Five years ago, I observed a transformation taking place in the GIS community. Image analysts who traditionally used electronic light tables for analyzing satellite and aerial images were starting to ask for tools to extract accurate geospatial information, while photogrammetrists, cartographers, and geospatial production teams were looking to add image-analysis tools, increase ease-of-use for rigorous processing tasks, and improve productivity.

At that time, BAE Systems offered two distinct software products — the VITec^® electronic light table (VITec ELT), used for image viewing, analysis, and exploitation, and SOCET SET^®, the versatile photogrammetry suite for precision 3-D mapping, feature collection, and digital terrain generation. In the late 1990s, as technology became more accessible, many GIS software products flooded the market, creating an abundance of specialized, task-based tools.

After working with many VITec ELT and SOCET SET users, it became apparent that an ideal solution would consist of a single application to capture the functionality required for both disciplines. Since the R&D, engineering, and product implementation teams for VITec ELT and SOCET SET operate under the same business within BAE Systems, it made sense to pool future development efforts to one scalable, integrated application that would be accessible to an expanding user base. In addition, some of BAE Systems’ internal programs use the application, which provides a built-in test-bed during product development. Guided by market demand and an eye toward implementing new technology — such as smart algorithms to speed processing times and reduce workflows — BAE Systems began rapid software development on a new product.

In October 2004, SOCET GXP^®, the next-generation image analysis and geospatial production application made its debut. The plan was to deliver the strengths of VITec ELT and SOCET SET in one cohesive package. With each new release, we have moved closer to the goal of incorporating a wide range of functionality in a single product.

SOCET GXP v3.0, scheduled for public distribution later this month, combines the disciplines of image analysis and geospatial analysis in one application — we call this eXtreme Analysis™. eXtreme Analysis offers a combination of automated tools for image and geospatial analysis in a single product to facilitate collaboration and interoperability among users and decision-makers at all levels. These convenient tools, along with streamlined workflows, assist in organizing the vast resources needed for multiple projects, from orthorectification, triangulation, creating 3-D image maps and terrain models, to populating and accessing shared geospatial databases. Rigorous sensor modeling, a hallmark of the SOCET SET application, is now available in SOCET GXP as well, which makes it possible for users to combine imagery from several sensors — commercial, defense, airborne, and customer-defined plug-in sensor models — in one project. And with the implementation of a brand new GUI, most tasks are initiated with a few mouse-clicks. This is a major differentiator for SOCET GXP; the workspace can be organized according to individual or organizational preferences for maximum ease of use.

When we demonstrated SOCET GXP v3.0 technology in April at our annual user’s conference, customers were very impressed. Working directly with our core customers in a collaborative manner helps us understand how the integration of image analysis and geospatial analysis is making a positive impact on reducing production timelines, and offers insight into areas of improvement for future releases. Our ultimate goal is to make SOCET GXP the best software available for image analysis, geospatial production, and mapping for customers worldwide.

Sincerely,

Dan London
Vice president, sales and marketing

eXtreme Analysis

eXtreme Analysis™ (XA™) is the ability to use one intuitive application for image analysis, mapping, geospatial production, and 3-D visualization.

XA can be accomplished with a single application that employs a ground coordinate system to record latitude, longitude, and elevation data, eliminating the need for manual registration. Automated, user-defined workflows characterize the application, eliminating excessive time spent on laborious tasks.

eXtreme Analyst

The eXtreme Analyst™ (XA™) is capable of completing a wide range of complex image analysis, geospatial analysis, photogrammetric, and mapping tasks using a single application. Previously, multiple specialized software packages had to be used.

The XA has direct access to geospatial databases to store and retrieve features; a link to Google Earth™  for enhanced situational awareness; and the capability to create and transmit geospatial data products to colleagues, field commanders, and operation control centers from the convenience of a desktop or laptop computer.

Increasingly, image and geospatial analysis workflows are being integrated. Image analysts need the capability to extract accurate geospatial information, while geospatial analysts require additional analysis resources and increased ease of use. BAE Systems has listened to users who must learn multiple applications to complete their tasks; SOCET GXP^® was built to address these issues. eXtreme Analysts use SOCET GXP to manage geospatial information and build GEOINT and mapping products. The intuitive interface, automated processes, and customization options give organizations and users maximum control.

