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May/June 2014 Volume 12, Issue 4

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GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE FORUM Features

May/June 2014 Volume 12, Issue 4

Cover / Q&A

4

10

More than 60 years into the space age, the world has gotten a lot smaller. Now it appears that satellites, the workhorses of space travel and Earth observation, will be getting dramatically smaller as well, and in the process provide a number of new capabilities with significant potential for military, intelligence and other uses.

By Henry Canaday

The Department of Homeland Security’s Geospatial Management Office has played a critical role in bringing the power of geospatial intelligence to homeland securing operations to protect and secure the nation against all hazards and threats.

By David W. Lilley Jr.

Here Come the Small Satellites

GEOINT Power for Homeland Security

17 11

21

23

25

Predictive analytics has emerged as an important capability for geospatial intelligence analysts.

Scrutinizing events to uncover patterns related to a location makes it possible to anticipate where similar events are most likely to occur in the future, directing analysts, law enforcers and warfighters to focus on those areas.

By Peter Buxbaum

By 2018, the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency aims to transform itself from a producer of static products to providing dynamic GEOINT content, analysis and services.

The geospatial industry is moving rapidly to enhance support for special forces and other operators at the tactical edge by developing geospatial intelligence products that can operate effectively even in conditions with limited bandwidth.

Seeking to meet the demanding needs of tactical intelligence users, these systems emphasize mobility, usability and security.

By William Murray

As the intelligence community and Department of Defense move forward on the massive tasks of restructuring their information infrastructures, the existing Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise will play a vital role as bridge and intermediary, according to participants at a recent panel.

By Harrison Donnelly

Predictive Geo-Analytics

NGA Envisions Future State

Tools for the Tactical Edge

Intelligence Bridge

Maj. Gen. John N.T. “Jack”Shanahan Commander Air Force ISR Agency

“We won’t abandon the capabilities and platforms developed for the kind of permissive air environment we operated within over the past 13 years, because some of them will

Departments

Industry Interview A.J. Clark

2 Editor’s Perspective 3 Program Notes/People 14 Industry Raster 27 Resource Center

President Thermopylae Sciences and Technology

28

still retain great value in certain situations. At the same time, however, we are shifting our focus towards operations in contested,

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degraded, operationally limited environments.”

—Maj. Gen. John N.T. Shanahan

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Geospatial Intelligence Forum Volume 12, Issue 4 • May/June 2014

The Magazine of the National Intelligence Community Editorial Managing Editor

Harrison Donnelly harrisond@kmimediagroup.com Online Editorial Manager

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The recent GEOINT 2013* Symposium offered a considerable amount of news for the world of geospatial technology and intelligence, including National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Director Letitia A. Long’s vow to move beyond intelligence integration to “immersive intelligence,” and a promise from Director of National Intelligence James Clapper that, subject to the approval of the president, he would continue to serve in his current position until the end of this administration.

Another important development was the indications given by both Harrison Donnelly officials in prepared remarks and comments to the press that the Editor intelligence community was prepared to support loosening of existing restrictions on the resolution of satellite imagery sold by U.S.-based companies.

The current restrictions, which bar sale of images with better than 50 centimeter resolution, have been a major issue for the remaining U.S. satellite imagery provider, DigitalGlobe, which has been pressing to lower the limit to 25 centimeters. Company officials have argued strenuously that the limit harms their ability to compete on the world market, where a number of international companies have been moving to offer higher resolution products.

The urgency of the issue has increased of late, because DigitalGlobe is getting ready this summer to launch its WorldView-3 satellite, which can provide imagery at 31 centimeter resolution.

The intelligence community had long been seen as the chief obstacle to lowering the limits. But senior officials apparently have concluded that maintaining the economic health of the U.S. industry outweighs concerns that high resolution images would fall into the wrong hands.

The intelligence community doesn’t have the final say in the matter, since other federal agencies such as NOAA also play significant roles in commercial remote sensing policy. But analysts predicted that the White House would agree.

One restriction that probably will not change, however, is the 17-year-old congressional amendment that effectively bars selling imagery of Israel with better than one meter resolution. While frustrating to Google Earth users planning a trip to Jerusalem’s Old City, as this writer found last summer, the fuzzy images are generally seen as a prudent part of protecting that country from missile and other attacks.

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PROGRAM NOTES

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NGA Shares Disaster Tool on Collaboration Site The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency has joined GitHub, a popular social network that allows programmers to collaborate and share computer code between users. The network allows developers to modify, distribute and perform work on the code, either to improve NGA’s product, or for their own use.

Participating on GitHub will make it possible for other organizations to benefit from the agency’s development efforts. NGA hopes to reap benefits in innovation, creativity and the power of a far-reaching community of programmers who approach the development of the program from different perspectives.

“It’s critical we identify more ways to be innovative, reduce costs and integrate efforts across the intelligence community and all of government,” said NGA Director Letitia Long. “It’s a new way of thinking for us, and it is exactly the kind of thing we need to be doing.”

NGA began by sharing its code for GeoQ, a tool the agency developed to assist with humanitarian assistance and disaster recovery efforts. The tool was further refined in partnership with FEMA and has since begun to be used as the backbone of a shared disaster response solution across the U.S. government and first-responder community.

GeoQ provides workflow management and integrates imagery and analysis from multiple sources, such as photos from smartphones and news broadcast

footage, to help identify disaster areas and extent of damage, explained Ray Bauer, technology lead for NGA’s Readiness, Response and Recovery team.

It enables analysts to review imagery from different sources simultaneously, rather than sequentially, which results in much faster damage assessments and better prioritization of limited first-responder resources in a time-sensitive environment.

“We built GeoQ on all open-source frameworks to make it easily shareable with our mission and response partners. This allows them to integrate the software into their own visual display systems,” said Bauer. “What we’re hoping for now is to spark interaction with the GitHub communities to improve the code.

As long as you have access to the Internet, you can be a part of the solution.”

GeoHuntsville, an economic initiative comprised of more than 50 private companies, 25 government entities and three universities engaged in geospatial technology applications in the Huntsville and North Alabama area, is testing out the GeoQ code on a beta site running on Amazon Cloud.

“We appreciate the support of the NGA,” said Mayor Tommy Battle of Huntsville. “Our initiative seeks to demonstrate how we can implement locationbased technology and effectively distribute information to first responders and others quickly in the event of local emergencies.”

Group Studies “Big Earth Data” In a sign of the growing importance of big data analytics in geospatial intelligence, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) is seeking comments on the charter for a new OGC Big Data Domain Working Group (DWG).

As the organization noted recently, the widespread need to perform rapid, flexible analytics on big data has become a major driver in the information and communications technology industry, and location-based and geospatial data applications are major contributors to this data deluge. Such applications involve, for example, high volume transactions with mobile devices and location-aware sensors, growing use of

diverse high-resolution airborne, orbiting and undersea imaging devices, numerical model outputs, navigation through 3-D representations of indoor and outdoor environments, and new policies aimed at preserving and reusing geoscience and environmental data.

Members of the proposed Big Data DWG believe that the OGC needs to make statements and provide guidance on the use of OGC standards in managing big data. The OGC Big Data DWG initiators aim to provide an open forum for work on big data management, analytics and interoperability. The group is being chartered to encourage collaborative development among

participants representing many organizations and communities. It will ensure appropriate liaisons to relevant working groups inside and outside the OGC. Final reports will be submitted to OGC for publication as best-practice papers.

The OGC Big Data DWG will specifically focus on spatio-temporal data, in line with OGC’s mission. Using the term “big Earth data,” the group will look at such questions as what big Earth data means in an open geospatial context, what are the challenges of big Earth data for OGC’s data and service interface specifications, and what is the market value of big Earth data.

PEOPLE Major General George J. Franz III, who has been serving as commander, Cyber National Mission Force, U.S. Cyber Command, has been assigned as commanding general, Army Intelligence and Security Command, Fort Belvoir, Va. Navy Rear Admiral (lower half) Brett C. Heimbigner has been nominated for appointment to

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the rank of rear admiral. He is currently serving as deputy director, National Clandestine Service for Community HUMINT, Central Intelligence Agency.

International Security Assistance Force and deputy director, operations and support, J-2, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, U.S. Central Command, Kabul, Afghanistan.

Colonel Mary F. O’Brien, who has been serving as vice commander, Air Force ISR, has been selected for the grade of brigadier general and assigned as deputy, Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Headquarters

Jeffrey K. Harris, a former director of the National Reconnaissance Office and undersecretary of the Air Force, has been elected as chairman of the board of the U.S. Geospatial

Intelligence Foundation (USGIF).

He is retired from Lockheed Martin, where he was a corporate officer and served as president of Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space, as well as president of Lockheed Martin Special Programs. Harris replaces Stu Shea, USGIF founder and long-time board chairman, who recently stepped down from his post as chief operating officer of Leidos.

GIF 12.4 | 3

Here Come

the Small

Satellites Constellations of tiny devices will offer persistent surveillance of Earth, as well as machine-to-machine communication, weather forecasting and technology testing.

By Henry Canaday GIF Correspondent

4 | GIF 12.4

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More than 60 years into the space age, the world has gotten a lot smaller.

Now it appears that satellites, the workhorses of space travel and Earth observation, will be getting dramatically smaller as well, and in the process provide a number of new capabilities with significant potential for military, intelligence and other uses.

Companies such as Skybox Imaging and Planet Labs are setting ambitious goals for putting nano- (less than 10 kilograms) or micro-satellites (10-150 kilograms) in orbit in large numbers at affordable costs. One aim is persistent surveillance of Earth, but there are other potential uses, such as intelligence, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, weather forecasting and technology testing.

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GIF 12.4 | 5

Interest in small satellites is driven by the continuing revolution in electronics, which is putting more power in smaller packages and offering appealing economic benefits. But limitations and hurdles are real. Small satellites can’t do jobs requiring very high resolution over large spaces, big antennas or very powerful communications. Launching small satellites economically is not yet as easy as building them affordably. And money must be raised for still unproven business cases.

Providers are enthusiastic. “Skybox is a data and analysis company that extracts information from satellite imagery,” said John Fenwick, co-founder and vice president of flight operations. “We approach the world as one enormous data-science problem, with a focus on providing global businesses access to timely imagery, video and analytics.”

Skybox launched its first high-resolution image and video satellite, SkySat-1, in late 2013. SkySat-2 is scheduled to launch Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) designed its S1 satellites, such as this SSTL-300S1 platform, for high resolution optical in the middle of 2014 on a Soyuz rocket, Surrey imaging. [Image courtesy of SSTL] followed by SkySat-3 in late 2014.

