GXP Mosaic

Nigel Lambton
Director of sales
and marketing, EMEA

So it’s Wednesday, that must mean I’m in Eindhoven? Or is it Prague? No, Riyadh of course. Could it really be the end of 2009 already? That sums up my first year as the new director of sales and marketing for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

When the GXP team said “We spend a lot of time on the road,” they weren’t kidding! Of the 42 countries in the EMEA region, our small team, based in Cambridge, U.K., has managed to visit 18 — some multiple times — and I have attended 15 of the 16 industry exhibitions, shows, and seminars the EMEA team has participated in, exhibited at, or organized. The feedback I have received throughout the year has been greatly appreciated. Please don’t be offended if I have not yet had the opportunity to introduce myself personally. I plan to cover more ground in 2010.

Getting out and meeting customers is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job. No matter how many emails or phone calls I log, it is no match for personal, face-to-face discussions, where I gain an understanding of how different users are implementing SOCET SET® and SOCET GXP® software in their workflows and production lines.

I compare my GXP career with SOCET GXP v3.0 software — my professional background is predominately image analysis, and both SOCET GXP v3.0 and I were introduced at the end of 2008. As 2009 draws to a close, I reflect on the vast amount I have learned about photogrammetry and geospatial intelligence. Although, as one of my colleagues said “It’s easier to punch functionality into a computer than it is the new boss!” Clearly, I have more to learn.

However, armed with my erudite skills, I am well-prepared for the launch of SOCET GXP v3.1 in early 2010, and the next step for both software and Lambton. With additional SOCET SET strengths and mid-range photogrammetry tools being integrated into SOCET GXP’s automated processes, it swiftly is becoming the exploitation and production tool of choice. There is particular interest in the BAE Systems unmanned aircraft systems team that has developed our UAVs. If you follow BAE Systems news, you will have seen that the MANTIS UAV is now flying, and will use SOCET GXP in its ground station for exploiting still-imagery and full-motion video data sets. BAE Systems’ HERTI UAV team also is using SOCET GXP. The HERTI system captures, processes, and disseminates high-quality imagery.

Moreover, SOCET GXP’s pedigree — and now proven advantage — has reinforced our standing with many NATO nations, most notably the British military. All three services will be using SOCET GXP by the end of March 2010, and the British Army and Royal Air Force are training with it prior to taking the software on live operations abroad.

BAE Systems’ MANTIS UAV is a fully autonomous
next-generation unmanned aircraft system.

It has to be said that the larger part of the EMEA customer base is comprised of photogrammetry users and the production community. The release of SOCET SET v5.5 earlier this year delivered a significant number of new features to update existing versions, which will assist us with transitioning all users to SOCET GXP in the future. I believe this demonstrates our ongoing commitment to a valuable customer base. I am particularly enthused to see that SOCET GXP’s continually increasing functionality is meeting and surpassing the expectations of those whose production processes are rooted in the SOCET SET era. The veteran software may be reaching its twilight years, but we all still can learn a lot from veterans.

It is with a very optimistic outlook that I can reflect on a massively successful year for the GXP group, particularly the EMEA team, and I look forward to meeting more of you in due course. There are many significant developments in the works that we plan to demonstrate during the 2010 user conferences; in San Diego next April, and Cambridge in September.

Finally, I must express my sincere thanks to the many organizations who have welcomed me with open arms and to our global GXP team for the support and assistance in a packed first year.

Seasons greeting to all.

Sincerely,

Nigel Lambton
Director of sales and marketing, EMEA
BAE Systems Geospatial eXploitation Products™ (GXP®)

BAE Systems has implemented a new licensing plan for SOCET SET® and SOCET GXP®. Customers can increase productivity for computationally intensive processes, including automatic point measurement in triangulation, orthorectification, mosaicking, and automatic terrain generation.

The new license scheme makes it possible to run up to four concurrent processes with one license instead of the previous two. For example, one Next-Generation Automatic Terrain Extraction license is equivalent to four batch processing licenses, which allows for concurrent processing on four processors with one computer, or on multiple computers in the license server network. To request a license, please complete the Request support form online, or contact the customer support representative in your region for additional details.

Excerpts from the article featured in Imaging Notes, Fall 2009, pages 27–32.

Matt Bower of BAE Systems discusses the benefits of using the new SOCET GXP® Video Analysis tool to analyze video feeds from unmanned aerial systems.

“Today, the U.S. military deploys more than 5,000 UAVs, and daily UAV missions in Iraq and Afghanistan have nearly tripled in the past two years.”

