Remote - Winter 2013 - (Page 16)

Feature Article Geospatially Integrated Surveillance Systems Eric Olson, Vice President of Marketing PureTech Systems Everything is going geospatial. Amazon, Twitter, Google, Facebook, Pinterest. Although it may manifest itself under other names, geo-intelligence, GEOINT, map-based, geo-referencing, geo-analysis, these are all terms referring to the concept of geospatial, which is defined as relating to or denoting data that is associated with a particular location. In security terms, geospatial refers to what happened and where did it happen, and it's our job as security professionals to understand how it can help us make our critical perimeters and facilities more secure. Map Based Presentation of Data So what is a geospatial surveillance system and what value does it provide to a security provider? In a nutshell a geospatial surveillance system is one that relies heavily on location data for primary display (aka a mapbased GUI) and for analysis and integration of sensor signals. One of the biggest advantages is that it provides a high level of situational awareness. Geospatial systems allow for a map-based representation of a system's sensor location, sensor status and dynamic views of current security events. A user can view the GUI and quickly gain an understanding of the current state of events. This is in comparison to the more traditional systems, where a user, or multiple users, may have to check many monitors to understand the status of various sensors. This improvement in ease of use becomes increasing important as the ability to hire and maintain security personnel becomes more difficult due to budgets pressures. This advantage of situational awareness is much the same as the use of a map when driving to a new location versus the use of a textual description of the same route. Although both have value, the map provides a frame of reference, instant visual cues and quickly communicates a large amount of detailed information. This is further illustrated in the following image, which shows a geospatial user interface and some of the types of information it can convey including physical location details, sensor locations, sensor coverage information, sensor type, target location, target track, target identification, tarAn Example Geospatial User Interface get speed and detailed alarm information. Geospatial Sensors Key components of a geospatial surveillance system are the actual sensors that make up the system. When we think about geospatial sensors, ones that understand inputs and outputs in terms in real space and time, there are several obvious ones that come to mind including radars and GPS sensors. These sensors provide a large amount of data including time based location, speed and even acceleration. A less obvious group of geospatial Geospatial System Architecture sensors are smart phones. We all know they contain a GPS, but we often overlook them from a security standpoint. Smart phones in the hands of first responders can be a basis for coordinating as 16 www.RemoteMagazine.com sets to an event, as well as, using the smart phone's camera capabilities to provide location based images of events that can be documented and shared within the context of the geospatial surveillance system. There are still other sensors that are partially geospatial, or can be enabled to be geospatial. Fence intrusion systems can provide an exact linear position along the fence or at a minimum identify a specific "zone" along its location where the intrusion occurred. Cameras also fall into this category. Out of the box, they are not a geospatial sensor, but they can be enabled with this capability through a process called "geo-referencing." This process involves a mapping between the camera field of view and a terrain map, allowing the camera to understand where each pixel exists in latitude, longitude and elevation. A geospatially enabled camera essentially acts as a short range visual radar. Once a camera understands where a specific pixel resides in real space, it now has the ability to identify an object's real size and real speed. Combining that with visual information, such as aspect ratio, compactness, color and texture, cameras can now classify objects in categories, such as, animal, person, car, truck, boat, aircraft, etc. Still other sensors can be considered "pseudogeospatial." These include sensors that have a physical location that has meaning to the security or operations manager. This would include sensors like access control systems, where the location of a specific door or gate has value. Other sensors that fall into this category are proximity sensors, RFID Geo-referenced Cameras understand where each video and safety sensors, such as equipment over heat, water pixel exists in real space. This allows for computation of real object size, regardless of pixel size. detection or fire sensor. Map Based Sensor Control In addition to being able to display sensor location, sensor state and target information on a map-based GUI, a geospatial system also provides for user interaction through this same interface. This means sensors can be queried and controlled by interaction with the map based display. Sensors typically used for event interrogation: PTZ cameras, laser illuminator, spotlights, range finders and acoustic devices, can also be enabled to be geospatial, allowing them to be monitored and controlled using latitude and longitude information. So in addition to dynamically displaying the type of intrusion, the location and dynamic tracks, a geospatial system can use these same tracks as cues to point interrogation sensors directly to the location of the security event. Some sensors can then automatically follow the target as it moves within the scene. This ability to both monitor and react to situations in a map-based content makes these interfaces very intuitive and efficient for security personnel to interact with. Sensor Collaboration A second advantage of a geospatial surveillance system is the ease that sensors can share and collaborate information. Geospatial sensors, or ones that have been enabled to be geospatial, share a common operating picture, mainly a physical coordinate system. This means they can effectively communicate with each other using a common geospatial command set. As a result geospatial cameras do not need to understand radars' range and bearing and a LRAD does not need to compute the reflection distance of a fence sensor. They exchange position information in terms of elevation, longitude http://www.RemoteMagazine.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Remote - Winter 2013

Editor’s Choice
Message Oriented Middleware - The Future of SCADA
Enhanced SCADA Access and Big Data Lead to New Analytics & Optimization Capabilities
Approaches to Powering Telecom Sites
Satellite Communications for Water Metering and Other Water Applications
Remote Magazine Launches Internet of Things North America
Geospatially Integrated Surveillance Systems
Tier 1 Operator Case Study: Intelligent Site Management
SCADA - The Brain of the Smart Grid
SCADA
Networking
Security
Onsite Power
Industry News

Remote - Winter 2013