Skybox will launch its first block of six commercial high-resoSpace Systems/Loral will build a constellation of 13 low-Earth lution image and video satellites from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., on orbit satellites for Skybox. “We intend to compete for opportuniOrbital Sciences’ Minotaur-C launch vehicle, Fenwick said. The ties to build small satellites and develop service and data offercompany plans to have a constellation of 24 satellites in orbit in ings that use small satellites,” said David Lackner, vice president five years, enabling it to revisit any point on Earth up to five to of business development. seven times daily.

Lackner said he believes Skybox has reinvented Earthobservation satellites as new technologies enable more capability in smaller packages and lower costs expand possible applications.

High-Resolution Video Small satellites will do best when persistence, affordability and assurance are required, he explained, adding that low cost allows Skybox satellites capture high-resolution still images and fullmultiple satellites, and micro-satellites give assurance that nanomotion high-definition video at 30 frames per second, for up to satellites cannot.

90-second clips. Fenwick said he believes this is the first commerHowever, limitations of mass and power mean large satellites cial high-resolution video of Earth. Skybox images yield better are still needed to transport video programming and broadband, than 1-meter resolution, discerning objects the size of car windLackner acknowledged. Size counts in supporting ultra high-defishields. Skybox also processes, stores and delivers data from its nition TV, consumer broadband and cellular backhaul. images.

Skybox satellites can assist precision agriculture with yield and health analysis by row, emergency assistance in natural disasters, Low-Earth Orbits humanitarian assistance in conflict areas and deforestation monitoring. In addition, insurance companies can tailor services by But even tiny units can do some important jobs, according to better predicting risks. Satellite images aid risk modeling, underNanoSatisfi Chief Executive Officer Peter Platzer, who predicted “a writing, damage assessments, claims management and monitorvery stable exponential curve in the improvement of capabilities, ing high-value assets like refineries and nuclear power plants. size, weight and power of nano-satellites.”

Skybox customers already include European Space Imaging, Platzer emphasized the difference between low-Earth orbits of Space Imaging Middle East, Japan Space Imaging and Genscape.

500 kilometers and geo-stabilized orbits of 36,000 kilometers. “We Due to small telescope diameters, Skybox satellites will never can get more and better data, cheaper,” he said. read license plates, for example. But Fenwick argued that repeated Nano-satellites generally weigh up to 10 kilograms. Most are daily coverage will complement the smaller number of larger satCubeSats, a standard 10-centimeter cube weighing a bit more ellites that yield such images. Moreover, Skybox’s design cycle is than a kilogram. Small size and standardization avoid launch very rapid, enabling it to exploit the latest electronics, compobottlenecks. nents, sensors and other technologies. Starting with Skybox’s “Others need single-launch providers,” Platzer observed. “We third satellite, propulsion modules will lower altitudes to achieve are certified for dozens of launch vehicles, can get on one in the higher resolutions. short term and launch 100, not one or two.”

6 | GIF 12.4

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Geomatica 2014 provides automatic DEM extraction capability. Stereo imagery of Hamilton, Ontario, was used within Geomatica to generate a 45 cm digital surface model, which is then used to create high resolution othomosaicked imagery. [Image courtesy of PCI Geomatics Geomatica]

For confirmation, Platzer pointed to increasing estimates of nano-satellites in space by 2020, forecast at 100 in 2011 and now predicted to top 400 by the end of the decade.

With companies like Planet Labs and Skybox focusing on Earth imaging, NanoSatisfi is looking at other missions and has made several presentations to U.S. intelligence officials, Platzer said.

One use case is M2M communication for maritime surveillance.

That might be especially important to aviation, since all aircraft soon will be equipped with Automatic Dependent SurveillanceBroadcast (ADSB) transponders. “We can pick up that beacon,” Platzer said. “With hundreds of satellites in space, we can know where every aircraft is in a couple of minutes.”

High-orbit geostationary satellites are too far away to pick up ADSB signals, while drones will not cover oceans or deserts, said Platzer, adding that nano-satellites can look for other assets such as ships, trucks and pipelines. “Having a constellation of 100 nano-satellites covering the whole Earth in low orbit able to pick up weak signals is very interesting.”

One barrier to progress is finding enough qualified engineers, so NanoSatisfi’s ArduSat program lets students experiment with nano-satellites and learn to interpret their data. The other barrier, Platzer said, is that some people still view nano-satellites as toys.

Optical and SAR Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) continues to make satellites and ground segments more cost-effective, increasing performance and reducing overall price, said Luis Gomes, head of Earth observation for that company.

Customers seek more data for less money, so SSTL designed its S1 satellites for high-resolution optical imaging. “They are still probably the best overall solution in the 0.7- to 1-meter resolution range if you are after large volumes of data at low cost per square www.GIF-kmi.com

kilometer,” Gomes said. Now customers want more temporal resolution, so SSTL is developing systems that offer more data, more frequently.

SSTL wants to lower the cost per square kilometer for both optical and synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) satellites. It offers resolution of 22 to 0.7 meters, optical and SAR, all built with standard avionics. SSTL makes it own cameras and integrates third-party payloads on its platforms Now SSTL is commoditizing its designs to develop fast and easy-to-build satellites. It is changing manufacturing processes, introducing a new generation of instruments and launching a constellation to image Earth daily in visible and infrared bands.

This offers the capability of near-real-time monitoring of human impacts.

At present, SSTL satellites with sub-metric resolution and excellent radiometric and geometric performance cost from $25 million to $30 million. The company also offers a satellite with similar resolution but less image capacity for less than $10 million.

This is for large constellations of satellites, while the more expensive versions are stand-alone satellites for high-end applications.

SSTL satellites are used for farming, forest management, disasters, land use, mapping, business and other purposes.

Applications will expand with the arrival of SAR and fusing of optical and SAR images.

Gomes said the basic hurdles for small satellites derive from physics: Higher resolution requires bigger cameras, and more data requires faster downlinks. Moreover, launch costs still hamper progress. “In some cases, the launch costs more than the satellite.”

Low-cost launchers are scarce, with current launches costing between $20,000 and $30,000 per kilogram. But volume, not price, really drives price, Gomes said, so manufacturers must reduce size.

GIF 12.4 | 7

The NovaSAR-S delivers all weather medium resolution synthetic aperture radar Earth observation data night and day. [Image courtesy of SSTL]

Long-Life Missions

Weather observations are now done by government systems, but GeoOptics is hoping to open the field to commercial firms.

The current Joint Polar Satellite System is nine years behind according to schedule and will cost $500 million per sensor, Yunk noted.

“We can do it for on the order of $5 million per satellite. Instead of the government paying billions of dollars, they can pay a subscription for the data,” Yunk said, adding that he anticipates economies across the board in building and launching satellites.

GeoOptics satellites would do GPS radio occultation, a technique that translates the occluding of signals into atmospheric properties. “That is the Luis Gomes initial killer app,” Yunk said, while predicting that there will also be other sensors based on radio and radar, similar to those used by NOAA today.

Yunk argued that most satellite missions desired by NOAA, NASA and Space Administration and the Air Force can be done by small satellites, which can do anything that does not require highresolution optical telescopes.

Ball Aerospace is committed to small satellites, Kenny Epstein, director of the spacecraft products.

Its existing product line includes the BCP100— 100- to 200-kilogram spacecraft designed to be launched as secondary payloads on launch vehicles.

“We see expanded roles for small satellites,” Epstein said. Capabilities and reliability continue to improve, and Ball sees more use of small satellites in some long-life missions.

One favorable development is affordable access to space provided by firms like Space X. Allowing secondary payloads on launch vehicles aids small satellites.

Constellations of small satellites can be very cost effective for a variety of missions and customers, Epstein said. Customers need to consider using ground processors to combine sensor data from constellations of small satellites with selective data from larger platforms.

Focusing on the reliability of whole constellations, rather than of individual satellites, will favor small satellites for several missions, Epstein argued.

Imaging Processing “Mission design at this level is complicated analysis and new for some customers, but we believe over PCI Geomatics has been providing software for Kevin Jones time the merits of this kind approach will foster interpretation of geospatial images since the early greater use of small spacecraft in disaggregated architectures.”

1980s. “We work with satellites and aerial vehicles and provide GeoOptics, meanwhile, is a start-up seeking to launch a consoftware that lets customers convert data into ortho images and stellation of 24 small satellites to do remote sensing for climate mosaic images,” explained Marketing Director Kevin Jones. and weather missions. The satellites would weigh roughly 10 to PCI is “very excited” about the prospects of micro- and nano30 kilograms, explained Tom Yunk, the company’s chief execusatellites, Jones said. “More and more satellites in orbit mean tive officer. more images, more business for us and more processing. For “Imaging is a $2 billion market,” Yunk observed. “NonEarth observation, there will be more data, better information imaging is a $10 billion to $12 billion market.” and better understanding of what is happening.”

8 | GIF 12.4

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Further, high-gain antennas for commuSmall satellites will revolutionize Earth nication, especially in lower L-, S- or observation because they cost so much C-frequency bands, cannot be accomless to build and launch. Thus more modated in small satellites. will be launched, yielding higher volHurdles to small satellites start umes, better coverage and increased with launch cost. These devices persistence. must be piggy-backed on other “They cannot cover large areas at launches or built in constellations once, at least with much precision, and launched as clusters. Possible due to their instruments,” Jones solutions for small satellites include acknowledged. “They are primara launch dispenser from the interily good for launching several national space station, passenger and putting them in constellaarrangement on traditional launchtions so you can do rapid revisit. ers, mini-launchers on aircraft and They need to be in a constellaeven space planes. tion mode.”

Another downside is debris.

Larger satellites tend to have Small satellites are often launched in sophisticated components in their third-stage orbits, which become very larger payloads. Small satellites’ busy. Most do not have propulsion, gyroscopes and star trackers will necessarily be less precise and may The SSTL-X50 series offers a single system architecture and technology designed so are not de-orbited at end of life. to meet a wide range of mission applications and requirements. [Image courtesy “Management of debris starts to be an not yield precise locations, Jones of SSTL] issue,” Campenon said. O suggested.

Radiometric quality is also uncertain. “There might be chalFor more information, contact GIF Editor Harrison Donnelly lenges,” Jones said. “You need to have consistent radiometry to at harrisond@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives look for changes because you want to know if changes are real for related stories at www.gif-kmi.com. or due to changes in radiometry.”

PCI makes tools that can correct or adjust for many possible limitations in small-satellite data. These tools can automatically correct large volumes of data, processing millions of square kilometers per day.