XAs have the best of both worlds — image analysis and geospatial analysis combined in a single application — SOCET GXP.

Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, TX is a United States armed forces training installation.

Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo, TX is a U.S. armed forces training installation, commonly referred to as an intelligence schoolhouse because of its focus on providing top-notch intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance training. Goodfellow’s chief mission is to develop and deliver training for U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps personnel, and students from select allied countries and national agencies. Goodfellow recently selected SOCET GXP^® software as the image analysis training tool of choice.

The growth of the image analysis field, especially within the Air Force, has led Goodfellow’s 17^th Training Wing to recap all software and hardware at its facility. BAE Systems is assisting in the development of a new training program that includes SOCET GXP software. BAE Systems customer support, product management, engineering, and federal sales teams are all contributing to the comprehensive training plan.

The importance of this new development at the intelligence schoolhouse is twofold. First, new image analysts coming out of technical training have the opportunity to train on the same software they use in the field. Second, SOCET GXP’s flexibility and ease of use allows instructors to teach students more efficiently.

The greatest value, not reflected in a standard price list or formal brochure, is the level of support that the site will receive. BAE Systems prides itself on high-quality technical support for all customers.

“As a graduate from Goodfellow’s image analysis program in the late 1990s, I understand the importance of being able to ‘train as we fight.’ Many times analysts finish the six-to-seven month technical school and report to their first duty station only to find that they have to go through more training to learn the software that is used in the field. As an image analyst, I am pleased to see this development happening not only at Goodfellow, but at Fort Huachuca’s Army schoolhouse as well.”

Registration is open!

Join us for the 2008 BAE Systems GXP EMEA User Conference in beautiful Cambridge, U.K.

2008 BAE Systems GXP Regional User Conference
Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)
September 15 – 17, 2008
Robinson College
Cambridge, U.K.

Full conference registration includes attendance at all sessions and accommodations (lodging, meals, and social events) for the duration of the conference, from noon on Monday September 15, to 1 p.m. Wednesday September 17.

This year we are offering a two-for-one full conference registration discount for customers with active Upgrade Entitlement maintenance plans. Conference space is limited; therefore the half-price offer is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Only one two-for-one registration is available per site. To reserve your spot and take advantage of the two-for-one registration, visit the Conference Web site.

Registration

For details about the conference agenda, social activities, exhibitor information, and to register: www.gxpuserconference.com.

Guest presentations include:

• The future of the 3-D map
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – what the future holds
• Update on the latest satellites: GeoEye^® (GeoEye-1), DigitalGlobe^® (WorldView-1/2) and Infoterra (TerraSAR-X)
• Long distance LIDAR technology for U.K. Defence
• DTM auto filtering using SOCET SET^® Merge tool
• Camera calibration and bundle adjustment using multi-head aerial survey cameras
• Present and future of precision targeting with CGS/SOCET GXP
• Precise point mensuration in practice [TITLE TO BE CONFIRMED]

Technical workshops include:

• SOCET GXP v3.0^® for the image analyst
• SOCET GXP v3.0^® for SOCET SET users
• Hyperspectral and multispectral image processing tools
• Using vertical and oblique aerial imagery with SOCET SET^® to build 3-D/urban models for better visualizations
• Multi-sensor triangulation in SOCET GXP
• SOCET SET^® and SOCET GXP links to ArcGIS^® and Google Earth
• Terrain extraction and editing with NGATE, ATE, ITE, and bare-earth filters
• Building GEOINT tools using the SOCET GXP^® API

We hope to see you in September!

BAE Systems GXP booth at 2008 ESRI^® show in San Diego, CA

Attendees at the annual ESRI^® International User Conference in San Diego last month had an opportunity to preview new SOCET GXP v3.0^® software functionality. BAE Systems staff were on hand to demonstrate the new eXtreme Analysis™ capabilities that bring together image and geospatial analysis in one product. New features shown included: the Ortho On-the-Fly orthorectification tool, automated triangulation, the new Ribbon user interface, and GeoPDF^® generation.