When Somali pirates hijacked the U.S. freighter Maersk Alabama and took Capt. Richard Phillips hostage in April, a U.S. Navy ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) built by Boeing’s Insitu unit took video footage of the developing situation. Predator and Reaper UAVs have been in the news recently because the U.S. military has used them to launch missile strikes, such as the one that reportedly killed Osama Bin Laden’s son, against Al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Less publicized is the extensive use of UAVs by the U.S. military for “dull, dirty, or dangerous” surveillance tasks for which they are better suited than piloted aircraft. Real-time images and videos are increasingly used for remote surveillance, intelligence gathering, situational awareness, and decision-making. “At the receiving end, the amount of data available is increasing exponentially,” says Kevin Kelleher, airborne integration lead for the National System for Geospatial Intelligence (NSG) at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). By associating geospatial information with imagery intelligence, this airborne video surveillance (AVS) technology allows decision makers to view developing situations in their geographic context, track and visualize events as they unfold, and predict possible outcomes.

What UAVs are and what they do

Also known as remotely piloted aircraft, unmanned aerial systems, and simply drones, these remotely piloted fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft and lighter-than-air and near-space systems are both armed and unarmed. They range in size from hand-launched models that look like toy planes and can weigh as little as 12 pounds to the jet-powered RQ-4 Global Hawk, built by Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, which has a 3,000-mile range and operates at about 60,000 feet, and the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper, both built by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems.

The Predator, which can fly at altitudes of up to 25,000 feet, performs surveillance and reconnaissance missions and carries two laser-guided anti-tank Hellfire missiles; it can stay in the air for about 40 hours. The Reaper is a larger and more capable aircraft that can fly at 50,000 feet, carrying up to 14 Hellfire missiles, and using infrared sensors to distinguish the heat signatures of rocket launchers, anti-aircraft guns, and other firepower on the ground.

Today, the U.S. military deploys more than 5,000 UAVs, and daily UAV missions in Iraq and Afghanistan have nearly tripled in the past two years. Military applications include peering over hills or buildings, monitoring the seas, eavesdropping from high altitudes, and assisting in special operations. The U.S. military also uses UAVs to transmit live video from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Traditional roles for military airborne geo-intelligence, Kelleher says, include operational support, battle damage assessment, treaty/inspection monitoring, non-combatant evacuation operations, forensic analysis, and coalition operations; new roles include disaster relief, counter-terrorism/narcotics, and homeland defense.

Direct connection between UAVs and operators on the ground or on aircraft is limited to line-of-sight communication; however, communication relay nodes and satellites enable operators to control UAVs and download data from anywhere.

SOCET GXP® Video Analysis active film roll window

Video analysis software

One of the most valuable products that UAVs can provide is streaming video, in real time or near real time. This product also poses one of the greatest challenges. “To be useful, this massive amount of data must be analyzed in near real time,” says Matt Bower of BAE Systems, a subject-matter expert for the company’s SOCET GXP® Video Analysis software tool. The very flexible and dynamic re-tasking of UAVs, he points out, requires analysts to quickly analyze the data stream, which can be part of live operations.

SOCET GXP, he explains, can take in video from UAVs—plus a stream of support data that includes such variables as the platform’s location, its look angle, the temperature, and the wind speed—and display the footprint of the camera’s field of vision on a map. The user can then move the frames of interest into SOCET GXP to create annotations, mark-ups, briefing products, terrain extraction, building extraction, and so on. “You now have all the SOCET GXP functionality in the video,” says Bower, “and can push the data through. You can fuse the video with other reference sources you might have and use it to drive other geospatial software, such as Google Earth.”

The latest version of SOCET GXP enables users to track moving objects they select on screen, as well as to push the video’s telemetery data into a sensor model and use it to extract the coordinates of the moving object and monitor its speed and heading.

These data streams raise concerns about processing power, says Bower. “If you have a video at 30 frames per second, any advanced computation on those frames—even something as simple as sharpening and dynamic range adjustment—could incur a very big CPU processing cost, because you have to re-do the operation for every new frame.” UAVs can employ various methods to reduce the amount of bandwidth needed to transmit video streams by several orders of magnitude. First, their on-board computers can disseminate only the most pertinent data. Second, they can recognize targets and transmit their coordinates rather than large imagery files. Finally, when they do need to transmit large volumes of data, they can use advanced data compression to reduce bandwidth requirements. Read the complete article >>

Learn more about SOCET GXP video analysis capabilities >>

2010 BAE Systems GXP International User Conference and Professional Exchange
April 19 – 23, 2010
Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines
San Diego

2009 ESRI European User Conference in Vilnius, Lithuania,
October 2009

Rut Gallmeier, BAE Systems support engineer for the EMEA region, demonstrates how to collect features in stereo in SOCET GXP® v3.0.2 using the SOCET for ArcGIS® module. Features automatically update the geodatabase in ArcGIS 9.3 with accurate 3-D information.

