder systems can be expensive to deploy and restrict

the geographic area that the vehicle can operate in. A ship equipped

with a USbL system can be used to track an underwater vehicle, which

can be an expensive option for long deployments. A complication in the open ocean is that position estimation is

problematic while submerged. Glider depth can be directly measured

by the vehicle using a pressure sensor. Vertical velocity can be derived

from depth versus time, and horizontal speed through the water can be

estimated given vertical velocity, vehicle pitch angle and a parameter-

ized hydrodynamic model for the vehicle. Consequently, the only certain

position information, for purpose of simulation, is depth (as a function of

time), the time of the dive and the starting and ending surface positions.

In the present embodiment, the motion model can use initial simplifying

assumptions, including zero hydrodynamic slip between the vehicle and

ocean current and a symmetric V-shaped flight trajectory. For the simu-

lations conducted, the maximum depth of the dive and the time of the

dive can be used to compute an estimate of a single vertical velocity.

beyond this model, sources of error in position prediction can include

Defense innovationsCompiled by KMI Media Group staff

FEbRUARy 3, 2015 | 33

www.NpEO-kMI.COM

The Navy’s

Proposed FY2016 Budget

The Department of the Navy released its

proposed $161.0 billion budget for fiscal year

2016 on February 2.

This budget is part of the $534.3 billion

defense budget President Barack Obama

submitted to Congress on the same day.

Rear Admiral William Lescher, deputy

assistant secretary of the Navy for budget,

briefed media at the Department of Defense

budget press conference about the Navy and

Marine Corps portion of the budget.

“Our PB16 budget submission balances

warfighting readiness with our nation’s fiscal

challenges,” said Lescher. “Our force employ-

ment approach aligns capability, capacity

and readiness to regional mission demands,

ensuring our most modern and technologically

advanced forces are located where their com-

bat power is needed most, delivering presence

where it matters, when it matters.”

This year’s budget submission was guided

by the chief of naval operations’ tenets of

warfighting first, operate forward and be ready.

It makes critical investments in people, ships

and innovation so that the Department of the

Navy can execute the defense strategy.

The Department of the Navy requested

$44.4 billion for procurement, focused on pro-

viding stability in the shipbuilding account and

keeping the Navy on track to reach 304 ships

by FY20. In FY16 the Navy will buy nine new

ships, including two Arleigh Burke destroyers,

two Virginia-class submarines, three littoral

combat ships and the first next-generation

logistics fleet resupply ship, the T-AO(X).

Additionally, this budget includes fully

funding the refueling for the aircraft carrier

USS George Washington and the procurement

of a dock landing ship (LPD 28) that Congress

provided partial funds for in the FY15 budget.

The budget includes a $50.4 billion request

for operations and maintenance, reflecting

A PuBlicATioN

Warfighter FirstCombat Readiness, Material Readiness and Personal Readiness

Vice Admiral Thomas S.

Rowden

commander

Naval Surface Forces/

Pacific Fleet

Q: Tell me about your organization at Na-

val Surface Forces headquarters and what

your deployed footprint looks like. Do you

expect your org chart to look the same in

12 to 18 months?

A: We’re what’s known as a “type command,”

which means we’re responsible for outfitting

the surface combatants, making sure we have

the right sailors with the right qualifications

and that we are properly maintaining these

ships so they’re ready when fleet commanders

require them. To that end, my staff provides

logistical, training and combat systems sup-

port, as well as material inspections to stay

ahead of challenges.

We’ve seen progress in how we handle

the manning, training and equipping of the

force over the past few years, and we’ve laid

the foundation for what’s coming next. Our

organizational chart has grown and evolved,

particularly as we bring the Naval Surface

Warfighting Development Center online.

We will continue to see growth in the first

littoral combat ship squadron, DDG 1000

squadron, as well as Destroyer Squadron 7

in Singapore. All of these events move in

sync with the purpose of keeping our fleet

in the best material condition to support the

CNO’s tenet of “warfighting first.”