Cost and Power Observers are cautiously optimistic about the prospects for the new satellite fleets. Nano- and micro-satellites are enabled by miniaturization of electronics, the resultant decrease in power consumption, and smaller and fully integrated or autonomous sensors for attitude and orbit control, noted Philippe Campenon, deputy director for space and Earth observation at Euroconsult.

Campenon outlined three main uses for small satellites, including education and orbit demonstration and validation.

Finally, using small satellites in constellation for Earth observation will make images more timely. “Multiplying the number of satellites is the simplest answer to this revisit capability,” he said.

Cost argues for constellations of small satellites, if these can carry necessary payloads. This is the case for medium-resolution sensors like those of Planet Labs, or meteorological sensors for GPS-RO such as COSMIC or PlanetiQ. Small satellites can also store and forward low data-rate communication for M2M service, as ORBCOMM does.

But, as Campenon noted, small size limits power, which in turn prevents uses demanding high energy, such as wide telecommunication, observation and science missions requiring high data rates and SAR. And small satellites have little room for payloads, which means large aperture telescopes to overcome diffraction are impossible. Very High Resolution satellites cannot be micro-satellites. www.GIF-kmi.com

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GIF 12.4 | 9

GEOINT Power for Homeland Security Geospatial Management Office plays key role in deploying geospatial intelligence to protect and secure the nation.

By David W. Lilley Jr. This “all about the data” approach valIn the decade since its creation by ues the importance of geospatial metadata the 2004 Intelligence Reform Act, the and geo-tagging to facilitate the search, Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) discovery and retrieval of geospatial data in Geospatial Management Office (GMO) has near real time to meet the user’s requireplayed a critical role in bringing the power ment. Through this strategic vision, the of geospatial intelligence to homeland secuDHS GMO is leading and contributing to rity operations to protect and secure the several national initiatives intended to align nation against all hazards and all threats. geospatial support activities, The DHS GMO is an outintegrate geospatial techcome focused organization, nology capabilities, facilitate committed to a strategic geospatial information sharroadmap that is intended ing, and broaden the utilto deliver the right technolity and value of geospatial ogy at the right time to the analysis across the homeland right users to ensure that security enterprise (HSE). the power of geospatial intelThe DHS GMO is a ligence gets into the hands of leader in coordinating across homeland security operators. the entire spectrum of the Under the leadership of David Alexander nation: from federal to state Director David Alexander, and local governments, to private sector the DHS GMO has contributed to over $90 and community organizations, academia, million in cost savings and avoidance for the research and development industry and DHS, while simultaneously improving geocitizens. To facilitate this national coordispatial tradecraft, collaboration, synchronination, homeland security missions and zation and awareness across all levels of the business functions are aligned through a government. Its success has been achieved Homeland Security Geospatial Concept of through the implementation of geospaOperations (GeoCONOPS). tial enterprise licensing agreements, shared The GeoCONOPS serves as a mission geospatial infrastructure and collaborative blueprint for understanding the points of geospatial data investments. coordination across the geospatial ecosysThe DHS GMO strategic vision emphatem supporting the HSE. The GeoCONOPS sizes four key components: geospatial poldescribes “the who, the what, and the how” icy, information, technology and tradecraft. of the geospatial community, as well as It comprises eight core focus areas: goverwhat geospatial activities, data, best pracnance, requirements management, softtices and technical capabilities are required ware, data, infrastructure, remote sensing, to be successful. The delivery infrastructure common operating picture and geospasupporting geospatial information sharing tial practice. The central premise of this is based on the notion of core capabilities strategic vision is that effective homeland expressed through the GeoCONOPS. security is about integrating and unifyThese core capabilities are realized as ing operations through an information shared resources with integrated, federated web that better ensures shared missions search capabilities that are orchestrateare working off a common set of geospaable across network domains. This Webtial information that is consumable within based geospatial delivery infrastructure respective situational awareness solutions.

10 | GIF 12.4

includes federal resources such as the Homeland Security Geospatial Information Infrastructure, the Department of Interior Geospatial Platform and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s Online environment, and is linked to resources such as the National States Geographic Information Council GIS inventory and other private sector offerings. This “no wrong door policy” provides immediate access to the most relevant geospatial information while better ensuring temporal and spatial information is based on reliable, trusted data sources.

Given the complexity and sensitivity of the nation’s current operating and fiscal environments, the collective ability of homeland security partners to exploit timely, accurate, high resolution and actionable geospatial information and imagery is more important than ever. Situational awareness enabled by geospatial capabilities plays a vital role in enhancing the effectiveness and unity of homeland security operations across all levels of government and all domains.

The DHS GMO has become a leader in driving the HSE toward a national framework for geospatial information sharing enhancing geospatial policy, information, technology and tradecraft. Future editions of Geospatial Intelligence Forum will include articles on key DHS GMO initiatives and capabilities. O David W. Lilley Jr. is geospatial portfolio manager in the DHS Geospatial Management Office.

gmo@hq.dhs.gov

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.

www.GIF-kmi.com

Predictive Geo-Analytics Finding past patterns related to a location makes it possible to

anticipate where similar events are most likely to occur in the future.

By Peter Buxbaum GIF Correspondent

databases. Social media, which is emerging as an important Predictive analytics has emerged as an important capabilsource for geospatial analytics, is also a form of text-based, ity for geospatial intelligence analysts. Scrutinizing events to unstructured data. uncover patterns related to a location makes it possible to anticBesides the need to efficiently store and retrieve ipate where similar events are most likely to occur this kind of data, advances in computing have also in the future, directing analysts, law enforcers and allowed analysts to tackle massive geospatial data warfighters to focus on those areas. sets. Tools such as machine learning tools and natAt the technology level, predictive analytics, ural language processors are making advances in especially as it applies to geospatial intelligence, is extracting intelligence from unstructured data another version of the big data problem. Geospatial while visualization tools are proving important predictive analytics relies on a host of dense data in providing richer analysis of and more accessisources, such as imaging and full motion video ble answers to geospatial intelligence problems. sensors, as well as open source information such Visualization and other recently developed tools as social media data. that automate analytical processes allow predicTechnology advances that enable the processJustin Christian tive analytics to be used by a wider set of potential ing of ever-larger data sets also serve predictive intelligence consumers. analytics. In addition, other technology developments have also “There are a variety of factors that have contributed to the played an important role in bringing predictive analytics to geoadvancements in predictive analytics, including increased comspatial intelligence. pute capacity and the availability of new software technologies New database technologies allow analysts to deal with used to store and manipulate extremely large quantities of data,” unstructured data as never before. This is important to GEOINT said Justin Christian, director of technology and innovation at analysts because much of the data they examine—includMercury Intelligence Systems. “Also, there are increasingly more ing images and videos—is not suited to traditional relational www.GIF-kmi.com

GIF 12.4 | 11

diverse and high-volume data feeds available to analytic developers today, and that creates a fertile environment for the development of new analytic discovery techniques.”

“One of the major technology innovations that have facilitated geospatial predictive analytics has been the use of new and different kinds of databases,” said Jordan Becker, vice president and general manager for geospatial intelligence and ISR at BAE Systems. “Graph databases, as opposed to traditional relational databases, allow for the storage and retrieval of large volumes of unstructured data and observations as well as unstructured linkages associated with those observations. The reason why they are popular and useful in this domain is that it is easy to quickly trace links and do analytics on them without having to do large moves and table manipulations, which are computationally difficult with relational databases.”

Some graph databases are available as open source products.

Jordan Becker

New Paradigm

Bob Palmer

understanding of the relationships between individuals, their activities and their transactions,” Becker explained.

Pivotal, which is a joint venture between EMC and VMware, with General Electric as a stakeholder, is a sponsor of an open source set of analytics tools for predictive analytics called MADlib.

“These are a standard set of statistical machine learning tools for doing predictive analytics on big data sets,” said Marshall Presser, field chief technology officer at Pivotal. “With MADlib, data scientists can do text analytics, numeric analytics, and clustering, all of which may or may not be predictive, and do it with data that lives in the database.

The motto has always been to send analytics tools to where the data lives. Don’t pull the data from where it is being stored into an analytics engine.”

MADlib is an open-source library for scalable in-database analytics. It provides implementations of mathematical, statistical and machine-learning methods for structured and unstructured data. These SQL-based algorithms for machine learning, data mining, and statistics run at speed and scale.

“Conducting big-data analysis in the database can eliminate the cost, time and security issues associated with traditional data warehouse analytics,” said Presser.

MADlib routines have also been adapted to Hadoop, the popular filing and storage system for big data. “We also built a relational database that can be run on top of the Hadoop distributed file system,” said Presser. This allows the many who know how to frame SQL queries the opportunity to do so with the unstructured and large data sets found in Hadoop.

Increases in processing power and speed have also made their marks on predictive analytics, noted Bob Palmer, senior director for strategy and innovation at SAP National Security Services. “The increase in processing power and speed are based on a new paradigm called in-memory computing,” he said. “There has also been a democratization of predictive analytics by making it available to many more types of users with the use of automated tools.”

With the advent of graph databases has come Marshall Presser the development of analytical tools that can operate on top of those databases. “Tools have been developed that allow high performance access to data that has been spread out In-memory Processing across different storage and memory locations in the graph databases,” said Becker. “A technique that has been recently exploited SAP has used advances in in-memory computing to build a in graph databases is called extended set processing. This is a new computational platform called HANA, which combines datamechanism that optimizes how graph databases are laid out base, data management and multi-core processing capabilities. in storage to optimally make data and their links available for The platform provides libraries for predictive, planning, text proanalysis.” cessing, spatial and business analytics.

Analytics tools that operate on large graph databases include “With in-memory processing you can get instant analytics on BAE’s activity based intelligence (ABI) offerings. Another such a multi-trillion record set, instead of waiting minutes or hours,” tool, called Maple, allows analysts to find missing elements in said Palmer. patterns laid out on graph databases. “It makes it easier to idenSAP HANA’s approach is to contain the logic to be applied to tify holes in patterns or what is abnormal, and use the whole data and all of the data to be processed in main memory at all database to form a hypothesis about what might be going on,” times. “Very large data sets can be exposed to complex predictive said Becker. algorithmic processing in rapid response times,” said Palmer.

BAE Systems is currently providing an ABI solution to “Analysts can process geospatial data and open source unstructhe National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency under NGA’s Total tured data all in one platform.”

Application Services for Enterprise Requirements program. It Developed in collaboration with Intel, which wrote HANAemploys software analysis tools integrated with a COTS computspecific instruction sets into its newest generation of chips, SAP ing infrastructure to automate the ingestion, storage and processHANA also provides a suite of predictive, spatial and text analyting of large volumes of intelligence data across multiple sources. ics libraries that can run across multiple data sources.