I’m using SOCET for ArcGIS® with ESRI® Production Line Tool Set (PLTS) and my elevation values are wrong when updating a feature. What is causing this?

PLTS may be overwriting the elevation values when a feature is modified. To eliminate this behavior deselect the following option:

1. From the ArcMap® main menu, select PLTS > Properties….
2. Switch to the Z Management panel and deselect the Update Z values on modify option.

Select Properties from the PLTS menu.

Uncheck the Update Z values on modify option.

Many customers have asked us about the NVDIA® 3-D Vision system with the Samsung LCD flat panel monitor for stereoscopic viewing.

We are excited about this new technology as an inexpensive alternative to other stereoscopic systems and have tested the system on Microsoft® Windows® XP and Vista™ operating systems with an NVIDIA Quadro® FX series video card. We have observed issues such as flickering and loss of stereo. The GXP engineering team is investigating these issues. Consequently, we cannot recommend using this system until we complete further research. We look forward to supporting this technology in the near future, so please check our Web site for updates.

BAE Systems has augmented its software training program. New SOCET SET® and SOCET GXP® training classes are scheduled to begin in January 2010 at nationwide training centers.

All scheduled SOCET SET and SOCET GXP training courses held in GXP regional training centers are free for current and prospective customers. Classroom seating is limited, so please register online in advance to reserve a space. We regret that we cannot accept walk-in registrations.

A preview of new courses is listed below. Complete syllabi and the training calendar are listed online: http://www.socetgxp.com/content/events/training-courses

SOCET SET

The hands-on SOCET SET course provides an overview of the user interface, core functionality, and geospatial production processes. Students are taught how to create a SOCET SET project; import images (from various sensor types), terrain files, shapefiles, and other data into the project; and use the data to create a range of geospatial products.

After completing the course, students should be able to use automated image-analysis and geospatial production tools to generate orthophotos, true orthophotos, image chips and mosaics; create terrain models; and extract features from stereo imagery. Skills taught in the four-day course include triangulating images to improve geospatial accuracy, creating and editing terrain files, and updating geodatabases with 2-D and 3-D features.

SOCET for ArcGIS® for SOCET SET

The SOCET for ArcGIS® for SOCET SET course is designed for GGI contractors. However, it is helpful for anyone who uses SOCET for ArcGIS in the SOCET SET environment. The four-day hands-on course teaches those familiar with ESRI® products how to use stereo imagery to collect and edit features, and assign attributes in the ArcMap® environment. Students are taught how to extract 2-D and 3-D feature data using the SOCET SET stereo viewport. The data is automatically placed in an ESRI personal, multi-user, or file geodatabase. Additional skills taught include connecting to geodatabases, optimizing preferences, proper extracting methods, feature attribution and editing, and data quality assurance and quality control.

SOCET GXP: Train the trainer

The four-day SOCET GXP: Train the trainer course is designed for individuals who need a comprehensive understanding of the software so they can teach others. The hands-on course covers software installation, system administration, licensing, and all core functionality and tools for multiple user types.

After completing the four-day course, students should be able to: install SOCET GXP and set up the License Manager to allocate license modules, configure site and user-defined preferences, become proficient with all tools and workflows, gain a basic understanding of troubleshooting techniques including areas that may require concentrated training, and learn tips and tricks to help users streamline workflows.

SOCET GXP for the geospatial analyst

The SOCET GXP for the geospatial analyst course teaches students how to optimize geospatial production processes. The hands-on three-day course includes steps for streamlining rigorous analysis and production tasks to optimize workflows.

Upon completion of the course, students should be able to use automated exploitation, analysis, and geospatial production tools to generate image and map products such as orthophotos, true orthophotos, image chips, mosaics, and pan-sharpened images. Skills taught include triangulating images to improve geospatial accuracy, creating and editing terrain files, and updating geodatabases with 2-D and 3-D features.

SOCET GXP for the image analyst

The SOCET GXP for the image analyst course offers instruction and hands-on training for core SOCET GXP tools. Learn about the basic SOCET GXP operating environment, typical workflows, terminology, and the fundamental concepts required to quickly create accurate image and map products using geospatially registered data.

