How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision Making

Table of Contents

How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision Making .......................... 1
The Situation .............................................................................................................................................................1
The New Era of Intelligent Remote Sensing..............................................................................................................1
Start with the Big Picture – An Introduction to Wide Area Motion Imagery ............................................................2
Find and Interpret the Unseen – Material Identification via Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) ......................................5
The Next Big Thing – Intelligent Remote Sensing .....................................................................................................7
Without Advanced Sensors Systems.........................................................................................................................8
With Advanced Sensor Systems ................................................................................................................................9
Exelis Intelligent Remote Sensing – Putting it all together ................................................................................... 10
About Exelis ......................................................................................................................................................... 12

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 How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision Making

How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision
Making

The Situation
If it’s up to you and your organization to respond to natural disasters, prevent man-made
terrorism, monitor ongoing security risks, and investigate criminal activities, you already
understand the double-edged sword of intelligence gathering in the 21st century.
On one hand, you have access to an incredible amount of data from multiple sources including
everything from remote sensors such as security camera footage, and airborne imagery, to
photos and videos on social media. On the other hand, the potential flood of content that can
be gathered is like drinking from a fire hose. It can overwhelm analysts and others charged with
making critical decisions and determinations as to what is happening and what to do about it;
or what happened and who is responsible.
Remote sensing technology is clearly a powerful tool for civil, commercial, military and
government agencies to increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve safety. For example,
after the Boston Marathon bombings of April 2013, law enforcement agencies leveraged
terabytes of data sourced from surveillance footage and photographs from social media in
order to help identify the suspects.
But what can be done to make the gathering and analysis of remotely sensed data more
effective and efficient? After all, the time and resources it takes to process, analyze and extract
actionable information have serious consequences and serious costs—when bad things are
happening, time is the enemy—especially when budgets are strained to the limit.
This white paper will discuss advanced sensor system technology that can extract critical
elements of information to help “catch the bad guys.”

The New Era of Intelligent Remote Sensing

The need for greater clarity and higher confidence decisions in shorter time frames calls for
advanced airborne solutions that improve the utilization of existing resources by:
• Alerting users to suspicious activity and establish interconnected patterns of life,
including origins of travel and social interactions
• Identifying the materials involved in a scene to help provide context and understanding
of what is actually occurring
• Supporting multiple users and roles from analysts in a data center to forward deployed
specialists
• Quickly providing information products in real-time that improve decision making—as
opposed to raw data

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 How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision Making

Start with the Big Picture – An Introduction to Wide Area Motion Imagery
In today’s complex world, illegal and threatening activities around borders, high-profile events
and critical infrastructure put lives, resources and regional stability at risk. While there are
often signs of suspicious activity, it can be difficult to place concurrent activities in context and
distinguish threats from routine activities when coverage isn’t wide enough, and budgets and
resources are limited.
Even with deployment of traditional video surveillance systems, the complex nature of criminal
activity, conspiracies, and acts of terrorism requires an understanding of what’s happening over
a wider area.
It’s not enough to know what is happening at a specific place—you need to know who is doing
it, where they came from, where they are going, who else is involved, etc.
Wide Area Motion Imagery, or WAMI, is a surveillance technology that proactively and
persistently monitors large areas, up to several kilometers in diameter—day or night. Wide
Area Motion Imagery complements higher frame rate Full Motion Video (FMV) systems by
continuously capturing 2 images per second over a much larger area. This enables observation
of activity, tracking of movement, and gathering of critical intelligence over a dispersed region.

Figure 1: Wide Area Motion Imagery provides significantly greater coverage than a Full Motion Video system at the
same resolution and altitude.

Spatial resolution for Wide Area Motion Imagery is on the order of 0.5 meters Ground Sampling
Distances (GSD). This resolution, when combined with the wide coverage and frame rate,
enables imagery analysts and automated tools to track vehicles and other medium-to-large
objects moving across the scene. The forensic capabilities provided by WAMI is unmatched by
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 How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision Making