BAE Systems' Rob Cline, right, demonstrates new SOCET GXP^® v3.0 XA functionality.

The SOCET GXP v3.0 Multiport image viewing and exploitation window, shown with the new Ribbon user interface.

SOCET GXP v3.0 features new design

SOCET GXP^® v3.0 features a brand new look and feel based on the Microsoft^® Office Fluent™ user interface. The new user interface — the way it looks, the way it’s organized, and the way users interact with it — is designed to simplify workflows and make the software easier to use for every kind of task.

Before reviewing the details of the new SOCET GXP v3.0 user interface, it is important to understand why it has changed, and the goals for adopting the new user interface. The main reason for changing the user interface is that SOCET GXP had outgrown the traditional menu and toolbar system. With each release, as new features were added, the software was becoming progressively more difficult to navigate. The SOCET GXP v2.3.1 Multiport had more than 1,000 commands on nearly 40 toolbars, menus, and submenus that were four-to-five levels deep. To keep the software from overwhelming the user, less frequently used toolbars and individual tools had to be turned off as part of the default toolbar configuration. As a result, users did not recognize many advanced features and customers were asking BAE Systems to add features that the software already had.

Furthermore, it was becoming more challenging to add new functionality to SOCET GXP. Each new release added additional menus and toolbars to the clutter. As SOCET SET^® functionality was transferred to SOCET GXP v3.0, the engineering team noticed that there was no room to accommodate the functionality. The menu and toolbar system was full.

Fortunately, Microsoft had identified similar problems with Microsoft Office and was working on a solution — a new user interface for robust applications. The Microsoft Office Fluent user interface introduces a new way of working with large-scale applications. It organizes tools and uses contextualization to simplify the number of choices available at any given time, and provides a scalable platform to build on for the future.

A tour of the new SOCET GXP^® user interface

The main component of the new user interface is called the Ribbon. The Ribbon organizes tools in tabs that correspond to each task. The tools on each tab are grouped by function, and many of the tools are labeled to make them easy to identify.

Ribbon components include: (1) SOCET GXP button, (2) tabs, (3) groups, (4) commands, and (5) Quick Access Toolbar.

The Ribbon

The main component of the new user interface is called the Ribbon. The Ribbon user interface organizes tools by tabs that correspond to each task. The tools on each tab are grouped by function, and many of the tools are labeled to make them easy to identify.

Ribbon components include: (1) SOCET GXP Button, (2) tabs, (3) groups, (4) commands, and (5) Quick Access Toolbar.

The Ribbon stretches across the top of the Multiport viewing window and includes the following components:

1. The SOCET GXP Button is the round button with the SOCET GXP logo on it, located in the upper-left corner of the Ribbon. It replaces the File menu. All workflows begin and end here.
2. Tabs are designed to be task-oriented. The Home tab contains basic commands for using the application. Other tabs are organized by task.
3. Groups within each tab break tasks into subtasks. Each group contains a set of related commands that support the selected tab and tasks.
4. Commands within each group are represented by controls like buttons, sliders, and combo boxes. The controls work the same as they did in earlier versions of SOCET GXP.
5. The Quick Access Toolbar is the only customizable portion of the Ribbon. It is used to display the commands used most often in a particular workflow. The user can add any command on the Ribbon to the Quick Access Toolbar by right-clicking on it and selecting the Add to Quick Access Toolbar option.

Contextual tabs

To maintain an organized workspace, some tabs are contextual and are displayed only when relevant to the current task. For example, the Graphic Tools tab, which contains commands for changing a graphic’s color, line style, or fill pattern, appears when a graphic is selected. Therefore, if a graphic is not selected, these commands are not shown on the Ribbon. Contextual tabs bring functionality to the user’s attention at the most appropriate time, and keep functionality out of the way when it is not needed.

Contextual tabs are a different color to make them easy to identify when they appear. The top screen features regular tabs, the bottom screen highlights contextual tabs.

Dialog Launchers

Some groups on the Ribbon include a small icon in the bottom right corner called a Dialog Launcher. A Dialog Launcher provides additional options or advanced functionality related to a group of commands.