“This solution enables intelligence analysts to better identify “These new tools enable a self-service applications model adversarial activity patterns, and helps them achieve a greater that addresses the needs of subject matter experts and mission 12 | GIF 12.4

www.GIF-kmi.com

better insight into what layers to pull and make analysts, not just mathematicians and data scienthe best possible decisions in order to change the tists,” said Palmer. “These tools democratize and outcome.” mask the complexity of analytic processes. With easy point-and-click interfaces, they make predictive analysis accessible to a wider audience.”

Automating Cognition Predictive analysis is particularly well suited for in-memory data processing, Palmer noted.

The ultimate technology challenge associated “Analysts historically have only used samples of with predictive analytics, according to Becker, data to run their predictive models,” he explained. involves automating cognition. “That is the holy “With SAP HANA, predictive analysis can be pergrail,” he said. “Humans have a more intuitive way formed on every element of the data set. The of forming connections among disparate and dirty Lou Bajuk-Yorkgan more data points that you use in the algorithm, forms of data than machines do today. The hope is the more accurate the predicted outcomes are. to be able to teach machines to learn in a way that GEOINT analysts can prediction a range of future emulates humans. At the end of the day, a senior location of entities and actors based on past analyst briefing the president wants to be able to movements. All of this is of great importance inform him on the intent of an activity or an actor to mission planning, targeting and battlespace and not merely identify the activity or the actor. awareness.”

That is what intelligence activity ought to be conNew visualization technologies have also been cerned about.” applied to geospatial predictive analytics. Once The technology is not there yet, but researcha set of locations with similar spatial characterers are making good progress on that front, istics are correlated with past events, hundreds according to Becker. “We are using statistical of geospatial data layers are reviewed to identechniques to get more signal out of data and to Matt Fahle tify the physical, cultural and social factors that form linkages,” he said. “It is still a new art but I may correlate with the activity being examined. foresee great progress as time goes on.”

These hotspots, once identified, can be visualized “Most intelligence processes used to be manon a map highlighting where similar events are ually intensive and now they are becoming more most likely to occur, allowing users of the inteland more automated,” said Matt Fahle, a senior ligence to deploy their resources more effectively. executive for intelligence services at Accenture.

Visualization and other recently developed lat“As automated technologies do predictive analytest tools allow predictive analytics to be used by a ics, it is all coming down to the compression of wider set of potential intelligence consumers. time from when data is acquired to driving actionSpotfire from TIBCO Software is a platform able insights. These new technologies are changfor the interactive visualization of data. “Spotfire ing how intelligence analysts are doing business, is about getting the most out of data,” said Lou and they are able to perform missions differently.”

Matt Hughes Bajuk-Yorgan, the company’s product manager for Platforms that deliver new capabilities at predictive analytics. “By combining predictive analytics with higher levels of speed enable analysts to approach intelligence visualization, the idea is to maximize what you can get out of problems in a more straightforward manner, according to the data.”

Palmer. “Because they can handle both structured and unstrucPredictive analytics can be applied in any situation where tured data, and with the speed of in-memory computing, they an organization has historical data in order to impute what will empower analysts to approach the information they need to happen next, noted Bajuk-Yorgan. “The main thing that we do is solve a mission problem at a natural rhythm and in real time.” to embed predictive analytics in user-friendly applications so the All of which makes the intelligence process more efficient average user can employ targeted and relevant predictive analytand efficacious. “The intelligence community can no longer ics in their decision making,” he said. afford to have analysts wade around in vast amounts of data “Because they are wrapped in user-friendly interfaces, for days, weeks and months to find items of interest,” said Matt we can make sure that the average user is following the corHughes, president of Mercury Intelligence Systems. “Analytics rect workflow and is using analytics properly,” he continued. are the tools that enable rapid discovery of information that the “Forecasting can be done with a single right-click on a time analyst may not find with traditional data mining techniques series, and the results can be made available to a wide variety of or otherwise might overlook simply due to the incredible volusers. More advanced users can crate their own predictive anaume of data. lytics programs with tools provided within Spotfire.”

“The power of predictive tools to enable that discovery can The most recent Spotfire release included tools for geocodsolve problems that are not immediately evident to a human ing and geospatial analysis. “These have been tightly integratalone,” he added. O ing into Spotfire,” said Bajuk-Yorgan. “These include global maps for geospatial exploration and analysis, allowing users to explore data in a spatial context. The data can also be mashed For more information, contact GIF Editor Harrison Donnelly at harrisond@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives up with new data sources quickly. By developing deeper insight for related stories at www.gif-kmi.com. and anticipation of what may happen next, users can gain www.GIF-kmi.com

GIF 12.4 | 13

INDUSTRY RASTER Mobile App Provides Hands-Free Data Collection A new mobile app from BAE Systems can be used with Google Glass for hands-free geospatial intelligence data collection and photo reporting from anywhere in the field. The GXP Xplorer Snap app can transform Google Glass devices, smartphones and tablets into crowd-sourced informationgathering tools capable of generating photo reports that can be shared across an organization. The GXP Xplorer Snap app enables Google Glass users to quickly snap photos and record a report title and brief description using only their voice. The report is automatically geotagged, time-stamped and uploaded to a GXP Xplorer server, where it is immediately shared and accessible to the rest of

Video Satellite Focused on ActivityBased Intelligence The Surrey V1C color video-imaging satellite from Surrey Satellite Technology US (SSTUS) represents a new compact design with high-quality imaging at sub-1-meter resolution.

Priced at less than $20 million, the V1C design provides a 10-kilometer color video imaging swath. The Surrey V1C satellite will collect high-definition, natural-color (red, green, blue) video with better than 1-meter ground sample distance resolution over a 10-kilometer-wide swath at up to 100 frames per second. In addition to video, the camera can operate in still scene imager mode. The Surrey V1C spacecraft is based on the new SSTL-X50 satellite bus derived from mission-proven Surrey spacecraft designs. The satellite has large onboard data storage capabilities for store and forward as well as real-time downlink technology. SST-US has been developing a complete suite of small satellites applicable to a broad spectrum of intelligence collection requirements. SST-US developed the Surrey V1C for organizations that need satellite data to be collected and analyzed quickly for situational awareness and activitybased intelligence applications related to rapidly changing human or infrastructure conditions on the ground.

Kevin Corbley; kevin@corbleycommunications.com

14 | GIF 12.4

the enterprise. The hands-free benefit makes it an ideal technology for use in reconnaissance

missions and disaster relief operations.

GXP Xplorer Snap works as a companion app to the GXP Xplorer data discovery and management application, which is part of the suite of GXP Enterprise Solution products that streamlines the image analysis workflow and increases workforce productivity, allowing more products to be created in less time. Photo reports that are collected with the mobile app can then be brought into GXP WebView, a new lightweight, Web-based Electronic Light Table that allows users to find and exploit mission-critical geospatial data using only a Web browser.

Charles Ratzer; charles.ratzer@baesystems.com

Appliance Offers Fast Storage, Multilevel Security Xyratex, a Seagate company, has released a new addition to the ClusterStor family of high performance computing (HPC) and big data engineered storage solutions—the ClusterStor Secure Data Appliance (SDA). Designed to meet government ICD 503 and cross domain requirements, the ClusterStor SDA solution provides multilevel security capabilities combined with the industry’s fastest storage performance and largest data capacity available today for productivitycritical HPC and big data applications.

This new ClusterStor solution features end-to-end integration, management and world-class support providing unmatched capability and investment protection in

addition to the new multilevel security enhancements. With its multilevel security capabilities, the ClusterStor SDA provides the means to manage multiple data types and multiple security classifications in a single file system on a single network, supporting high-speed data storage throughput and massively scalable data processing. The ClusterStor SDA is ideally suited for mission critical government applications, such as geospatial imagery capture, that require high performance ingest rates, massively parallel data access to support intensive data analysis and large data storage capacity.

Brad Driver; brad_driver@xyratex.com

Alliance Enhances Quality of Video Feeds

Exelis has combined its Web-based Jagwire geospatial data management system with MotionDSP’s Ikena real-time image processing software to enhance the quality of video feeds collected from satellites or other airborne vehicles. Under the terms of the agreement between MotionDSP and Exelis, Jagwire will support an Ikena software plug-in to enhance the quality of video feeds collected and delivered from Jagwire to end-users in the military and intelligence communities.

Since Ikena enables advanced analysis of the video stream, Jagwire users will benefit from additional information such as visual moving target indicators. Exelis recently released Jagwire 2.0, which continues the company’s commitment to providing support for the newest sensors, data types and formats, as well as enhancements to usability and search and discovery functionality.

Irene Lockwood; irene.lockwood@exelisinc.com www.GIF-kmi.com

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Platform Offers Central Geospatial Management Trimble has introduced the InSphere platform for geospatial information management. An innovative approach for central management of geospatial operations, Trimble InSphere improves workflow, maximizes efficiency and transforms the way geospatial professionals work and access critical operational information. It is a cloud-based software platform for central management of geospatial applications, data and services. The simple and easy-to-use framework provides access to multiple applications, including three productivity-enhancing apps: Trimble InSphere Data Manager, Trimble InSphere Equipment Manager and Trimble TerraFlex to simplify field data collection.

In addition, Trimble Access Services provide a seamless data connection between surveyors in the field and managers in the office. InSphere allows organizations to manage everything in one place, accessible anytime and virtually anywhere. Geospatial customers in a range of industries, including surveying and engineering, natural resources management and mapping now have easy access to productivity-enhancing applications. The secure, cloud-based system is easy to deploy and configure to meet the needs of any organization.

LeaAnn McNabb; leaann_mcnabb@trimble.com

Agreement Combines Optical, Radar Satellite Solutions DigitalGlobe and MDA have announced an agreement to cooperate to offer combined optical and synthetic aperture radar satellite data solutions to their respective defense and intelligence customers around the world. This solution will provide customers the ability to task and collect with DigitalGlobe’s constellation of high-resolution earth imaging satellites, along with ability to receive and process near real-time data from the RADARSAT-2 synthetic aperture radar satellite within a common architecture. MDA has also signed an agreement to become DigitalGlobe’s preferred supplier of ground station solutions offered to international customers. This is an update to an agreement announced in December 2006. MDA’s solution enables customers to directly access the optical imaging capabilities of the supported satellites to obtain timely and accurate geospatial data that is critical for decision-making.

www.GIF-kmi.com

Pre-Processed Data Aids Terrain Mosaic Creation

Analytical Graphics Inc. (AGI) has released STK Terrain Server, an out-of-the-box, optimized source of terrain for use with AGI’s Systems Tool Kit (STK) software or applications built using the open source Cesium WebGL globe. Given STK Terrain Server’s open format, thirdparty implementations can also leverage the technology. Geospatial professionals can populate the STK Terrain Server with AGI’s preprocessed terrain, along with their own terrain data, to create a blended terrain mosaic. The STK Terrain Server is currently available for use with Cesium, and is offered as an online subscription or for delivery on a private network. It will work with existing STK software, including the free version, when it is officially released this summer.