other sensor types and supports Activity-Based Intelligence. Coverage over the wide area
allows analysts to see events that are happening concurrently and establish interconnected
patterns of life including social interactions, destinations and origins of travel. Collecting WAMI
data over time provides analysts the opportunity to:
• Observe vehicle tracks and traffic
• Study patterns of life
• Identify nodes of activity
• Identify anomalous behavior
• Utilize patterns and trends to anticipate behavior
A comparison of FMV to wide area imagery is provided below.
Full Motion Video (FMV) Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI)
Spatial Resolution High spatial resolution (<.2m GSD) Moderate spatial resolution (<0.5m
pointed at 1 small region GSD) over an enormous area
Coverage Field of View: 10s of meters across Circle of Persistence (COP):
kilometers in diameter
Frame Rate High frame rate, “smooth” video Lower frame rate: trade-off to
quality facilitate data storage and real-time
image processing—typically 2
frames per second
Unique Feeds 1 view collected, stored and Up to 10 unique feeds per sensor.
processed per sensor Supports real-time transmission to
geographically distributed analysts.
Advanced None Storage and real-time processing
Exploitation supporting the ability to review
Capabilities collected imagery and advanced
analytics (object tracking, geo-
fences via tripwires / watch boxes)
Figure 2: Wide Area Motion Imagery is an advanced surveillance technology that complements traditional FMV
systems.

In addition to providing coverage over a much larger area when at the same resolution and
altitude, one of the key benefits of WAMI is that it reduces cost and increases the efficiency of
surveillance resources. Unlike FMV sensors, which provide a soda straw view and collect only a
small target area within a region, WAMI sensors provide a Circle of Persistence (COP) over a
region kilometer wide in diameter.
If an activity or event occurs anywhere in the circle of persistence, an analyst can “replay” the
motion imagery and zoom-in to focus on the region of interest with a stare point. With just an
FMV sensor, unless the FMV sensor was already focused on the “event”, the activity is missed
and there is no evidence to replay. And if multiple activities are happening concurrently across

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 How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision Making

town, tasking of multiple airborne assets is required in order to maintain cognizance of the
“complete” situation.
Because the coverage area supported by a WAMI sensor spans several kilometers, multiple
stare points (areas of specific interest within the COP) can be established simultaneously in real
time with a single sensor. The customized views can be selected, controlled, and independently
moved by different users to provide constant coverage of any area within the COP.

Figure 3: Serve up to 10 stare points simultaneously in real time, to zoom in and view multiple areas of interest in
high resolution.

This unique WAMI capability to serve multiple stare points simultaneously in real time improves
the utilization of airborne assets, and is equivalent to having multiple airborne FMV payloads.
Multiple users are able to stream footage that is relevant to their specific interest—whether
they are forward deployed streaming data to their mobile device for real-time situational
awareness or Intelligence Analysts gathering forensic evidence for purposes of mission
planning.

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 How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision Making

Figure 4: A single WAMI sensor can provide coverage equivalent to multiple FMV sensors--significantly reducing
resources needed to maintain a vigilant watch and gather critical intelligence.

Find and Interpret the Unseen – Material Identification via Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI)
Even with all the imagery data that is available, it’s still extremely difficult to know exactly what
is happening because images often lack sufficient information about the materials and
processes involved. Image analysts can interpret visible imagery, but none can positively
identify critical materials and processes evident in the solids, liquids and gasses with visible
imagery only.
Quickly and easily recognizing materials involved in a scene can help organizations better
understand the nature of the activity. Material identification using hyperspectral imaging (HSI)
adds a critical layer of information to traditional imagery. With HSI, users can detect, identify
and geolocate a variety of solids and gases— both on earth and in the atmosphere – including
materials used to manufacture explosives and narcotics.
Hyperspectral imaging technology uses the light reflected from objects to detect objects or
discriminate between different objects. Light reflected from objects is dispersed into its spectra
and then the intensities of certain precise spectral bands are measured.
Whereas the human eye can visualize light in three bands—red, green and blue, hyperspectral
imaging utilizes more bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and separates it into hundreds of
narrow discrete bands with the purpose of detecting and classifying various materials based on
their spectral signature.

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 How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision Making

The Electromagnetic Spectrum (Wavelengths in Meters)

let v e
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10-14 10-12 10-10 10-8 10-6 10-4 10-2 1 102 104

400 nm Visible Light 700 nm

Figure 5: Visible light only captures a miniscule portion of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Figure 6: Hyperspectral Imaging utilizes a larger portion of the electromagnetic spectrum and separates it into
hundreds of narrow discrete bands.

