Maps, digital made (more) realistic.

Many hold the view that information overload can hinder commanders in making the right decisions, but digital mapping technology is one important means of overcoming this problem. "Where am I and where is the enemy?" Are questions that have taxed commanders over the centuries and failure to provide the correct and precise answers has resulted in some disasters.

We need not look back further than the Second World War to note the number of times that blue on blue incidents have resulted from an inability to pinpoint own force positions. Pilots of allied aircraft that strafed the wrong ground units, or bombed the wrong warships soon found themselves on the receiving end of 'friendly' fire, and who can blame the firer?

Putting aside the stress and pressure of reading a map while keeping a lookout for enemy defences, it does not need a live pilot to make a tragic mistake these days; highly sophisticated weapon systems pre-programmed with target coordinates and/or guided in-flight by global positioning systems (GPS) require accurate maps. But what if the maps are not up-to-date?

The use of outdated maps led to the embarrassing and presumably inadvertent bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Nato intervention in the Kosovo crisis. The fault for the data inaccuracy was laid at the door of the United States' National Imagery and Mapping Agency (Nima), formerly the Defense Mapping Agency (DMA), which, despite being highly respected and the acknowledged world leader in digital map production, is no less capable of making an error than any other organisation.

However, the Nima map of Belgrade, said to be the cause of the error, was printed in 1997, after the embassy moved to its new location, so this poses the question: just how accurate and up-to-date can any map be? Countries that had colonial expansion in mind began mapping in many parts of the world and much of the cartographers' work carried out in the 18th and 19th centuries has remained the benchmark upon which many present-day maps are based.

So in acknowledging that many nations make use of maps that have not been updated for at least 25 years, the Nima error that led to a spat between China and the United States falls into perspective. Nevertheless, as the world's only superpower and the nation with the largest arsenal of precision-guided weapons, America is obliged to apply the latest intelligence to Nima's map data.

Recent Needed

Accurate maps are being demanded by many nations, not just for defence purposes but also in support of agriculture, urban development and management of the environment. So this demand has spawned the establishment of many companies that provide commercial, as well as military services under the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) banner.

One such is Intergraph, which offers mapping technology that allows the creation and updating of digital maps from aerial photography and satellite imagery. In fact, the technology used by Intergraph to develop digital map databases allows an interface between the map and other commercial databases, such as street addresses in a telephone database.

This could be an aid to intelligence before launching an attack in which the avoidance of collateral damage is essential. Using GPS data, the creation of maps showing physical features is the easy bit, the hard part is the addition of intelligence from a variety of sources if navigational and target errors are to be avoided.

Arguably if the acquisition and maintenance of such intelligence is considered to be too dear, the higher cost of diplomatic and world opinion opprobrium when an expensive 'smart' weapon hits the wrong target, must surely outweigh a desire for economy? Fusing GPS data with multimedia helps to provide digital mapping with a clearer common operational picture, while making the visualisation of the battlespace more relevant.

Red Hen Systems has perfected the art of automating the process of geo-referencing in order to ease data collection; for without such automation, the process would otherwise be lengthy, tedious and prone to error. But it is not only geospatial intelligence that can be added to digital mapping by the Red Hen system, 'ground-truthing' digital photographs, video and audio can also become embedded features. With a click of a mouse, users can access any number of images and documents in support of a digital mapping environment.

Although Nima is an American government agency charged with providing geospatial databases and services to other government agencies, the US Army Corps of Engineers' Topographic Engineering Center (Tec) has found that there are many benefits to be derived from the use of commercial off-the-shelf software. A major on-going task of the Tec is the development, deployment and sustainment of Combat Terrain Information Systems (Ctis), and in this commercial providers are playing their part.

In opening GIS to the commercial sector it has been possible to overcome an alleged weakness in the Nima set-up, namely its inability to quickly distribute maps to the thousands of aircraft, naval vessels, armoured vehicles and mobile command posts that need this information. A successful objective of Ctis is to provide military commanders with automated topographic intelligence and support.

The Ctis is a family of systems that encompasses the Digital Topographic Support System (DTSS), which includes GIS and image processing software. The Tec began to take the commercial off-the-shelf equipment path more than 15 years ago when ESRI's ArcInfo GIS was selected to form the backbone within the DTSS. Over the years, ESRI's 'Arc' software family has grown to meet market needs. ArcInfo is among its products that are Web-enabled so that even formations on the battlefield can access data from the ArcIMS services. This means that even pocket PCs may be used to view digital images.

Over the years GIS has become a major industry that has grown to influence the delivery of training, mission planning, intelligence, command and control, defence mapping and much more. Consequently, there are companies from Croatia to Canada that are busy exploiting the huge possibilities of GIS technology, which is no longer driven solely by the needs of the defence sector.

Despite this growth, ESRI has remained the largest player in GIS technology, retaining its link with the US Army Corps of Engineers' Ctis, which continues to rely on ESRI's GIS software because of its excellent analytical and modelling capabilities. Certainly the decision to follow the commercial off-the-shelf path has been vindicated in greatly reduced operating and training costs that have consequently allowed more frequent software updates.