Stefanie Claypoole; sclaypoole@agi.com

Customized Templates Aid Ground Intel System Esri has provided a recently revised set of customized templates to the Army for use in the Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A). These easy-to-use templates come with maps, analytic capabilities, and other visualization tools, as well as a simple information model for creating geospatial products.

The templates will help geospatial engineers, intelligence analysts, and GEOINT imagery analysts using DCGS-A to rapidly make products to support requests from commanders for operations around the world. DCGS-A is the Army’s main system for processing and posting data; providing mapping and weather

information; and sharing ISR information with units. The templates were customized to match the DCGS-A workflows. Esri staff worked with analysts and specialists at the Army Intelligence Center of Excellence at Fort Huachuca, Ariz., to refine the template requirements. The revised templates include: incident analysis, to map IED incidents or other significant events; cross-country mobility analysis, to identify key terrain and sketch approach routes; and intervisibility analysis, to identify areas of cover and concealment.

Jim Baumann; jbaumann@esri.com GIF 12.4 | 15

ISR Airman

Q& A

Planning for Transition to More Challenging Environments

Major General John N.T. “Jack” Shanahan Commander Air Force ISR Agency

Major General John N.T. “Jack” Shanahan is commander, Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, where he is responsible for providing multisource ISR products, applications, capabilities and resources, as well as cyber ISR forces and expertise.

The agency includes the 70th and 480th ISR Wings; National Air and Space Intelligence Center; Air Force Technical Applications Center; 361st Special Operations Forces ISR Group; and all Air Force cryptologic operations.

In his position as Air Force ISR Agency commander, Shanahan also serves as commander of the Service Cryptologic Component. In this capacity, he is responsible to the director, National Security Agency, and chief, Central Security Service, as the Air Force’s sole authority for matters involving the conduct of cryptologic activities, including the spectrum of missions directly related to both tactical war fighting and national-level operations.

In addition, as the Air Force Geospatial Intelligence Element commander, Shanahan facilitates Air Force GEOINT federation and integration into the National System for Geospatial Intelligence; orchestrates programmatic, policy and systemic requirements developed by the deputy chief of staff for ISR at Air Force Headquarters; and organizes, trains, equips and presents Air Force GEOINT forces.

Shanahan received his commission in 1984 as a distinguished graduate of the ROTC program at the University of Michigan. He has served in a variety of flying, staff and command assignments. His staff assignments include Northeast Asia Regional Exercise Branch chief in the Operations Directorate at Headquarters U.S. Pacific Command; senior military assistant to the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense; and deputy director for global operations, Operations Directorate, Joint Staff. He has commanded the Air Force Weapons School Support Division, Nellis AFB, Nev.; 480th Intelligence Group, Langley AFB, Va.; 505th Command and Control Wing, Hurlburt Field, Fla.; and the 55th Wing, Offutt AFB, Neb. Q: In late 2013, you issued a 14-page “Strategic Plan” laying out the direction for Air Force ISR mission through 2023.

What have you learned since then that has strengthened, or challenged, that vision? www.GIF-kmi.com

A: I’ve learned that change is the only constant right now!

Nothing remains static, especially in ISR. You have to create a vision that allows for agility and flexibility in executing the mission. Our strategic plan does that. Since we published the strategic plan there have been a number of crises across the globe, reinforcing the priorities we established in the plan. The growing crisis between Russia and Ukraine, for instance, is a wakeup call that the future environment promises to be especially challenging. The dynamics of our security environment will grow much more complex and complicated as time goes on, not less so.

As outlined in the plan, I use the three “R’s” to summarize how we are moving forward in this new environment— reduce, reset and reconstitute. We know we are going to be smaller; that’s evident from the discussions of the Department of Defense budget over the next few years, reinforced by the recent QDR. The entire DoD is going to get smaller, hence the “reduce.” The reset happens as we continue the drawdown in Afghanistan. While we do not yet know how many forces will remain there after the end of this year, we know the number of ISR assets will continue to decrease over the next seven months.

We won’t abandon the capabilities and platforms developed for the kind of permissive air environment we operated within over the past 13 years, because some of them will still retain great value in certain situations. At the same time, however, we are shifting our focus towards operations in contested, degraded, GIF 12.4 | 17

operationally limited environments. This is what we mean by reconstitution: We need to determine what platforms, sensors, analytic tools, training, culture and so on are required for this new environment. We have to rebuild core analytic and critical thinking, targeting and language skills that atrophied over the past decade. We need to start planning now for the transition to the new and more challenging environments we are likely to face over the next decade. That is largely the focus of our strategic plan.

Q: How would you define the balance of efforts needed in the future between cyber, space and human ISR? A: You named the three areas that are growing rapidly in importance; indeed, all three are instrumental to success over the next decade. In some ways, cyber is a capabil- To build the foundation for ISR operations in a contested environment, the Air Force is working to build and train a generation of analysts comfortable with operating in chaos and uncertainty. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force ISR Agency] ity tailor made for so-called “denied areas.”

ISR operations in a CDO environment. We are very good at the My focus is not as much on offensive cyberspace operations or former, but must move with alacrity toward the latter. In addinetwork operations; those areas fall squarely within the purtion to wise investments in a mix of hedge-strategy capabiliview of 24th Air Force. We focus more on the integration of ISR ties—adaptable multi-mission and multi-INT platforms and and cyber, or what is commonly called ISR in cyberspace. We do sensors—we have to build and train a generation of analysts this in a close partnership with 24th Air Force. It is, as the saycomfortable operating in chaos and uncertainty; re-tool our Air ing goes, a real growth industry with the fielding of cyber-misForce Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS); design a sion forces across all of the services. When it comes to space, resilient, secure, redundant, high-capacity, cloud-based inforwe are placing more emphasis than ever on ISR from and for mation architecture; train toward a higher-end threat; and, most space. As the commander of Air Force Space Command says, important of all, ensure that integration is at the heart of everyspace is becoming increasingly congested, contested and comthing we do. petitive. Other countries are investing substantial resources in Training for ISR in a contested environment is another big space-related research and development and in space itself— challenge. We are on the right path, but have a long way to go. everything from space objective surveillance and identification The Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, Nev., in January was a good capabilities, to multi-INT ISR that is far more advanced than start, involving more realistic ISR play than ever before, as well what we’ve seen in the past, to counter-space capabilities. This as robust ISR-cyber integration. But it was only a start. We need means we need to place as much attention on ISR for space as we to train more frequently against high-end threats. And we need are on ISR from space. Finally, in terms of human intelligence, to optimize training by fully integrating live, virtual and conwe are still catching up from when we divested important capastructive environments. bilities over the past two decades. HUMINT is vitally important After a decade of strong collaboration and partnerships to ISR in any environment, from the permissive to anti-access between the services and the national intelligence commuand area denial operations. In addition to taking methodical nity and combat support agencies (CSA), we must redouble our steps to regrow this area in the Air Force, we are also working efforts to partner with the IC and CSAs to confront the chalon solutions to better integrate HUMINT-oriented systems into lenges of a CDO environment. We cannot afford to waste limour other core mission area systems. ited resources by duplicating what the IC and CSAs are already working on (and vice versa). We need to complement each othQ: What ISR challenges do you see from the strategic shift to er’s capabilities rather than competing for the same shrinking Asia/Pacific? pot of money. The foundation is already set, thanks to a lot of very hard work over the past 13 years establishing those relaA: One of our biggest challenges comes from the need to contionships in Iraq and Afghanistan. tinue ISR operations in the largely permissive environments of Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and elsewhere around the Q: What is your role as Air Force Geospatial Intelligence world, while simultaneously transforming our force for the conElement Commander? tested and degraded operations (CDO) environment. As I like to say, this means we need to “run forward while walking backA: Basically, this means I’m responsible for planning, funding, ward.” This means that for some time we will need to operate training and executing the Air Force GEOINT mission, which we at two speeds and in two directions simultaneously—managdo within the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG). ing legacy operations while rapidly building the foundation of 18 | GIF 12.4

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We make sure we have the right equipment, the right levels of integration and our people have the training to run effective GEOINT operations. That integration between the Air Force and national community is crucial for mission effectiveness. More specifically, we provide GEOINT analysis capability to the combatant commanders and ensure the NSG has access to theater GEOINT data, so they can harness the service-specific data and create a national GEOINT picture. We also partner with the national community on research and development to make sure we stay on the cutting edge of geospatial technology. The Air Force Geospatial Intelligence Office (AFGO) is the Air Force’s “forward presence” at the main National GeospatialIntelligence Agency building. Dr. Eileen Preisser, the Air Force ISR Agency’s senior representative within NGA and the director of AFGO, helps me stay connected with the remarkable initiatives underway at Air Force ISR is giving new attention to discovery and knowledge creation, similar to activity-based intelligence and objectNGA, such as the integrated analytic envi- The based production initiatives underway throughout the intelligence community. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force ISR Agency] ronment, activity-based intelligence (ABI), than for analyzing Russia’s integrated air defense system. We have and object-based production (OBP). And in turn she ensures that to adjust, and adjust quickly, to this new environment. We need a NGA remains apprised of our agency and Air Force priorities and “back to basics” approach that places a renewed premium on criticurrent projects. cal thinking. And while our younger airmen are adept at operating in the information environment, this does not mean they have all Q: What GEOINT resources does the Air Force have, and how do of the skills necessary to become premier analysts. For instance, they fit into the broader spectrum of ISR assets? while the so-called “digital natives” swim with ease in big data, they often do not understand how to swim in the right direction.