Q: You’ve been in command about six

months. What have you established as your

most important goals and what metrics

will you use to measure progress?

A: The most important thing is “warfighting

first.” It’s the CNO’s primary tenet and the

one I take as my charge as the type com-

mander for the surface force. It guides my

vision for the surface force. It is as simple as

it is crucial: “Providing combatant com-

manders with lethal, ready, well-trained and

logistically supported surface forces to assure,

deter and win.” You get there by prioritizing

goals, and I have only one real priority: to

ensure that everything we do makes us better

warfighters.This goal is built on meeting three

enduring pillars which enable warfighting

first: combat readiness, material readiness and

personal readiness. Each answers a basic ques-

tion. Combat readiness asks, “Are we training

our sailors to fight and win?” Material readi-

ness asks, “Are we providing warships ready

for combat?” And personal readiness asks,

“Are we developing our sailors?”

You’ll notice all of these pillars tie into

one word: readiness. Every surface warfare

officer (SWO) understands the importance

of readiness. As “SWO Boss,” I have the

primary responsibility for readiness, and it’s

paramount to warfighting—and everything

else we are called to do.

Continued on pAGe 40 ➥ Continued on pAGe 31 ➥

www.NPeo-kmi.comFeb2015

plus:• WhO’S WhO

AT PeO(A)

• NAVY SBIR

INNOVATIONS10

FeBRUARY 10, 2015

WWW.NPeO-kMI.COM

JAnuARy 2014 iMPlEMEntAtion PlAn FoR nAtionAl StRAtEGy FoR ARCtiC REGion

On May 10, 2013, the Obama Ad-ministration released a document titled “National Strategy for the Arctic Region.”20 On January 30, 2014, the Obama Admin-istration released an implementation plan for this strategy.21 Of the 36 or so specific initiatives in the implementation plan, one is titled “Sustain federal capability to con-duct maritime operations in ice-impacted waters.” The implementation plan states the following regarding this initiative:

objective: Ensure the United States maintains icebreaking and ice-strength-ened ship capability with sufficient capacity to project a sovereign U.S. maritime presence, support U.S. inter-ests in the polar regions and facilitate research that advances the fundamental understanding of the Arctic.next Steps: The federal government requires the ability to conduct operations in ice-impacted waters in the Arctic. As maritime activity in the Arctic region increases, expanded access will be required. Next steps include:

• The lead and supporting departments and agencies will develop a document that lists the capabilities needed to operate in ice-impacted waters to support federal activities in the polar regions and emergent sovereign responsibilities over the next 10 to 20 years by the end of 2014.• Develop long-term plans to sustain federal capability to physically access the Arctic with sufficient capacity to support U.S. interests by the end of 2017.

Measuring progress: Sustaining federal capability will be demon-strated through the Federal Government’s ability to conduct operations in the Arctic to support statutory missions and sovereign responsibilities, and to advance interests in the region. progress in implementing this objective will be measured by completion of the capabilities document, and long-term sustainment plan.

Lead Agency: Department of homeland SecuritySupporting Agencies: Department of Commerce (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), Department of Defense, Department of State, Department of Transportation, National Science Foundation[.]22CoSt EStiMAtES FoR CERtAin ModERnizAtion oPtionSnEW REPlACEMEnt SHiPS

The Coast Guard estimated in February 2008 that new replacement ships for the Polar Star and Polar Sea might cost between $800 million and $925 million per ship in 2008 dollars to procure.23 The Coast Guard said that this estimate

is based on a ship with integrated electric drive, three propel-lers and a combined diesel and gas (electric) propulsion plant. The icebreaking capability would be equivalent to the pOLAR Class

Icebreakers [i.e., Polar Star and Polar Sea] and research facilities and accommodations equivalent to Healy. This cost includes all shipyard and government project costs. Total time to procure a new icebreak-er [including mission analysis, studies, design, contract award and construction] is eight to 10 years.24

The Coast Guard further stated that this notional new ship would be designed for a 30-year service life.