The DTSS is now in place with all active-duty engineer terrain teams across the entire US Army, and is also fielded to reserve units. It is typically deployed in a digital tactical operations centre as a component of the army battle command system, which includes fire support, air defence, manoeuvre control, combat service support and terrain analysis.

In practice this means that terrain analysis can help provide answers to such questions as:

* What could be seen from an observation post sited here?

* How is the enemy likely to approach this location?

* What coverage does an air defence radar system situated on this hill have?

Not that terrain analysis will provide all answers on a plate, as an understanding of the question and the quality of the answer is still required, but a mobility analysis for a T-72, for example, can be turned into course of action overlays for a specific formation, based on operational analysis and other intelligence data provided.

ESRI technology has been used in recent peacekeeping operations in parts of the world as diverse as East Timor, Bosnia, Kosovo and Sierra Leone. In these situations, demands on commanders are if anything more complex than those placed on them in a straightforward conflict (if there is such a thing these days). GIS can help to provide answers to situational awareness problems such as:

* Where are my forces?

* Where are the warring factions?

* Where can refugees be housed/fed?

* How can relief convoys be routed?

One thus cannot avoid the question: how was war conducted before GIS became available? But then the same questions might have been posed during the American Civil War when balloons were used for the first time to survey enemy lines, or frail aircraft braved enemy fire by carrying out photo reconnaissance over the Western Front in the First World War. It is still not that long ago that wet film had to be processed before the results of aerial reconnaissance could be made available and passed to a battle commander.

While GIS has brought unprecedented quantities of data to many command levels, it is pertinent to suggest that too much reliance upon this modern technology could result in the subconscious development of weaknesses.

What if a communications breakdown prevents the distribution of key data to a particular level? Could too much reliance upon quite brilliant and un-dreamed of levels of accurate data lull users into a false sense of security? If vital overlays such as mapped mined areas should become unavailable for whatever reason, could soldiers at the 'sharp end' cope, or would their operations come to a halt?

Indeed, can we be sure that information overload cannot creep back onto the scene? Just what does that symbol mean, is not a question that should be posed anywhere but in a training environment and in this ESRI's military overlay editor (Mole) is playing a part in banishing confusion. Mole is not another mapping tool but a standalone Windows application designed to implement the US Department of Defense MIL-STD 2525 specification for the display of common military objects. But perhaps just as important as its ability to enable the user to build up a military situation display over time, is its ability to de-clutter the map.

Keeping Track

While "where am I and where is the enemy" may be key questions to which GIS can help supply answers, as the keeping track of military assets is also an important benefit of the integration of GPS with digital mapping technology. The result is pinpoint accuracy that leaves absolutely no margin for error. To this end, Intergraph offers a complete solution for digital data acquisition from various sources including drones, manned aircraft and ground stations using flir and real-time colour video, for transmission to a ground control station via a radio link.

Intergraph's solution is also designed to interface with portable range and direction finding equipment such as laser range/bearing binoculars. Digital data from such handheld devices can be automatically captured into a computer and then combined with the precise GPS coordinates of artillery for example, to provide a very accurate bearing and elevation. This can result in pinpoint targeting and maximum destruction for the minimum use of ordnance.

The Denel Eagle Eye and Flir Systems' MilCam TargetIR are recent binocular devices intended for the digital battlefield. Compatible with a range of external GPS systems, the Eagle Eye acquires and displays target range, bearing and elevation at the touch of a button. The TargetIR, like the Denel product is a passive system that enables soldiers to geo-locate targets and feed real-time data to a command centre.

Thus, these forward edge of the battle area devices can feed data up to commanders at all levels so that they may monitor specific areas. Intergraph believes that battlefield information should be effectively displayed on a digital map and its systems are designed to operate on a computer network where such information can be updated in real-time and shared among many workstations simultaneously. So both top down and bottom up distribution of digital mapping data is now possible.

In a rather different application, digital display maps have proved to be an invaluable aid to safety for German Air Force CH-53 helicopter crews operating with the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in Afghanistan. Using the DKG3 digital display map system produced by Eads Systems & Defence Electronics, pilots have been able to fly at very low heights, by day and night with great precision.

Because the country has one of the highest densities of landmines in the world, every landing site must be cleared so that the helicopters can be set down with a tolerance of only ten metres. Spot landings are often performed in conditions of nil visibility caused by the dust storm generated by the hovering aircraft, but the DKG3 displays the helicopter's exact position. Ground speed, flight direction or time and distance to the next waypoint are also displayed over digital maps irrespective of scale, a PC card from a notebook being used to load them. The operator simply selects the map and scales up or down by using the system's zoom function.

The ISAF crews are in effect using mission planning for their sorties, and the digital terrain system (DTS) produced by Smiths-Aerospace Electronic Systems can be used in a similar function. It has been designed to integrate BAE Systems' Terprom predictive ground collision avoidance system fitted to a number of aircraft to present digital mapping in the most effective way for a pilot.

While Nima will remain the principal source of digital mapping to the defence sector, the possibility of demands on its resources is encouraging greater use of commercial imagery sources. Under the ClearView programme, contracts valued at some $500 million have been awarded to Space Imaging and DigitalGlobe.

To spread the cost of major programmes such as Nato AGS, international teams have been formed that will also provide much sought-after work for an industry that may need to consolidate.