A: The Air Force maintains a wide variety of GEOINT resources, We have to help them rebuild the art of critical thinking. We need including full-motion video, multi-spectral and hyperspectral, the ability to distill voluminous amounts of data into actionable and wide-area motion imagery sensors. Hyperspectral imagery intelligence. We need the ability to place staggering amounts of is one of the newer and more promising intelligence tools for the information in the proper context. All of these traits are essenfuture. We’ve seen good results in Afghanistan using hyperspectial to development of what we call rich contextual understandtral sensors and fully anticipate that these technologies will be ing. This requires a radical shift toward an integrated data model. equally applicable in a CDO environment. Likewise, light detecThis model treats all intelligence collection as sources of metation and ranging (LiDAR) is another relatively new phenomenoldata, accessible across multiple domains, organizations and secuogy, which uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to build 3-D, rity divides from which analysts trained in multi- and all-source high-resolution geographic representations of a targeted area that techniques and methods can discover, assess and create relevant, can be used to scan and detect. We’ve seen remarkable results in actionable intelligence for commanders and decision makers. tests and combat. Wide-area motion imagery is also being used We’re also evaluating training delivery methods for our anasuccessfully in Afghanistan. In all three cases—hyperspectral, lysts, adapting our classroom approach to reflect the learning LiDAR and wide area motion imagery—there are also big chalstyles of digital natives; for example, interactive media instruclenges to overcome, however, such as massive data sizes and the tion, mobile learning and gaming technologies. We are also giving sheer amount of raw intelligence our analysts have to examine. I new attention to discovery and knowledge creation, similar to the am excited about the potential for these and other cutting-edge ABI and OBP initiatives well underway across the IC. technologies over the next few years.

Q: How would you describe the current analytical capabilities of your command, and what changes or enhancements if any would you like to bring about?

A: Overall, we’re in pretty good shape. This comes from more than 13 years of continuous combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet I readily acknowledge that there are very different skill sets required for analyzing full-motion video over a single target in Afghanistan www.GIF-kmi.com

Q: What role do you see for automated technologies, such as automated cueing of video?

A: We must have them! The volumes, amounts and types of information and data coming from our platforms and sensors are already overwhelming our analysts. The problem will grow exponentially over the next decade. Automation is critical to finding ways to give time back to the analyst to focus on what I call GIF 12.4 | 19

the “wicked problem sets”—the really hard, deep analysis that has to happen in the 21st-century information environment. So, while I never anticipate the human being taken completely out of the loop, we must have more automated capabilities that place the analyst “on the loop” at the right time and the right place.

In the future, we simply cannot afford to tie down 10 or 15 people staring at a few targets or areas of interest for hours on end, with little time for deep analysis. Instead, we need capabilities that provide alerts based on algorithms and analyst-defined criteria. This can be for video, imagery change detection, signals intelligence, seismic activity and so on. Some of these capabilities already exist, but we’re not keeping up with the exponential rate of change inherent in today’s information environment. More automation is essential, pure and simple. This doesn’t fit in the “nice to have” category. It’s what we need for all ISR operations in the future.

Q: What do you see as the most promising approaches for the future of wide-area and persistent surveillance?

A: Put simply, persistence is vital to full-spectrum awareness. We define persistence as continuous acquisition from across all available sensors of human, signal, geospatial, social, digital, or measurement data. While space and cyber are the best known sources for global ISR persistence in permissive or denied areas, they represent a partial solution. We need more wide-area and persistent surveillance capabilities in all domains, from the national to the tactical level. Wide-area and persistent ISR sensors provide warfighters with an unprecedented level of vital information, with some recent impressive successes in Afghanistan. These sensors allow analysts to perform extensive trend analysis and establish patterns of behavior and life. The same kinds of capabilities will be even more fruitful in a CDO environment, though it goes without saying the sources and methods will have to change. And as I mentioned earlier, wide-area and persistent surveillance introduce new challenges, such as overwhelming amounts of data and information that have to be analyzed. The fiscal environment won’t allow us to grow more analysts, so we need much better automation capabilities to handle the staggering amounts of data coming in.

Q: How do you see the needed mix of ISR assets, including satellites and air-breathing surveillance, changing if future operations are conducted in areas where, unlike Iraq and Afghanistan, the airspace is contested?

A: We know we are over-invested in permissive ISR. While we would like to keep all ISR capabilities for all environments in our Air Force, the fiscal reality is that we cannot. We need to rebalance the portfolio, taking into account the budget and growing new demands on our forces. As our senior leaders have been saying lately, we are rapidly becoming a supply-driven ISR force.

Some hard decisions will be required to divest some platforms and sensors in order to reinvest in capabilities for a more complex, challenging environment. Multi-domain, multi-sensor integration is where the future lies in CDO, and we have to transform the ISR enterprise to reflect that new environment. I already mentioned the critical importance of denied area capabilities such as space and cyber.

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When it comes to next-generation ISR platforms and sensors, there is no question that we need the so-called “exquisite” technologies that can allow multi-mission platforms to penetrate denied areas, stay aloft longer than today’s platforms, and offer the means of transmitting real-time information to reachback analysts, while also incorporating a variety of cutting-edge, plug-and-play multi-INT capabilities. But we also need a balanced force; we have to be careful that we do not put all of the ISR eggs in a single basket. We need to focus on integration of high- and lower-end capabilities. The results are stunning when innovative airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines figure out how to integrate a mix of capabilities into a true ISR enterprise. We have extraordinary examples of innovative integration of overhead, theater airborne, and tactical ground-based ISR capabilities across the globe. The sum is far greater than the value of the individual components.

With respect to DCGS, we are already re-tooling the weapons system to reflect the contested environment. We are doing this in partnerships with the other services. We are beginning to shift from single-INT, time dominant exploitation to incorporating more multi-INT fusion, exploitation and analysis. We continue to evolve from an industrial-age production model to information-age operations where data is accessible, discoverable and tailor-able. We are incorporating collaboration and crowdsourcing techniques as part of our tradecraft.

Q: How can the tasking, processing, exploitation and dissemination process be improved?

A: To begin with, we need to change the way we talk about the new environment we are in today. We must transition from a target-based, inductive approach to ISR that is centered on processing, exploitation and dissemination, to a problem-based, deductive, active and anticipatory approach that focuses on endto-end ISR operations. This shifts the entire discussion to planning and direction, collection, processing and exploitation, analysis and production, and dissemination. In many ways, I see this as part of the same movement towards ABI and OBP. It’s not that we didn’t want to take this approach in the past. It’s just that we now have the technology and new ISR capabilities that make this new approach so much more appealing and feasible. Rather than simply “flying the collection deck,” we need to start with a comprehensive understanding of the joint force commander’s problems. Armed with that, we build an ISR operations plan that integrates capabilities across all domains, from the national to the theater to the tactical level. From our end, we take a platform- and sensor-agnostic view of the problem: ISR experts across the enterprise figure out how to best integrate the myriad capabilities to tackle and solve a given problem set. While it may seem only like a couple of different letters in the acronym, this represents a sea change in how we perform ISR operations.

Since we don’t anticipate fighting alone in the future, we need to do all of this in close coordination with our allies and international partners. They are not only eager to join with us in aspects of ISR operations, but also they bring unique capabilities, accesses and theater knowledge that we can never hope to match on our own. This is another area of substantial growth over the next decade. O www.GIF-kmi.com

NGA Envisions

Future State

By 2018, NGA aims to transform itself from a producer of static products to providing dynamic

GEOINT content, analysis and services.

(Editor’s Note: The following article first appeared in the Winter 2014 issue of Pathfinder, the magazine of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.)

The NGA Future State Vision (FSV) describes where NGA will be in 2018 based on the mission, vision and objectives identified in the NGA Strategy. It is aligned with DoD and DNI priorities described in the national security, military, and intelligence strategies and in “DoD Priorities for the 21st Century.”

Specifically, the FSV describes how NGA will create new analytic value and enhance customer service. It emphasizes partnerships with international, commercial, IC, DoD and academic institutions, and focuses our analysis on unique and essential content creation.

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GIF 12.4 | 21

By 2018, NGA has transformed from a producer of predominantly static products to a provider of dynamic GEOINT content, analysis and services. We deliver our analytic judgments, foundation data, and suite of GEOINT services to our customers and partners. We leverage our NSG, international, academic and industry partnerships to fulfill requirements against those issues where these partners bring capabilities and insight, while we focus our tradecraft, tools, processes and sources to solve complex problems and provide anticipatory intelligence. Our unique contributions sustain our position as the indispensable GEOINT provider.

By 2018, NGA has enabled multiINT integration for the intelligence community. We provide the foundation upon which NGA, along with our partners, layers and synthesizes intelligence information. This foundation is the basis for a common, integrated intelligence picture. Our workforce has enabled this transformation. We recruit, train and retain a diverse and agile workforce. We develop critical skillsets, such as big data analytics, visualization and advanced sensor phenomenology. Our analysts are world class experts in geomatics, global GEOINT content, intelligence issues and emerging technologies. They are part of a career service with multiple levels of expertise, certifications and career paths. Our workforce uses cutting-edge technology that underpins our content and service offerings.

By 2018, NGA provides dynamic GEOINT analysis content and services that are accessible anytime, anywhere.

Any customer—whether policymaker or warfighter, homeland security operator or first responder, ally or coalition member—can easily discover and access what we offer through various stationary and mobile devices and security domains.

To ensure timely and relevant access to GEOINT, we maintain close relationships with our customers and employ business analytics to enhance the GEOINT consumer experience, usage and usefulness of our content.

Most customers increasingly rely on self- and assisted-service options, with

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full-service support available to those who need it.

We provide powerful self-service capabilities that make it easy for customers to find and use our GEOINT as well as access our experts’ knowledge.

We provide customers with a sophisticated array of intuitive self-help support tools, tutorials and resources. When a GEOINT-related issue arises that our customers cannot resolve alone, we quickly and effectively teach customers how to answer their questions and when necessary, connect the customer to a professional with deeper expertise.

To meet more challenging and timesensitive mission needs, we continue to embed our workforce with our customers, whether at their headquarters or in expeditionary locations.

Our seamless, dynamic Map of the World (MoW) enables users to visualize and access integrated intelligence content fixed to accurate and authoritative geographic features on the Earth. The MoW provides a unified, online, geospatial, temporal and relational view of the world through the integration of our foundation GEOINT and navigation datasets, our features, our imagery and our intelligence.

The MoW is the foundation for the IC’s object-based production environment. It provides the geospatial bedrock for all intelligence, information and knowledge to be anchored, integrated, presented and accessed. It enables multi-INT integration by allowing analysts from across the intelligence community to start from a common frame of reference, bringing together multiple sources of information on one object. It is available through multiple security domains, on multiple devices, and it can be customized by the user as needed. It displays not only NGA-generated data, but also data generated by our partners, and the origin of all data is easily accessible.

Our analytic insights fuel the MoW. We continue to evolve our analytic tradecraft through the implementation of advanced analytic techniques and processes that are applied to the full spectrum of GEOINT. Our resulting analysis is structured, metadatatagged and accessible. To leverage and

navigate new large-volume data sources, we employ big data solutions, so analysts spend less time navigating data stores and more time generating knowledge and creating analytic judgments.