The high-Latitude Study provided to Congress in July 2011 states that the above figure of $800 million to $925 million in 2008 dollars equates to $900 million to $1,041 million in 2012 dollars. The study provides the following estimates, in 2012 dollars, of the acquisition costs for new polar icebreakers:

• $856 million for one ship;• $1,663 million for two ships—an average of about $832 million each;• $2,439 million for three ships—an average of $813 million each;• $3,207 million for four ships—an average of about $802 million each;• $3,961 million for five ships—an average of about $792 million each; and• $4,704 million for six ships—an average of $784 million each.

The study refers to the above estimates as “rough order-of-magni-tude costs” that “were developed as part of the Coast Guard’s indepen-dent polar platform business Case Analysis.”25

25-yEAR SERViCE liFE ExtEnSionSThe Coast Guard stated in February 2008 that performing the exten-

sive maintenance, repair and modernization work needed to extend the service lives of the two ships by 25 years might cost roughly $400 million per ship. This figure, the Coast Guard said, is based on assessments made by independent contractors for the Coast Guard in 2004. The service life extension work, the Coast Guard said, would improve the two

icebreakers’ installed systems in certain areas. Although the work would be intended to permit the ships to operate for another 25 years, it would not return the cutters to new condition.26 An August 30, 2010, press report stated that the commandant of the Coast Guard at the time, Admiral Robert papp, estimated the cost

www.NpEO-kMI.COM

14 | FEbRUARy 3, 2015

Exclusive Q&A interviews with Navy/Coast Guard leadership, program officers and operational force commanders

Acquisition program reviews

Solution-based technologies

Strategy and doctrine analysis

Research and development activities

Budget and funding trajectories

Insightful commentary from military, industry and academia

Industrial Intelligence – monthly U.S. and international patent reviews

For more information and to subscribe, contact Jeff McKaughan at [email protected]


INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Geospatial Intelligence Forum

Ron ColeSenior Technical Adviser

Chair, ISR Center of ExcellenceRiverside Research

Q: To help our readers better understand the role Riverside Research plays in supporting the intelligence community, share with us your “elevator speech” as it relates to intelligence-focused remote sensing.

A: First and foremost, Riverside Research is a not-for-profit organization with a 48-year history of advancing scientific research in the public interest and in support of the U.S. government. We have about 600 employ-ees supporting customers from 26 locations around the nation and a couple folks over-seas. With regard to intelligence-focused remote sensing, Riverside Research offers extensive capabilities and competencies in measurement and signature intelligence and GEOINT systems, infrastructures and domains with community-unique exper-tise in overhead persistent infrared and air-borne reconnaissance. In addition, we have led in the development and operations of the most advanced radar systems deployed for intelligence collection and are develop-ing capabilities in big-data exploitation. Our subject-matter experts stand ready to sup-port new ISR programs that provide per-sistent, integrated, multisource wide-area tactical battlefield surveillance in response to the growing demand for high-resolution and timely intelligence.

Q: How would you specifically characterize Riverside Research’s support to the GEOINT community?

A: The most visible area would be our support to persistent geospatial intelligence collection and processing as well as the development of unique reporting formats to meet the specific requirements of GEOINT users. We are very much aware of the direc-tion Director Cardillo wants to take NGA—to enable mission consequence for those that NGA serves—and we believe our estab-lished subject-matter expertise can aid in reaching that goal.

Q: What are some examples of these capabilities?

A: Operationalizing intelligence for global missions requires a novel approach to cur-rent ISR challenges. Riverside Research pro-vides comprehensive systems engineering support to the Multi-Agency Persistence Integrated Program Office, making criti-cal persistence-derived GEOINT information available to the military services and national agencies involved in our nation’s defense. In 2012, we partnered with IBM and Exelis VIS to leverage commercial big-data solutions and cloud-based PED systems for efficient, cost-effective ISR applications. Finally, on behalf of the Air Force, Riverside Research is leading comprehensive technical and opera-tional support in the development, testing, and employment of the Airborne Cueing and Exploitation System Hyperspectral, the Air Force’s premier tactical hyperspectral imag-ing program.