After completing the two-day course, students should be familiar with the software interface and menus; recognize frequently used tools; and master the basic navigation required to build finished products — complete with graphics, annotations, targets, shapefiles, and other relevant data. Other skills taught include change detection, image comparison, and generating user-defined templates.

View training schedules and register for a class online >>

Find-in-scene algorithm, one of several new algorithms added to SOCET GXP v3.1 for hyperspectral and multispectral image processing

SOCET GXP v3.1 continues focusing on full integration of image analysis and geospatial analysis in one versatile product. Core functionality has been refined to improve the overall user experience and boost production. New high-performance image-analysis and geospatial production features are more efficient and intuitive.

In response to customer requests for fusing multiple data types, SOCET GXP v3.1 offers new on-the-fly terrain analysis capabilities. Additional image exploitation enhancements are included for video analysis, hyperspectral and multispectral image analysis, and the new Xport™ — a specialized Multiport™ that displays an image with up to 16 linked panels to give users a new way to create multiple image processing configurations for in-depth analysis.

To accommodate the expanding SOCET GXP user base, BAE Systems has opened free hands-on training centers in Reston, Virginia; Tampa, Florida; St. Louis; Denver; and San Diego. A new training facility is scheduled to open in Cambridge, U.K., in 2010. Analysts everywhere are experiencing the power of eXtreme Analysis™ with SOCET GXP, adopting it as their tool of choice for advanced geospatial intelligence reporting.

SOCET GXP v3.1 is scheduled for release on December 18, 2009, and is available upon request. Please contact a sales or customer support representative for details.

SOCET GXP® v3.1 usability enhancements at a glance

SOCET GXP v3.1 flip tool

SOCET GXP® is designed to simplify workflows and make the software easy to use for every kind of task. When merging photogrammetry into mainstream image analysis, ease of use is particularly important. Many intuitive features are added to SOCET GXP v3.1 to aid analysis. A new flip tool enables quick browsing through stacked graphics, eliminating the need to hunt, zoom, and precisely click on a graphic for editing; cursor enhancements designate roaming direction; and the void pixel removal process deletes black edges that appear with non-square imagery when using Ortho On-the-Fly™ or Virtual Mosaic tools for mosaicking.

Reference imagery and maps such as DPPDB, CIB®, and CADRG can be automatically loaded into a Multiport for greater situational awareness when working with data sets that cover a small field of view. This imagery can be used as a control source for glove align, registration, or triangulation processes. Other enhancements include double-click to center and zoom; auto annotation improvements; enhanced image display, and reduced load, zoom, and pan times. In addition, speed and quality for RSET generation are substantially improved.

• Flip tool: offers a quick visual way to access data and select feature graphics that may be cluttered after dense collects.
• Interactive range and bearing tool: creates, measures, and labels lines drawn on an image to indicate length and direction.
• Bracket tool: automatically measures and annotates features when selecting end points that define the feature.
• Zoom tool: zooms an image to a map scale (such as 1:100 or 1:2000) and computes the equivalent screen zoom level (for example 30 percent).
• Auto load map and image background: opens map and image backgrounds that correspond to data loaded in the Multiport for greater situational awareness.
• Roam cursors: compass rose cursor specifies the four standard geographic directions and directional cursor designates 16 standard geographic directions, plus the digital roam direction.
• Ground cursors: distance rings and compass rose cursors provide geographic direction and proximity information.
• Hide void pixels: removes unwanted edge pixels for Ortho On-the-Fly™ and Virtual Mosaic processes.
• Jump-to-point coordinates: recognizes common coordinate formats from third-party applications.
• Graphic annotation: generates map labels based on system information and image metadata.
• Text annotation: adds options for defining text styles (such as font, color, and size) for individual characters.

The SOCET GXP release enhancements document will be available soon on the GXP Web site.

SOCET SET® users can learn how to perform their current SOCET SET workflows in SOCET GXP®. We encourage current SOCET SET customers to attend free training classes at our regional training centers to see how SOCET GXP automates geospatial production workflows. Many complex photogrammetric processes such as aspect and slope analysis, terrain profiling, line-of-sight analysis, and creating seamlines (see example below) are automated in SOCET GXP, which is designed to simplify workflows. The three-day, hands-on SOCET GXP for the geospatial analyst course offers a comprehensive overview of SOCET GXP’s geospatial production tools, including triangulating images to improve geospatial accuracy, creating and editing terrain files and updating geodatabases with 2-D and 3-D features.

Creating and reshaping seamlines in SOCET GXP

The process for creating and reshaping seamlines is streamlined in SOCET GXP.