We manage active partnerships to synchronize requirements and resources and unity actions that allow NGA to focus our finite resources and capabilities on the most important intelligence problems.

Our workforce is agile and adaptive, aggressively driving change to increase the value of GEOINT to our customers. Our workforce is shaped by the skills, capabilities and knowledge that we require to produce the best GEOINT possible. We have retrained employees with lower-demand skills and prioritized the hiring of higher-demand skillsets to include data science, visualization and phenomenology experts.

Our GEOINT analysts are certified to ensure the work they perform is commensurate with specific proficiency levels gained through demonstrated knowledge and common competencies. All NGA employees have a career advancement path. They fully understand the opportunities afforded to them within NGA, and through career broadening joint duty assignments. We reward our highest performers through a rank-in-person promotion system, which judges performance against corporate criteria.

In 2018, our primary purpose and function continues to be as a cornerstone in providing strategic warning, situational awareness, military operational planning, combat support and foundational GEOINT. We build upon these to deliver context and insight, enabling multi-INT integration. The demand for GEOINT knowledge, information and data continues to grow, and it is our responsibility to meet this demand when and where it is needed. By realizing this vision, we will propel our nation ahead of our adversaries by ensuring that we can see what they cannot, know what we should not, and act first. O 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.

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Tools for the Tactical Edge Examples illustrate how the geospatial industry is meeting the needs of tactical intelligence for mobility, usability and security.

By William Murray, GIF Correspondent The increasing role of coalition operations is another driving Seeking to meet the needs of special forces and other users operfactor, as the need to share information with international partners ating at the tactical edge, fast-moving vendors are developing geoputs greater emphasis on the use of unclassified and open source spatial intelligence products that can operate effectively even in data. As Scott Stetson, vice president for the Sensor Integration and conditions with bandwidth limitations. These products can work on Deployment Division at KEYW Corp., observed, advanced GEOINT mobile operating systems like Google Android, in addition to lapproducts that can use full motion video are helpful in areas where tops, with a relatively small amount of training in both classified and U.S. forces have air dominance and unlimited networking resources. unclassified environments.

But those areas may be limited in future missions.

Most of this emerging wave of products have the ability to work What’s becoming more common, according to Stetson, however, with established platforms, such as Esri ArcGIS and Google Earth. is that special forces are getting involved in relationship building Encryption in the products ensures security for handheld devices exercises with countries that have not traditionally been U.S. allies, so that the data couldn’t be accessible if the devices fell into the such as African nations that might want to quell a civil war or shut wrong hands. down terrorist training camps. In such environments, the ability to Industry executives say they are focused on meeting the needs of share high resolution, unclassified mapping data with host nations GEOINT users operating in smaller forces in remote areas with sigis very important. nificant geographic challenges.

“Plug and play capabilities will continue to be very important, as “The user that’s out on the edge is always interested in mobility,” well as the ability to use open source code with OGC compliance,” said Jeff DeTroye, vice president of special programs for Analytical Stetson said, adding that GEOINT products can make Graphics Inc. (AGI). “Data can’t be resident on a mainplanning for such operations easier, with the ability to frame someplace,” he said. aggregate and print maps of remote areas on the fly.

“Tactical users are becoming more sophisticated,” Cuevas agreed that special operators working in said Robert Zitz, a former senior intelligence offiAfrica and elsewhere need the ability to share unclascial who now works as senior vice president for the sified commercial mapping data through a Web mapnational security sector for Leidos. ping service, since there is relatively little sharing of Tactical users want tools that enable full motion data with traditional NATO partners, which would video and wide area networking mapping data to be involve the use of a classified network. laid over traditional mapping services in real time.

Geospatial data products allow for much more “The hardware and software have to be plug and play efficient downloading and sharing of mapping data and not proprietary, and they expect to use software Robert Zitz from diverse sources, such as Google Earth and U.S. as a service,” Zitz said.

Geological Survey, than was previously possible for those preparing “Ease of use and the ability to interface with a cloud service from to deploy that formerly had to rely exclusively on NGA maps, accorda smartphone is very important,” said Rob Mott, vice president of ing to Cuevas. As updates to digital maps come in from diverse geospatial solutions at Intergraph Government Services. sources, it is now possible to update one’s own files more efficiently “You bring your tool to the game, and we’re tool agnostic,” said and with less interruption than before.

Hector Cuevas, director of ISR operations for Pixia Corp., a large data “The future is all about reach back for tactical users, and the abilaccess solutions provider. ity to use deployed infrastructure,” said Zitz. In addition to the ability GEOINT users at the tactical edge have sometimes struggled of products to work on thin clients such as smartphones in a cloud to find activity-based intelligence technologies that can help them networking environment, the ability of GEOINT products to enable make quick decisions, according to AGI’s DeTroye. operators to report anomalous behavior that deviates from accepted The ability to use a vector-based imaging product can help some baselines and use the tools to predict future behavior will be very smartphones more efficiently download and view data of coastimportant, he said. lines, buildings and other areas of interest in the field, according to Intergraph’s Mott. “Some map sheets, with the dense patterning, if they are done in a raster format, the files can be very big,” he said.

Quick Data Access

Bandwidth Constraints One theme running through the new tactical GEOINT products is the need to enable operations in bandwidth-constrained environments. For example, TerraGo’s GeoPDF imagery and mapping products, which are based on standard file formats, work well in a bandwidth-constrained environment, including in a disconnected mode when service becomes spotty, and the user stores some of the data in his device’s cache. www.GIF-kmi.com

HiPER Look, one of three geospatial data product families developed by Pixia, provides quick access to large volumes of geospatial data. It features an encoder to optimize geospatial data from a variety of formats into Pixia containers. HiPER Look also features a server with a thin client view for access to the data via RESTful Web services.

HiPER Look’s server component is an enterprise-class software system that provides multi-threaded capabilities, multi-core support, unlimited client connections, enterprise scaling, and RESTful GIF 12.4 | 23

TransVoyant also has predictive tool capabilities; users protectWeb services. HiPER Look’s thin client viewer can provide fast and ing a U.S. embassy overseas, for example, can set queries so that it efficient access to geospatial data through a Web browser without monitors social networks such as Twitter for signs of social unrest in any plugins. the country, in addition to monitoring signals intelligence within an HiPER Look features data containers, which enable users’ data to area and satellite data for intelligence about particular objects such be accessible as source files. Pixia’s Cloud File System makes use of as vehicles, according to Chesley.

Web distributed authoring and versioning to make it easy for users Leidos sells the GeoRover software for capturing, manipulatto collaborate as they manage data files. Uses can map the Pixia data ing and sharing geospatial images based on Esri ArcGIS. Its desktop containing as any shared drive and access the source. extensions are designed and sold as plugins to ArcMap component of AGI’s Systems Tool Kit (STK) allows users to load or create any ArcGIS for Desktop GIS software, with the mobile version based on air, land, sea vehicle position and location and add sensors for field the Android operating system. of view with 3-D visualization. STK can model, analyze and visuGeoRover features an import wizard for non-spatial data with alize complex land, sea, air and space-based systems, along with coordinates from many different sources, such as spreadsheets, text, behavior and performance. A key part of STK is a geometry engine and databases and in many formats into ArcGIS. For field data colfor determining the time-dynamic position and altitude of assets lection and visualization, GeoRover can plot routes and collected field and the spatial relationships among objects using parameters, such data as layers in ArcGIS. The product can collect field data from comas their relationships or access giving complex, constraining and mercial GPS receivers and other components, such as digital camsimultaneous conditions. eras and voice recorders. GeoRover can also export ArcGIS data into AGI STK Terrain Server is an out-of-the-box, optimized source of standard format, such as Excel, HTML and Powerpoint. terrain for use with STK software or applications built using the open source Cesium WebGL globe. Given STK Terrain Server’s open format, third-party implementations can also leverage the technology.

Full-Resolution Imagery KEYW Corp.’s Aeroptic Data Management Suite (ADMS) sensory mapping camera, which is widely used by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, BAE Systems’ GXP WebView, meanwhile, seeks to deliver on a allows the sharing of unclassified data and is not controlled by interlong-standing requirement for the tactical community to view, meanational arms traffic rules, so it is easier to use with countries where sure, annotate and disseminate geospatial image reports directly the U.S. doesn’t have a formal alliance that governs the sharing of from a standard Web browser. classified data.

GXP WebView is a lightweight electronic light table (ELT) built “It’s well beyond what you get with full motion video and with cutting-edge HTML 5 technology that streams full-resolusatellite imagery,” Stetson said. “Full motion video is platform depention images in any format for instant viewing. Analysts are able dent and time sensitive.” ADMS, conversely, is Open Geospatial to easily navigate to an area of interest with smooth, real-time Consortium compliant. roam and pan. GXP WebView empowers analysts to precisely meaAs a content management architecture and workflow managesure using highly accurate sensor model geometry and terrain, ment system for capturing, managing and disseminating GEOINT and orthorectify images with the push of a button. The analysts data in enterprise and forward operational environments, ADMS can then annotate the images and publish the finished product can be deployed to a virtualized environment using Amazon Web directly to a number of file types, including PowerPoint, GeoPDF Services or Rackspace, providing remote access for data upload, editand PNG. ing and dissemination where users have broadband connections.

“The intelligence community asked for a fast, user-friendly Another GEOINT product, GeoVigilance 1.0, is a continuous decilightweight ELT to reduce the time it takes to generate an image sion intelligence flow tool for streaming multi-dimenproduct and we answered with GXP WebView. This sional data produced by TransVoyant. The product, product runs on a standard Web browser, does not powered by a highly scalable geospatial and temporal require any special software, and virtually eliminates complex event data processor, SpatialRules, is capadownload time,” said Dan London, BAE Systems’ ble of analyzing and making decisions on over 10,000 vice president of sales, marketing and customer data points and object interactions per second. support of Geospatial eXploitation Products. “When GeoVigilance was formerly used in a client/server combined with GXP Xplorer’s ability to make data architecture but has emerged more recently as a priacross the entire enterprise discoverable, it streamvate cloud product. GeoVigilance within a network lines the image analysis workflow to significantly operations center or headquarters can set the rules increase productivity and the ability to deliver more for alerts about emerging threats and vulnerabilities. products, per person, per day.”