Dialog Launcher icon.

For example, to draw a graphic, the user refers to the Shapes group on the Draw tab. All graphics associated with drawing shapes are located here. If the desired shape is not displayed, the user can click the Dialog Launcher to see the full set of shapes available in the Drawing Toolbox.

Scalability

SOCET GXP v3.0 operates on many different systems, from laptops with small screens to desktop systems with multiple 30-inch monitors. Therefore, the Ribbon is designed to be scalable. It can automatically scale up or down depending on the size of the Multiport window. If the window is wide, the Ribbon makes use of the extra space by labeling commands and replacing small icons with large icons to eliminate excessive mouse clicks. If the window is smaller, the Ribbon packs more information into less space by dropping labels, replacing large icons with small icons, and ultimately collapsing groups into a single drop-down button.

Unlike the former toolbar configuration, no matter how large or small the Multiport window is, the Ribbon height never varies. Previously, when a user resized the window, toolbars would often wrap to the next line, which shifted the tools. When a user resizes a window that has a Ribbon, all of the commands remain in the same relative position. This makes it easy to find and select commands, no matter what size the window is.

Minimizing the Ribbon

For people who use SOCET GXP v3.0 on a computer with a small screen, such as a compact laptop, the Ribbon can take up valuable screen space. In previous versions of SOCET GXP, you could turn off most or all of the toolbars to minimize the footprint of the user interface and maximize the viewing area. In SOCET GXP v3.0, this can be accomplished by minimizing the Ribbon.

Conclusion

One of the goals of SOCET GXP v3.0 is to help users do their jobs more efficiently. The new user interface achieves this by organizing the tools in a way that makes sense to users. The Ribbon gives users the tools they need when they need them, and hides tools that are not relevant to the task at hand. There are many other new tools that help users navigate the SOCET GXP v3.0 application. For example, the Quick Access Toolbar and Mini Toolbars make command access quick and efficient for mouse users, while KeyTips allow keyboard users to access commands with a minimum of keystrokes. As a result, users will find it much easier to do their jobs with SOCET GXP v3.0.

FPE workflow in SOCET SET.

The front-end processing Environment (FPE), which has been in use by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) since 1997, is due to be replaced by SOCET SET^® v5.4.1 at the end of September. FPE, which is a UNIX^®-only system, currently provides the vital NGA requirement for geopositioning, and creates Digital Point Positioning Data Base (DPPDB) format production module* and Controlled Image Base (CIB)^® format production module* products for U.S. troops in the field. These digital map products are used for terrain analysis, and to determine precise image coordinates such as latitude, longitude, elevation, and other image data for simulation, targeting, and mission planning operations.

SOCET SET^® engineers have been steadfastly porting more than 200,000 lines of FPE code into the product’s baseline since SOCET SET v5.2, and have provided a multitude of improvements over the current FPE software along the way. Not only will the new system be Windows^® compatible, but the workflows have been streamlined to provide a much easier means of creating the DPPDB-like and CIB-like products. SOCET SET also introduced the use of the Condor^® distributed processing system to improve throughput for computation-intensive portions of the workflows.

The NGA is integrating SOCET SET software into its integrated exploitation capability (IEC) workstations for the version 6.1.2 release. IEC recently received NGA approval for its Initial Operating Capability to replace FPE. The next step is for NGA to approve Final Operating Capability (FOC), which is expected at the end of September, 2008. There is still a lot of hard work left to do, but if FOC is approved, the entire FPE system soon will be retired and replaced by SOCET SET.

* SOCET SET Digital Point Positioning Data Base (DPPDB) format production module [which uses MIL-PRF-89034, March 1999 format specifications] and SOCET SET Controlled Image Base^® (CIB) format production module [which uses MIL-PRF-89041, 15 May 1999 format specifications]

What is AIO?

AIO is an automated step in the photogrammetric workflow designed to increase productivity and accuracy for interior orientation of aerial images. SOCET SET employs AIO to speed manual interior orientation (IO). The underlying algorithm performs rigorous batch processing on multiple images being scanned simultaneously, eliminating the need for manual measurements.