1. Right-click on a vertex and select Reshape a segment.
2. The cursor changed to Rubber Band mode.
3. Click on the vertex to finish the reshape graphic. The seamline is highlighted. Shift the cursor over the two segments to choose the polygon to which you wish to add your reshaped segment.
4. Right-click and select Finish Graphic.

Right-click on a vertex and select Reshape a segment.

The cursor changed to Rubber Band mode.

Click on the vertex to finish the reshape graphic. The seamline is highlighted. Shift the cursor over the two segments to choose the polygon to which you wish to add your reshaped segment.

Right-click and select Finish Graphic.

In SOCET GXP, Seamline Edit does not have its own window; it is an extension of the Workspace Manager and Multiport™ and automatically enables special editing functions in the Multiport.

• The images above are orthorectified on-the-fly and mosaicked to show the mosaicking as accurately as possible.
• Editing functions are: add vertex, delete vertex, move vertex, reshape segment, delete polygon, and select image.
• The Multiport supports dynamic image rendering during polygon editing. Therefore, as any vertex is moved or created, the image related to the polygons is redrawn.
• To save, right-click the seamline file in the Workspace Manager and select Save.

With the addition of the Microsoft® Office Fluent™ user interface, which features the customizable Ribbon, SOCET GXP streamlines product creation. Frequently used features can be added to the customizable Quick Access Toolbar and traditional menus and toolbars are replaced with tabs that display commands relevant to each task. Contextual tabs appear only when needed, revealing expanded capabilities and advanced functionality — features are never turned off or hidden by default. In addition, complex algorithms are executed behind the scenes.

SOCET SET end users can experiment with demo versions of SOCET GXP in their unique work environments and work with BAE Systems to communicate the photogrammetric processes they would like to see in future versions of SOCET GXP. In addition, to assist in making a smooth transition from SOCET SET to SOCET GXP, all SOCET SET customers with current upgrade entitlement are eligible to receive a free six-month SOCET GXP evaluation license that can be run in parallel with SOCET SET.

SOCET SET licenses can be converted to equivalent functionality in SOCET GXP.

Article featured in Geoworld magazine, October 2009, pages 24–27.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., founded more than two centuries ago, has preserved its original mission — to inspire cadets to become leaders with outstanding moral character.

At West Point, an arts and sciences curriculum paired with real-world problem solving and ethics training is balanced by participation in team sports. Practical experience and an appreciation of the physical environment are considered equally important to intellectual growth.

West Point is located 50 miles north of New York City on a plateau high above the Hudson River. The campus is a natural training ground for students who elect to study GIS, which requires gathering, measuring and documenting features that characterize the physical environment as well as storing the information in databases for future reference.

Cartography, remote sensing, advanced remote sensing and GIS are taught in the junior year, followed by surveying, advanced GIS, military geospatial operations and photogrammetry in the senior year. Cadets use SOCET SET®, SOCET for ArcGIS® and ArcMap® products in the lab to learn photogrammetric workflows and geospatial processing as well as create maps, finished products and reports that are delivered to commanders in the field.

They gain firsthand experience on a variety of tasks, such as importing frame or satellite imagery into SOCET SET from numerous government and commercial sources, triangulation, terrain-model generation, orthorectification, and feature collection to meet precise standards. These software applications are used in the field to check for accuracy, create line-of-sight analyses to determine what a sniper can see, create terrain models to help navigate a local geography, and determine the direction a door swings — in or out — for greater situational awareness. Hands-on exercises, taught in the classroom, are invaluable.

GIS and the Military

Geospatial data have become an integral part of the operational landscape and establishing situational awareness. Military analysts engaged in disaster relief and recovery, humanitarian efforts, reconnaissance, battle-damage assessment, and surveillance missions require up-to-the-minute geospatial intelligence to be successful.

Increasingly, unanticipated events account for a growing number of military operations. Soldiers are called on to support a broad range of activities that require sharp mental and physical skills. In addition to conventional warfare, troops are asked to respond to natural disasters such as tsunamis, wildfires and hurricanes; assist in recovery efforts for hazardous accidents such as chemical leaks and petroleum spills; conduct border-surveillance activities; and patrol airports.

To prepare for a wide range of military maneuvers, observing and recording the operational environment are crucial in developing cadets into officers and leaders.

For more than 200 years, West Point has placed an emphasis on geographic studies. Core classes taught in the earliest days of the academy included landscape and mechanical drawing, topographic engineering, and surveying.

Today, similar studies provide the basic framework for building geospatial awareness. Read the complete article >>