Wayne Chesley Through email or text, operators can receive respondWhen integrated with the GXP Xplorer discovery ing alerts based on activity-based intelligence received from unoccuand management tool, GXP WebView can deliver immediate access pied aerial vehicles and other intelligence assets in real time. to imagery and data discovered across the entire enterprise as quickly “It solves the bandwidth problem because the processing doesn’t and easily as if it were stored locally. Together, they can shorten prodtake place at the front end,” said Wayne Chesley, vice president and uct generation time and streamline intelligence analyst workflow. O general manager at TransVoyant, formerly known as ObjectFX. Operators “don’t have to sit in front of a computer anymore” to receive alerts, he said, noting that the product helps to automate For more information, contact GIF Editor Harrison Donnelly at harrisond@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives what formerly would have required handwritten notes and reports for related stories at www.gif-kmi.com. and frees up users to engage in other tasks.

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Intelligence Bridge

Di2E will play a vital intermediary role as DoD and the intelligence community restructure their information infrastructures.

As the intelligence community and Department of Defense move forward on the massive tasks of restructuring their information infrastructures, the existing Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise (DI2E) will play a vital role as bridge and intermediary, according to participants at a panel at the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation’s GEOINT 2013* Symposium this spring.

DI2E, a framework for interoperability and governance that unites DoD’s intelligence programs, sits on the overlap between the department’s Joint Information Environment (JIE) and the Intelligence Community Information Technology Enterprise (IC ITE), which is being overseen by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. www.GIF-kmi.com

By Harrison Donnelly GIF Editor

Both the JIE and IC ITE are aimed at creating architectures of systems and standards that will encourage information sharing and improve operating efficiency. Both are still evolving, but moving toward implementation. Under JIE, U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command have initial Enterprise Operations Center providing the combatant commanders with unprecedented cyber-situational awareness, and Joint Base San Antonio, Texas, this summer plans to implement the first JIE Joint Regional Security Stack coupled with the integration of Multiprotocol Label Switching, according to Army Lieutenant General Mark Bowman, C4 director for the Joint Staff.

As for IC ITE, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper announced at the symposium that member agencies were ready GIF 12.4 | 25

to begin to implement it. “This is a whole new paradigm for the intelligence community, where we actually have to trust each other. And we’re laying our capabilities across a common IC framework for IT,” he said.

Decision Superiority That’s pretty much what DI2E, which evolved out of the Distributed Common Ground System of intelligence, has been doing for the past several years. As a result, James R. Martin, director, defense intelligence in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, said at the panel session, DI2E is performing a critical bridging function that makes it and the governing DI2 council even more important than in the past.

“Over the past 10 years, we’ve increased intel production tremendously, and the input from the collection platforms into the ground processing and analysis exploitation systems has gone up tremendously. So the DI2E is a critical function for decision superiority,” Martin said. “We can overwhelm the end-users with so much data that they can’t use it for decision advantage. Since Operation Desert Storm, we’ve turned to an information type of warfare, and DI2E is a critical part of how we wage war.”

Part of the challenge in harmonizing JIE, IC ITE and DI2E is that while the three efforts have similar goals, the functions they serve are very different. “IC ITE is very intel focused and national focused. JIE on the other hand has a larger user base, with logistics, administration, warfighter command and control networks and the defense intel piece. We’ve been relegated to the role of trying to bridge,” Martin said.

“It can be confusing as to where DI2E fits in,” he continued.

“It’s not a competitor to the other two programs, but we’re the lucky group that has the most challenging problem set to tackle.

Our good fortune is that we have about 10 years experience working together.

“One of the key challenges we have is that, particularly with the DCGS, we have to operate at a much lower tactical level than IC ITE does, and the network capabilities become a driving factor. We may not be able to leverage cloud architectures the way the national community can, and we have to have the ability to operate autonomously. That’s unique,” Martin observed.

A key enabler for bridging between JIE and IC ITE is the DI2E Framework, Martin said, which comprises a set of 183 software services that enable interoperability and cover everything within the defense intelligence information enterprise.

“Within the 183 services that we have identified, there are about 40 that correlate to 10 focus areas, such as data tagging and identify and access management. These are the key elements of being interoperable between JIE and IC ITE, and we have to get them right. They’re evolving now, at different levels of maturity.

They are the ones we have to converge on to really be interoperable. Once we have those, everything else will be easier,” he explained.

out where they fit in and how to move forward in a way that makes sense for their specific missions and needs.

The Air Force, for example, recently held a summit on IC ITE that brought together senior intelligence officers to begin developing a transition plan and a common baseline, noted Robert T. Marlin, deputy director of ISR capabilities for the Air Force deputy chief of staff for ISR. “Everyone has had a different idea of what IC ITE, DI2E and JIE are. But now we have a schedule to deliver a plan to the DNI for transitioning the Air Force DCGS enterprise to an IC ITE and JIE compliant structure,” said Marlin, adding, “We’re going to analyze all the alternatives, reuse as much as possible, and minimize the amount of new development, while meeting service specific requirements.”

Unique mission requirements are also a concern for U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM), which operates the DCGS-Special Operations Forces (SOF).

“We believe in the DI2E, JIE and IC ITE philosophy. We must be interoperable, and finding a way to migrate to an environment that promotes interoperability is huge. But there are some areas of concern for us,” observed Reinier Cruz, deputy director for ISR capabilities and programs.

“As we’re moving forward, we have to be careful in how we make transitions. SOCOM is a joint command, so we must be interoperable. Our ability to be transparent and share within the community is incredibly important to us. The DCGS-SOF is a unique architecture that we’ve built that allows us to integrate all of our sensor programs into a cohesive environment.

Our SOF information enterprise is our instantiation for the JIE,” Cruz said.

What is critical, he continued, is to remember the person on the ground with a job to do. “When we look at how we’re trying to get efficiencies at the national level, we also have to take into account the disadvantaged users, and build an architecture around them. We will never forsake effectiveness for efficiency,” he added.

Edward Lane of the Ground Enterprise Directorate of the National Reconnaissance Office, which is conducting technical development and compatibility testing for JIE and IC ITE, concluded with some insights about the goals and priorities of the current efforts. “IC ITE is not about hardware, but about managing software, and how to get to reusable components and shared services. We want applications to be written on a shared service platform and common infrastructure. We’re also working to get data and applications into the cloud.

“We want to have the applications separate from the data, and the data managed so that we don’t have to deliver end-toend stovepipes,” Lane continued. “We are walking away from the old way of having systems and integrated systems, to the world of Web-based services and service environment. The shared-service concept is the same in IC ITE or JIE. We don’t care where the service comes from. The key is to componentize it, document it and make it available for reuse.” O

Service Needs While Pentagon officials develop the overarching structures of JIE and IC ITE, the services and commands are trying to figure 26 | GIF 12.4

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.

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GIF RESOURCE CENTER

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

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NEXTISSUE

July/August 2014 Vol. 12, Issue 5

The Magazine of the National Intelligence Community

Cover and In-Depth Interview with:

Francis X. Taylor Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Department of Homeland Security

Features

• GEOINT Monitoring • ArcGIS for Defense • Homeland Security

• Multi-INT • UAV Based Remote Sensing • Digital Elevation Models

Inserti o n Order De adline: j u ne 23, 2014 • Ad M aterial De adline: j u ne 30, 2014

www.GIF-kmi.com

GIF 12.4 | 27

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

Geospatial Intelligence Forum

A.J. Clark President Thermopylae Sciences and Technology Q: You often talk about the “democratization of geospatial data.”

What does that mean for decision making today?

Q: Please give readers an update on some of the newest developments at Thermopylae Sciences & Technology.

A: We are working to leverage platforms such as Google Maps Engine to optimize content for distribution to the mobile space. This effort will allow smartphones and tablets to have the same kind of access to imagery that is available through a desktop.

At Thermopylae, we look at platform capabilities provided by Google or others in the cloud, and then build on a solution for federal and private sector customers. Often, this means taking our solutions and building them out on top of the Google Maps Engine platform. From there, we address the concerns about how to push the information over a low bandwidth pipe, or how to take the location intelligence data and make recommendations about meaningful and available geo-content.

At the same time, many users aren’t aware of all of the valuable geo-content that is out there, or don’t understand that their job could be enhanced by some kind of geo-intelligence. So, we’re building a modeling capability that takes users’ activity and captures processes through the use of a mobile or business intelligence tool. We then make recommendations about content that they might be interested in, as well as other users doing something similar in the same spatial area.

Q: What was involved in your company being named the Google Enterprise Global and North American Deployment Partner of the Year?

A: It is an honor to get that designation, and we have to thank both Google and our clients for that distinction. We’ve worked hard in recent years to raise our profile within Google in a variety of ways. We have close relationships at the engineering level, and we advocate for 28 | GIF 12.4

their solutions to be available to federal customers.

We often highlight the value and continue to develop bridge solutions that allow them to get a better return on R&D investment and sell it to a broader customer set. We also work closely with Google on where their technology is going, and help them make it available to a broader customer set.

Using a platform like Google Maps Engine, and then extending our solutions on top of that, it’s easier for a customer who just wants the solution—but may not have the staff to build out an entire capability on top of that platform. We bring that other 70-80 percent of the solution to the customer so they can get started right away. This directly meets the customers’ end-use case in a matter of days or weeks, instead of having to find skilled engineers, and then wait for months to get a right solution.

If I have 100 customers, ranging from Procter and Gamble to NGA and DIA, and they all care about where assets are moving around on a map, we can invest in a best-of-breed capability that achieves this. Rather than the customers doing it themselves, we provide a mature and scalable framework.

A: Organizations are recognizing that spatial data exists, and truly enhances decision-making. This philosophy allows all levels of secure data to be analyzed across an organization—such as a company that wants to combine sales, financial and operations data, all of which live in different buckets and have different security rules.

It comes down to leveraging tools that can aggregate complex data in a simplified way for users to view. With iSpatial, we’ll go into an organization and ask for all the data they have, and they will give us 15 sources, mostly geo-related. We then aggregate this information in a map view or 3-D Google Earth view for sharing with users—all using one tool.

The democratization of geospatial data is occurring not only from the evolution of technology, but also because we are freeing data that was locked into different sections of an organization, and exposing it to users who didn’t even realize it existed.

Q: Where do you see the GEOINT sector headed when it comes to more nimble innovations?

A: We see three tiers, the simplest being more advanced Web browser functionality, with lower cost imagery. The second is higher resolution imagery, and the third is the more pervasive application of things like full motion video.

It’s very exciting when you can combine the first two layers of innovation and combine it with the third, which is a massive amount of data moving very quickly.

In addition, there is a capacity in the organization to analyze that data and provide real-time answers to decision makers. As customers get accustomed to using that, the future is going to be about doing automated analysis on all of that data. O www.GIF-kmi.com

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