Q: How does Riverside Research support GEOINT users at various levels?

A: Riverside Research has a technical talent pool that is brought to bear when new sensor capabilities need to be exploited in support of tactical users in a timely fashion. From our labs that develop the algorithms, to the verification and testing before operations, to the exploitation and reporting of data, our subject-matter experts are embedded with key government customers to meet these requirements. Our core capabilities in mod-eling and simulation, research and develop-ment, systems engineering and integration, program management, rapid system acquisi-tion, independent verification and validation, collection management, analysis, and report production can be applied to programs at the national and tactical levels of operations.

Q: What unique benefits does Riverside Research provide to its customers compared to other companies in your areas of expertise?

A: Two key points: First, our not-for-profit charter, culture and commitment to the cus-tomer’s mission allow us to provide truly objective and unbiased advisory and assis-tance services (A&AS). As a not-for-profit, we do not answer to shareholders; therefore, we adopt the customer’s mission as our own and reinvest our profits in things that bene-fit the United States. This brings me to the second unique benefit Riverside Research provides—our integrated research laborato-ries. Our biomedical engineering lab, cyber research lab, electromagnetics lab, modeling and application development lab, and radar assessment and development lab work inde-pendently and collectively to support cus-tomers, conduct independent research and development, and provide technical reach-back support to our A&AS programs. In fact, we just broke ground on a 28,000 sq. ft. building expansion to our Dayton Research Center, which will include a plasma lab and GEOINT lab to support nearby customers at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Our slogan, “Moving Science from the Lab to the Field,” is not just a marketing pitch; it’s our mission statement and operating model.

Q: Your title includes chair of the Riverside Research ISR Center of Excellence (COE). Tell us more about this Center of Excellence in Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance.

A: The ISR COE is one of four centers of excellence established across Riverside Research to enhance customer support and effectively communicate our tech-nology focus areas. Other COEs include biomedical engineering, cyber and elec-tromagnetic sciences. As a not-for-profit company, we are privileged to support education, research and workforce devel-opment efforts in all areas of science, tech-nology, engineering and math. O

May/June 2015 Vol. 13, Issue 4NEXTISSUE


Insertion Order Deadline: May 29, 2015 • Ad Material Deadline: June 5, 2015

To Advertise, Contact: Scott P. Parker, Associate PublisherPhone: 301.670.5700 x 135 Email: [email protected]

Video Big DataWith video representing the biggest of big-data sources, analysts at NGA and elsewhere are looking for entirely new methods of interacting with video and video-derived information.

Advanced Image ExploitationSoftware systems can increase the intelligence value of imagery by stabilizing, focusing and tracking movements in raw video data.

Mini-SARs and MoreSynthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology is developing into a host of new capabilities for formats, such as a miniaturized SAR system developed by the Sandia lab to detect IEDs.

Visualization and Situational AwarenessData visualization is a key tool for achieving military and intelligence situational awareness.

Features

Cover and In-Depth Interview with

Special SectioN: intelligence community poster

bonus distribution

GEOINT SymposiumJune 22-25, 2015, Washington, D.C.

JaMes R. ClappeR JR.Director of National Intelligence(invited)

INT 1

INT 2IMM 1

Intelligence

is a matter of perspective

Intelligence

is a matter of perspective

Airbus Defence and Space has a constellation of optical and radar satellites that can cover any point on Earth at least twice a day. Whether it’s detecting suspicious ships under heavy cloud cover or tracking their trajectory in near-real-time, it is vital to have the most relevant and current information at hand. Having timely satellite imagery and geo-intelligence will bring fresh intel to your plan when it matters most.

www.geo-airbusds.com/fresh-perspective

PIONEERING THE FUTURE TOGETHER

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