JISTARC/TUD Symposium on Geospatial- and Imagery Intelligence

This symposium is organised by TU Delft Safety and Security Institute (DSYS), in collaboration with Joint Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition en Reconnaissance Commando (JISTARC).

Agenda

13.30h Welcome by Prof. Pieter van Gelder (TUD/TBM/DSYS)

13.45h Captain Meijeringh , '106 Intelligence Eskadron'

The complexity of conflicts is increasing worldwide. The struggle is no longer limited to 'the men in the field', but also to the political, economic, social and information domains. This requires a multidisciplinary approach and a thorough integration of information. In order to centralize the scarce intelligence capacity of the Dutch armed forces, the Joint Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance Command (JISTARC) was established. The 106 Information Eskadron is part of JISTARC and has the task of making relevant and high-quality intelligence products on the operational and tactical level through multidisciplinary teams of analysts (ASICs). In this way, 106 supports effective decision-making by the commander and his / her staff during operations, both abroad and within the Netherlands.

14.15h Prof. Peter van Oosterom (TUD/BK),  ‘Geographic data analysis and – processing with applications to the military domain’

The presentation discusses the research on spatial information infrastructure. Central point is the durable geo information that can be shared, re-used, based on joint definitions of data sets and services. Proceeding from technology and technology development the research aims to contribute to the realisation of a spatial data infrastructure based on varioscale spatiotemporal 2D – 5D models and processes for applications areas like real-time GIS in the military domain.

14.45h Coffee break

15.15h Ritmeester Gouw, 'GeoSpatial analysis within the intelligence work space; opportunities and challenges'

'GeoSpatial analysts (GSAs) have an important position within the 106 Information Eskadron. As one of the core analysts of an all-source intelligence cell (ASIC), a GSA acts as an intelligence analyst. In addition, he or she is a geographic analyst, with the specialization of processing spatial information into intelligence. Moreover, all GSAs are also specialists in their own field, which can range from social geography to remote sensing. The added value of geographic analyses for operations is enormous, as a result of which the demand for GSAs and their products is constantly rising. The challenges of working in an environment without advanced means, but with a lot of time pressure, are also enormous. How do the GSAs deal with this? Which products do they deliver and how (or with what means) could they do their job better? These are the questions which will be addressed during the presentation.

15.45h Dr Faruk Uysal (TUD/EWI), ‘Recent trends for broad area surveillance’

Recent trends for broad area surveillance will be discussed with specific focus on military applications. An adaptive radar signal processing technique for target detection and geolocation using radar data from platforms capable of performing simultaneous Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Along-Track Interferometry (ATI) will be presented. Space-Time Adaptive Processing (STAP) and ATI processing methodologies are combined in parallel to simultaneously image, detect and identify the geolocation of moving targets over clutter using data obtained from a single set of measurements.

16.00h Dr Paco Lopez Dekker  (TUD/CITG), ‘Flexible and high performing observation systems’

In the field of space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar we are currently witnessing two opposing trends. On one hand, we see a steady increase of single satellite imaging capabilities, paired to the use of digital beamforming technologies enabling High Resolution Wide Swath (HRWS). This is the technological domain of traditional large space companies such as Airbus Defence and Space, Thales Alenia, OHB. At the same time, coupled to the emergence of the New Space sector, we are seeing the development of concepts characterized by the use of large constellations of small and relatively inexpensive radar payloads, such as the Iceye constellation of the massive constellation planned by Capella Space. Within NL-RIA (Dutch Knowledge Network for Radar Instruments and Applications) we want to investigate critical technologies that will enable the implementation of miniaturized (at least at launch) radar payloads, and explore the applications of these technologies. One particular point of interest is the development of distributed SwarmSAR concepts, where multiple simple radar spacecraft combine into a highly flexible and high performing observation system.

16.15h Articulation of research areas and educational programmes between JISTARC and TUD

17.00h Closure