Remote - December 2011 - (Page 12)

Feature Article Satellite Technology – The Key to Remote Communications for Government Agencies Tony Bardo, Assistant Vice President for Government Solutions Hughes Network Systems, LLC Have you ever been to Shenandoah National Park? It is a few hours drive from Hughes’ headquarters here in Gaithersburg, Md. and was set aside more than 75 years ago, but it’s still without cell phone coverage in many places. The tallest peak would be just a foothill out west and the park is only 15 miles wide at its widest, but the terrain is rough enough to disrupt a signal and knock phones into their high-powered searching modes. Even with more than a million annual visitors, carriers see little value in providing full coverage. Shenandoah is a prime example of what years of “canyou-hear-me-now” commercials have yet to erase, some areas of the US simply lack reliable network coverage. Consider for a moment that fully five percent of the US, an area the size of California, is designated as wilderness. Portions of Alaska, the southern border with Mexico and northern border with Canada are also located in remote areas, where network service is either nonexistent or cost-prohibitive. Ironically, these are areas where data is not only necessary, it’s often critical, oil and gas companies monitoring the safety and efficiency of fuel pipelines, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) battling for homeland security and the US Geological Survey (USGS) keeping tabs on seismic equipment in active fault zones. Satellite networks, powered by the same technology that allows a driver to watch TV while filling up at a gas station, have a particular advantage when it comes to enabling communications in remote locations. Satellite is not susceptible to hurricanes, earthquakes or other terrestrial weather that can disrupt or knock out terrestrial services, and has minimum groundbased infrastructure, namely a robust antenna and modem at a customer site and a well-protected network operations center. There is no underground cabling to install, no need to worry that the radio/cell tower will be vulnerable to the elements during a weather emergency. Instead, satellite technology simply relies on an antenna, a small dish, and a view of the southern sky. Just as 3G and 4G networks have advanced over the last few years, satellite has seen a quantum-leap in speed, reliability and affordability. New satellite system technologies allow satellites to act more like ground-based data networks, enabling agencies to share voice, video and data at broadband speeds. What this means is that an organization’s satellite-connected sites can now operate seamlessly along with their terrestrial networks, as all IP based systems, using the same data and applications as a single, common network. Take the first of the examples above, oil and gas companies. The US consumes 19 million barrels of petroleum a day, half of which is imported. Pipelines play an important role in ensuring that the energy resources of North America help ease that demand, but keeping those pipelines safe as they crisscross the countryside poses a challenge. Remote monitoring is essential along their entire length, and the distance is great. Pipelines can stretch in excess of 2,000 miles, from distant outcrops in Canada to refineries on the Gulf Coast. In the many places along the way where wireless data networks are unavailable or insufficient, satellite is the only solution that can guarantee real-time feeds such as temperature, flow and pressure get to 12 www.RemoteMagazine.com the engineers at home-base. CBP agents find themselves in similar circumstances. The 2,000 mile border that stretches between the US and Mexico is characterized by rough, desert country pockmarked by the occasional town. Fences only exist in densely-populated areas, and populated areas are the exception, not the rule. Today, the US relies on 20,000 border patrol agents to stem the influx of illegal immigrants, stopping as many as half a million each year. To aid in this effort, CBP has begun to adopt the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, drones that can stay aloft and send back live imagery to security teams on the ground. Just like their counterparts in Iraq or Afghanistan, the drones depend on satellite technology to communicate information about the situation on the ground. But satellite isn’t the sole province of commerce and homeland security; it continues to play a vital role in the science and research applications that keep America safe. Take KLM flight 867 as an example. In 1989, this flight was bound for Anchorage with 231 passengers aboard when it lost all four engines and dropped two miles. The culprit, volcanic ash from the Redoubt volcano, one of about 100 active systems in the North Pacific. The aircraft eventually regained control, but the damage was done. The incident spurred the growth of the USGS Alaska Volcano Observatory, which today consists of remote monitoring stations that keep track of hazards across the region, making real-time assessments and sending out warnings to aircraft within the 5,000 mile range of volcanic plumes. Like many of the stations operated by USGS, satellite is key to getting the right information to the right people to make critical flight and safety decisions. As organizations find new ways to put data to work, the need to push information capabilities into the field or to collect critical information from remote stations will continue to increase. From security to safety, from energy to commerce, satellite communications are providing organizations with the connections they need to get the job done. No matter where the mission goes, no matter what the terrain—fast, reliable, affordable data connections are within reach. So when you’re out in the wilderness, deployed in the desert, or just hiking the Appalachian Trail, look to the sky. Satellite will be there. About the Author Tony Bardo is assistant vice president for government solutions at Hughes. He may be reached at tony.bardo@hughes.com. Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes) is a provider of satellite broadband, delivering network technologies, managed services, and solutions for enterprises and governments globally. Its products employ global standards approved by the TIA, ETSI and ITU organizations, including IPoS/DVB-S2, RSM-A, and GMR-1. For additional information about Hughes, please visit www.hughes.com. http://www.hughes.com http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - December 2011

Utility Telecom Spending Could Reach $3.2 Billion by the End of 2011
Securing Remote Substations for a Smarter Grid
Maximize Range While Minimizing Power Consumption in Wireless Digital Transmission
CMS Deploys Energy Smart Grid Project
Satellite Technology – The Key to Remote Communications for Government Agencies
American Innovations Releases Bullhorn RM4012 Remote Monitoring System
ProSoft Releases Modbus TCP/IP to IEC 61850 Gateway
Pelco Introduces the New Digital Sentry
CEITEC S.A. Releases RFID Chip for Logistics Application
C&D Technologies Introduces Liberty MSE 2 V VRLA Line
Industry News
Calendar of Events
Washington State Archives Keeps Cool with Environmental Monitoring

Remote - December 2011