The IO process for Frame and Panoramic sensor models converts film space (camera focal-plane space) to digitized image space. The units in film space are millimeters, whereas the units in digitized image space are pixels. Therefore, the transformation from film to image space is critical. The location of all fiducials is used to derive the transformation parameters for successive applications, such as triangulation or DEM generation. Inaccurate IO results decrease the final accuracy and reliability of related applications.

AIO is widely used in SOCET SET today, and will be available to SOCET GXP users in the near future. This article — although a rare case — examines an interesting scenario that may help other users understand the AIO mechanism.

Case-study example

While investigating an unusual AIO problem for a customer — as indicated by the AIO log files, roughly 25 percent of the frames failed with AIO operation among approximately 1,600 images — the GXP team recognized that the sup files were contaminated, thus advised the customer to re-import the images. However, the re-import yielded similar results. On additional investigation, the GXP team found that lowering one value (FOM_LIMIT) of one strategy file can help correct AIO results.

Interestingly, although this approach yielded good results, there were additional anomalies. The debugging results indicated that the scan resolution derived from the sup files, before and after AIO operation, was an approximately 0.7 micron-per-pixel difference. Before AIO located the fiducials, the scan resolution was 13.3 microns per pixel, while the scan resolution changed to 14 microns per pixel afterward. This had never happened before, and of course, should not happen at all.

It is well known that the default frame size is 230 mm x 230 mm for all commercial aerial cameras. Presuming that the scan resolution is 14 microns per pixel, the digital frame size is approximately 16,428 x 16,428; 0.7 micron per pixel difference. A scan resolution of 13.3 microns per pixel will result in a different digital frame size: 17,293 x 17,923. This indicates that the digital size is a difference of 865 pixels (17,293-16,428 = 865 pixels).

The customer’s scanner provided each frame with about 17,293 x 17,293 of the frame dimension for one of the commercial cameras called RMK TOP 15. The first scan resolution is based on SOCET SET’s frame-import, 230,000/17,293 = 13.3 micros per pixel, which helps initiate AIO’s automatic processing. The second scan resolution of 14 microns per pixel derived after AIO correctly located fiducials, should be much more precise than the first one.

However, considering the second scan resolution and the digital frame dimension of 17293 x 17293, the frame size was approximately 242 mm x 242 mm, quite different from the default of 230 x 230, which indicates that the sup files are contaminated — as initially suspected. Thus, it appears that AIO processing failed for some of the images.

Q&A

How did this scenario happen?

The scan range was set incorrectly. Always check the scanner to make sure the scan range is set correctly and that it matches the frame. Note the difference between the yellow and red markings in Figure 1 below; red is wrong, yellow is correct.

Figure 1: Make sure the scan range is set correctly before scanning; red is wrong, yellow is correct.

What kinds of problems does this scenario cause?

The AIO operation needs more time or simply fails since the scan resolution and camera type are only a priori knowledge that the AIO relies on to implement fully automatic processing; the wrong scan resolution means that the AIO starts searching blindly from an incorrect spot, and thus needs to work harder. Alternatively, the operation may have failed due to bad approximations. See Figure 1.

Is it possible to recognize the problem?

Yes. Since the scan resolution is normally set by the operator, perform a simple math calculation to guarantee that the scan range is set correctly; 230,000/scan resolution for the initial frames scanned, to verify that the scanned images’ dimensions are close to this value.

How do you resolve the problem?

It is not necessary to re-scan. Simply change the default size from 230 to an approximate value, such as 242 during frame import. See Figure 2.

As noted for the example cited in this review, no coding change is required for SOCET SET v5.3.1 or later versions. After changing the default size from 230 to 242 during frame import, the AIO ran very quickly and smoothly with a 100 percent success rate. See Figure 3.

Figure 2: Make sure the scan range is correctly set before scanning; red is wrong, yellow is correct.

Figure 3: In case the scan range is set incorrectly, calculate the real scan range based on the scan resolution, and then change the size(X)/size(Y) during frame import to guarantee a correct IOCEFF matrix in sup files for AIO operation.