In search of military GIS
Transportation and
Traffic
War involves troops, immunisations and equipment, but nothing
happens in the military until something moves. Getting the things timely, safely
and efficiently at the battlefield is one of the biggest problems of the
military. Hence the transportation is tapped into GIS technology to keep
information about highways, bridges, traffic patterns, installations and
seaports at its fingertips. Digital maps of primary and secondary roads could
play critical role in the event a highway is blocked by an accident and drivers
must find alternate routes. GIS can greatly enhance the intelligence base for
the strategic planning as well as for peacetime operations. In this context,
readers may refer to the cover page of this magazine, which highlights an
incident that occured during Kargil war last year.
Weather
Maps
Weather information is also very important for the military troop
during the wartime. They need very timely information about the major weather
changes, where GIS can effectively help. Reliable navigation and time keeping
aids are good weather forecasts for about any part of the world.
GPS
Applications
GPS in military is used for navigation (marine, aircraft and
land navigation), bombing from aircraft, artillery spotting and correction. It
is also used for intelligence by special forces for enemy radar location, signal
intelligence, submarine tracking, and mine location. In search and rescue
operations GPS plays a vital role.
History of GIS and Remote Sensing
in Military
It is no overstatement to say that the origin of GIS
thinking can be traced back to about 5000 BC or before when the earliest sketch
maps bearing records of hunting resources were carved on stone. GIS is a mere
evolved form, which is used as a decision making tool. The military role of GIS
has increased continuously over the past three decades. GIS has brought a new
perspective to managing information.
In the early 1960s, the United
States launched the first reconnaissance satellite, and the Russia followed
within a few years. In addition, military communications, navigation,
meteorology and other satellites were developed during this period. By the
1980s, systems such as the Navstar GPS, as well as reconnaissance satellites
were of major importance in the military balance.
Most of this activity
has been undertaken by the major powers, the United States, Russia and China.
France and the Europe have also devoted considerable resources in this area,
such as in the development of the Helios reconnaissance satellite. Until the
1980s, these were the only countries with the capability to develop civilian
satellites, mainly for the communications and scientific research; these
satellites had little military utility. It was national security, not civilian
applications that drove remote sensing. Technically, there is no clear
difference between civil and military satellite systems. For example,
communication satellites can carry either military or civilian traffic and both
the military and civilian communities use the navigation satellites. However, in
recent years, the number of countries with indigenous launch capabilities has
grown.
In addition to the above countries, Japan, India and Israel have
placed satellite into orbit. Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway and other advanced
industrial countries have designed, produced and operated advanced satellite
systems that were launched commercially. In addition, Brazil, South Korea,
Indonesia, Pakistan, Iraq and South Africa have developed some independent
capability to produce satellites, including imaging and communications systems.
Civilian observation satellites have been in use for decades, with the
50-metre resolution Landsat of the 1970s being supplemented with the European
SPOT system in the 80s. In the 90s, both India and Israel launched systems with
5–metre resolution, and in the mid-90s; even the Russians began commercialising
their 2-metre resolution spy satellites. Now the 1-metre resolution level is at
hand. Several companies are on the verge of commercial operations. Space Imaging
has now successfully launched the IKONOS satellite.
Even before these
new satellites were available, commercial systems showed features like roads,
but now users will be able to see and identify by type, the vehicles driving on
them. For most orbits of interest, the satellite must be within 2500 km of a
ground station to be within range.
Constraints
Operating in space, beyond the boundaries of national
sovereignty is a major legal constraint for the commercial imaging companies who
are fervent believers in “open skies” i.e. no constraints on what they took or
to whom they sell images. While beyond sovereignty, space is not beyond
international law, as decades of work on treaties and other agreement shows. It
is possible that this apparently lawless and unconstrained activity may
gradually be subjected to international agreements. But they are probably years,
if not decades, in the future.
The Middle East and Persian Gulf will be
among the regions most directly affected by the proliferation of commercial
high-resolution satellite imaging. In these areas, which continue to be
characterised by high-level of conflict and tension, the dual-use nature of this
technology and the data it provides, are most pronounced. Like other strategic
technologies and weapons, the Israeli government provides little official
information regarding space launchers and satellites. However, using available
information and drawing logical inferences, the outlines of the Israeli
programme can be discerned. Early warning and real-time reconnaissance have
always been of major importance to Israel defence planners in offsetting the
threat to national survival posed by the massive conventional forces of the
neighbouring Arab states. In the area of communications satellites, Israel is
developing the Amos 1, equipped with 7 Ku-band transponders. These are reported
to be providing operating services to Asian, Eastern European and Middle Eastern
countries.
Governmental restraints are another matter. There is a threat
to the optical sensors, which are the most vulnerable component for an imaging
system. It might be possible to have some very large mirror focussing sunlight
on the satellite, which could damage the focal plane sensor array. With such a
threat government could simply declare a “no spy zone” over specified areas and
announces that it would be randomly illuminating overlying imaging satellites
with enough energy to harm their optics. Observation satellites are the most
immediate concern for any country security. For example, The U. S. Senate’s
adoption of the amendment prohibiting release of satellite imagery relating to
Israel and other areas has increased the attention focused on the negotiations
between Washington and Jerusalem.