Global Geomatics Successfully Geoenhances™ Military Operational Intelligence and Effectiveness
By Ormsby Ford

In military operations of all kinds, rapid access to relevant information is the key to effectiveness. Combat as well as peacekeeping unit commanders and HQ staff must, at all times, have detailed knowledge of the terrain and the disposition and activities of the forces that confront them. State-of-the-art digital information systems have become principal components of today's armed forces' surveillance resources, and command and control assets. Mapping software - for accessing, manipulating, and displaying cartographic, photographic, and photogrammetric data - is front-and-center in today's digital array of C3IS tools.
     GLOBAL GEOMATICS is a leader in the provision of geomatics software solutions, and has been on the digital front lines in responding to requirements for accurate, up-to-date geographic data. The company has made its technology available both to Canada's Department of National Defense and to the U.S. Army. GLOBAL GEOMATICS is the brainchild of President and CEO Gilles Clement. The company has developed open-architecture Open Geospatial Datastore Interface (OGDI) technology for instantly accessing, diffusing, and interacting with complex, heterogeneous, spatially referenced data stores - in any native format and in real time - using intranets, extranets, the Web, and wireless networks. Central to this technology is the Geographic Library Transfer Protocol (GLTP), designed specifically for the transfer of geographic data. GLTP is the only protocol that allows for access to all major existing geodata formats without the costly need for translation. This applies to maps, drawings, and photographic, photogrammetric, and satellite imagery.
      To fulfill its requirements for field operations information, the Canadian Armed Forces possesses an advanced tactical reconnaissance vehicle, the LAV-Recce or "Coyote." This vehicle, deployed in "recce" squads of from five to seven units, is equipped with multiple-sensor surveillance gathering equipment that includes a daylight television camera, a thermal imager, a laser range finder, and ground-surveillance radar. The onboard GIS-GLOBAL GEOMATICS' Open Geospatial Datastore Interface (OGDI)-based MapViewer brings all the reconnaissance information together in real time via specially designed map visualization software and interface. Deployment of the Coyote has meant significant operational improvements for both reconnaissance crews and command post staff, and the vehicle has shown its full tactical value most recently via the Canadian peacekeeping presence in the Balkan theatre of operations.
      The use of an onboard GIS in the Coyote illustrates how geo-enhancedª information systems have become crucial to military reconnaissance. The Coyote's OGDI-based onboard geodata management system means that voluminous multiple-format surveillance data can be rapidly accessed and filtered to generate, in real time, a dynamic data display. Together with terrain-analysis tools, MapViewer organizes the geo-referenced information in multiple layers (a digital version of the time-honored reconnaissance clutter maps), allowing the operator to select the level of detail required for display. This imparts a remarkable enhancement to the combat unit's situational awareness and field-operations visualization capabilities. The modular and distributed system architecture allows for the efficient fusion and wireless transmission of all pertinent data from each Coyote unit, up the chain of command to the tactical command post. In turn, up-to-date confirmation information and analysis from the command post is speedily re-transmitted down the chain of command to all appropriate reconnaissance units.
      With GLOBAL GEOMATICS' technology in tow, armed forces have come a long way from the reconnaissance foot soldier and voice communications links of yesteryear to the complex, TCP-protocol-supporting surveillance vehicles central to the Command, Control, Communications, and Information Systems (C3IS) of today's and tomorrow's combat forces.
      On the basis of the highly successful integration of its technology in Canadian military operations, GLOBAL GEOMATICS has proposed its leading-edge technology to the U.S. Army for use in the compression, storage, data-extraction, image-generation, and visualization of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) and other spatially referenced data stores. GLOBAL GEOMATICS software is expected to become the backbone of the Army's principal cartographic image server for intelligence, surveillance, and tactical and strategic operations use.
      By making its technology available to users throughout the U.S. Army's chain of command, GLOBAL GEOMATICS will allow the latter to meet several mission-critical objectives relating to the military use of existing huge volumes of spatially referenced data.
      NIMA is currently the principal geospatial data store for the U.S. Army. All data is presently loaded into the Informix Geodetic DataBladeª database management system. The Army requires that command personnel as well as field tactical units be able to retrieve geospatial information via the Web, and then access it from the Informix DataBlade at their respective army level. Users visualize the data with appropriate mobile or command post viewers. Throughout this process, clients must be able to use a regular browser or some other easily available application. Given the size of the U.S. Army, analysts can easily appreciate the effectiveness of the Army server to respond quickly to multiple simultaneous requests for the download of partial, national, or global geographic coverage. GLOBAL GEOMATICS' OGDI-GLTP tandem is precisely the answer to such requirements.
      The OGDI-based [email protected] is used to load data into the Informix DataBlade in either vector or raster formats. It should be noted that there are OGDI adapters for more than 80 percent of all existing geospatial data formats, a capability not to be taken lightly given the U.S. Army's scope of operations. GLTP is key to the efficiency of this step. From the Informix DataBlade warehouse, this resultant spatially referenced data is easily available for Web publication by GLOBAL GEOMATICS' OGDI-compliant [email protected] server.
      As is the case with the Canadian Armed Forces, instant access to, and the diffusion and analysis of complex spatially referenced data, is certain to have a huge impact on the U.S. Army's field operations. Coordinated, rapid, and simultaneous interactive access to geospatial information at all levels of the military hierarchy has never before reached this level. On the scale that use by the U.S. Army implies, and as military analysts will readily agree, the effect on military doctrine and strategy is certain to be far-reaching.
      The quality and technological superiority of GLOBAL GEOMATICS' OGDI-compliant software was the impetus behind its adaptation by the Canadian Armed Forces, and the software's design makes it an ideal match for the U.S. Army's intricate requirements. The company has already won unreserved recognition from such major American defense contractors as TASC, which is a subsidiary of Litton Systems. The OGDI-GLTP duo is already known worldwide for its powers. It drives more than three-quarters of all Web servers devoted to GIS and is used by a great many database management, ERP systems, and terabyte-sized geodata providers. For example, Hydro-Quebec is a blue-chip client, and Oracle8iª integrates OGDI.
      This OGDI-GLTP duo is critical to the cross-enterprise efficiency of international cartographic ASPs in both Europe and North America, including those currently operating as well as several in development. Furthermore, it knows no equal in its use as a development tool for system integrators in any commercial, industrial, military, or public sector activity, especially those looking to customize or upgrade operations to optimize their use of existing mounds of spatially referenced data.
      GLOBAL GEOMATICS already enjoys an enviable reputation in the area of geomatics software components and application-package design, development, and deployment. The company is renown internationally as one of the top six GIS developers. It is rated among the world's top eight in geosoftware-component conception, design and deployment, among the top ten in IS integration, and has become one of the best-known Web-enabled mapping/server editors.
     Military and other professionals are urged to visit the GLOBAL GEOMATICS web site at www.globalgeo.com for an overview of the company's products and services.

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