Different materials—whether solids, liquids or gases—reflect light differently and have unique
spectral signatures. A spectral signature is a discriminating characteristic of an object and can
be thought of as an electromagnetic fingerprint. Hyperspectral systems enable the accurate
remote measurement of a material’s spectral signature and detect objects by comparing the

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reflected light against a library of spectral signatures. When a match is found, the object is
automatically selected and highlighted for further inspection. In addition, detections are
overlaid onto imagery for context.
In general, hyperspectral analysis has been divided among three major wavebands:
• Visible and Near Infrared /Short Wave Infrared (VNIR / SWIR; 0.4-3 microns)
• Mid-Wave Infrared (MWIR; 3-5 microns)
• Long Wave Infrared (LWIR; 7-14 microns)
The different wavebands used are separated by how the collected energy is produced, with
VNIR sensors collecting the energy reflected by sunlight (much like a consumer camera) and
LWIR measuring the heat emitted by objects and materials. For many applications VNIR/SWIR
has been used for solid material detection while LWIR has been used for gas detection.

Electromagnetic Wavelength Region General Description Mission Space

Spectrum
Vis 0.4-0.7 microns Visible light, color Color discrimination,
Visible
discrimination camouflage, vegetation,
paints
NIR 0.7-1.1 microns Vegetation characterization, Man-made materials,
Near Infrared
typical night vision region plastics, minerals, military
paints
SWIR 1.1-3.0 microns Important region for materials Homemade explosives as
Short Wave
of interest, strongly influenced well as the mission space
Infrared
by clouds and moisture for NIR
MWIR 3-5 microns Region influenced by both Hydrocarbons, gases
Mid-Wave Infrared
solar illumination and self-
emission
Long Wave Infrared LWIR 7-14 microns Radiance generated by self- Gas detection,
emission (object temperature) temperature
measurement
Figure 7: Visible through Long Wave Infrared Regions of the Electromagnetic Spectrum.

The Next Big Thing – Intelligent Remote Sensing

As noted earlier, airborne sensing systems such as WAMI and Hyperspectral Imaging collect
staggering amounts of data requiring intensive processing to convert the raw data into
understandable and visually formatted products. In particular, HSI data has traditionally been
brought physically to the ground and processed for later interpretation—users often wait hours
or days to get results.
More and more, there is a need to have the ability to perform real-time processing onboard the
collection platform, enabling faster decision making. Users are also looking for multi-INT
systems that will be able to process multiple sensor types onboard the airborne platform in
real-time. This helps solve complex intelligence problems by enabling sensor cross-cueing and
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 How Advanced Sensor Systems Can Provide Information Products to Enhance Decision Making

autonomous analytics that assist in decision making while reducing the burden on human
resources.

Figure 8: Advanced sensor systems process data at the source to enable analytics including real-time activity alerts
and sensor cross-cueing.

To illustrate how advanced WAMI and HSI sensors can be used together to reduce the amount
of time it takes to “catch bad guys” a scenario involving a methamphetamine lab is explored
below.

Without Advanced Sensors Systems

In an area suspected of drug manufacturing, local law enforcement receives a tip that a
suspected meth producer is at a hideout and traveling in a white SUV. Once the suspect is seen
leaving the premises, an airborne platform with an FMV sensor tracks the vehicle to a house
that is suspected of hosting the meth lab based on informant testimony. Later in the day, the
suspect leaves the house and travels to an empty lot in a nearby park. Another FMV is tasked to
track the suspect’s movements. After a few minutes, two (2) other vehicles meet up with the
suspect in the parking lot, an exchange takes place and the three (3) vehicles leave in separate
directions.
In this scenario, law enforcement will commonly use applications such as satellite imagery,
surveillance video, collected FMV feeds as well as any human gathered intelligence. Potential
intelligence includes imagery data of the suspect’s place of residence. However, unknowns
include:
• Is the house the location of the actual lab?
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• Who were in the two other vehicles? Where did they come from and where did they go?
• Are there illicit activities taking place or was it a benign transaction of goods?
The process to assemble all the different pieces of intelligence could take weeks or months.

Figure 9: With traditional surveillance technologies, it can take significant time to piece together the evidence
needed.

With Advanced Sensor Systems

Because the area has suspected drug manufacturing, wide area motion imagery is proactively
and persistently flown over the region. Once law enforcement receives a tip that a suspected
meth producer is at the hideout and traveling in a white SUV, they set up a watch box around
the hotel to alert them any time a vehicle leaves. As the white SUV leaves the motel, the
suspect is tracked in real-time. The suspect stops at a house, cueing a HSI sensor to scan the
location. The sensor identifies an Ammonia plume in real-time, suggesting a potential drug
manufacturing site.
A watch box is set around the residence to maintain watch over any potential activity there.
Later in the day, the suspect leaves the residence in his vehicle, tripping the watch box which
alerts an analyst of activity and automatically triggers the sensor system to track the suspect’s
vehicle.
As the car pulls to a stop in a park, a third watch box is placed around the car and parking lot to
automatically alert the analyst of potential social interactions and to track any movement. A
few minutes later, as two (2) other cars join the meeting, goods are exchanged and everyone
leaves in separate directions with the movements of all three (3) vehicles being automatically
tracked and the origins of the two new vehicles being determined forensically.
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In addition to the satellite imagery and human intelligence, law enforcement now has spectral
data suggesting the manufacture of illegal narcotics, tracking data for the suspect as well as
those he interacted with throughout the day, helping to reduce the time associated with
creating their response plan.

Figure 10: Advanced sensors provide context to interpret data and identify actionable intelligence—reducing time
to higher confidence decisions.

Exelis Intelligent Remote Sensing – Putting it all together

From capturing the big picture, to identifying materials based on their spectral signatures, to
force-multiplier tools to track and analyze and connect the dots--Exelis has established itself as
a leader in intelligent airborne remote sensing.
Exelis Wide Area Motion Imagery technology currently supports the US Air Force’s Gorgon
Stare program with an EO/IR system that has delivered over 10,000 operational flight hours.
The new CorvusEye™ 1500 series from Exelis is a high-resolution, 15” WAMI system enabling
the team to observe activity in real-time, track movement and gather critical intelligence over
an area up to 3 kilometers in diameter for protection around borders, critical infrastructure and
high-profile events.
Exelis Wide Area Motion Imagery systems supports both manned and unmanned airborne
platforms, and are affordable turnkey solutions enabling users to observe, track and analyze
activity over wide areas from a single sensor. The ability to provide up to 10 stare points from a
single sensor improves utilization of surveillance assets such as man-hours and budgets—and
reduces the time needed to develop actionable intelligence, and make higher confidence
decisions.
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Exelis Material Identification solutions solve information processing problems with end-to-end
systems that collect spectral imagery; process data in real-time, and deliver automated material
identification results to the user—quickly providing information analysts with the context
needed to take action.
Exelis Material ID capabilities include:
• MSI / HSI sensing
• Pre-processing
• Onboard processing
• Ground Processing, Exploitation and Dissemination (PED)
• Algorithm development
• System integration
• Field support
• Training for sensor system operators
Exelis has systems that operate in the VNIR, SWIR, and LWIR regions of the electromagnetic
spectrum. In addition, the only operationally-proven real-time embedded HSI processing
onboard the collection platform automates data collection and creation of spectral data
products to streamline the analysis processes. Analysis that used to take days or weeks can be
completed in hours. This capability enables the user to pre-define the target to be identified. As
hyperspectral data is collected, Exelis:
• Matches captured signatures to the target signature
• Automatically chips-out relevant geo-referenced images
• Enables real-time action/decision
The Exelis Material Identification and Regional Surveillance Systems deliver advanced sensing
capability based on decades of airborne ISR experience and Exelis is proud to claim 100%
mission success pertaining to our ISR Systems deployed over the years.
Exelis CogniSense™ is a flexible, scalable and standards-based embedded analytical framework
developed by Exelis that processes data at the source to enable sensor cueing, cross correlation
and autonomous analytics. CogniSense enables the CorvusEye 1500 to automate tasks through
plug-in tools without requiring human intervention. These force multiplier tools (available Q4
2014) alert users of activity within user-placed geo-fences (i.e. watch boxes and tripwires),
automatically track movement and even task an FMV sensor to follow a vehicle.
Exelis Jagwire ™ is a web-based Ground PED solution that enhances situational awareness by
providing on-demand access to critical geospatial intelligence data. Jagwire’s advanced search
tools quickly filter and discover the critical pieces of multi- INT, multi-modal content needed
from disparate data stores across the enterprise, and delivers them within seconds – even to
the low-bandwidth forward deployed user on a mobile device. Jagwire enables users across an

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organization to view real-time footage from airborne platforms including CorvusEye 1500, and
is trusted and proven in military operations.

About Exelis
Exelis is a diversified, top-tier global aerospace, defense, information and services company
that leverages a 50-year legacy of deep customer knowledge and technical expertise to deliver
affordable, mission-critical solutions for global customers.
To learn more about remote sensing and advanced sensors and tools from Exelis, please visit:
www.exelisinc.com/capabilities/Airborne-Remote-Sensing-Systems
www.exelisinc.com/capabilities/MaterialIdentification
www.exelisinc.com/corvuseye1500

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