Geospatial Solutions
Draper has core competences in geospatial information management
and the development of enterprise systems in the storage, retrieval,
and analysis of geospatial information. Draper works with sponsors
to assess the maturity of technologies and to help develop future
tools and systems for geospatial imaging. This work necessitates a
technical staff with a broad range of disciplines and skills and who
are experienced in operational engineering.
Geospatial Product Libraries (GPL)
Geospatial Product Libraries includes geospatial data collection,
data management, and product distribution; the interoperability
of worldwide geospatial data products; and the standardization of
geospatial products in support of military missions.
Draper’s Geospatial Product Library (D-GPL) was initiated in
response to the Department of Defense’s Geospatial Transformation
Plan (GTP) that mandated a migration of data to a fully digital
environment by 2010. The GPL concept itself was created to
consolidate regional map data onto a single server to support military
and warfighter operations.
In addition to supporting worldwide data sets, the GPL is backed
by an infrastructure of hardware and software hosted at various
levels in the military services’ command hierarchy. Systems thatmaintained geospatial data prior to the development of the GPL as
well as the early GPL were designed to be managed both by people
and automation. This enabled a workable and maintainable system
that could be fielded in a short period of time through the existing
computer systems. Current GPL architecture provides automation
that simplifies human interaction with the system. Yet data transfer
is limited by communication bandwidth, and so advances in methods
to transfer data are needed to expedite dissemination. To that end,
Draper is evaluating distribution methodologies for future GPL.
Distribution of Mission Critical Geospatial
Information (LTM)
LTM includes joint agency-to-military geospatial solutions, missioncritical
geospatial databases in theatre, and geospatial data provision
to the warfighter. Draper is developing mechanisms to rapidly
provide up-to-date map and imagery products to deployed military
forces, including the warfighter in-theater, topographic engineering
operations, and distributed brigade combat teams.
Draper’s geospatial product dissemination to U.S. and joint/NATO
warfighters has made real and immediate impacts to the coalition
warfighter. Draper is investigating a common foundation for all
geospatial intelligence, planning, and operations. With a focus on
support to the warfighter in the battlefield and to operations, Draper is
assessing how joint and service systems move intelligence products
and data across systems to meet mission requirements. The objective
is to improve the quality, precision, and timeliness of intelligence
available to military forces and how these joint and service systems
add value from information collected on the battlefield.
Deployment of Geospatial Analysis Methods and
Techniques (GeoSage)
GeoSage includes imagery and Geospatial Tools, user-defined
geospatial analysis methods and techniques, and automated training
and technology transfer capabilities.Draper has been designing geospatial analysis tools and techniques
to facilitate enterprise-wide spatial data management systems. As
part of these efforts, Draper is addressing data usability issues
relevant to intelligence analysts, such as handling and loading largescale
vector and raster data types, and evaluating the performance of
the database configuration and data replication alternatives.
Development of Enterprise Geospatial Systems
(ASDI)
ASDI consists of geospatial information management, large-scale
spatial database management and administration, and architectscalable
and -extensible geospatial systems into and across larger
enterprise(s). Draper is designing, building, and installing geospatial
data servers and data storage devices for DoD/IC customers. The servers will provide a means for acquiring, organizing, managing,
and presenting spatial data, products, and services. Draper is also
developing spatial data dissemination mechanisms to support
interoperability between government agencies and their customers.
Future Vision for Geospatial Efforts
Draper geospatial programs are committed to the development,
management, and distribution of authoritative spatial information,
to understand the power of integrated geospatial data repositories,
and to correlate agency decision makers and joint agency-toagency
accessibility. Current and future efforts highlight the need
for interdisciplinary, coordinated R&D opportunities in geospatial
databases, data mining and data management, and human-computer
interaction. Draper will focus future computer science R&D on
the challenges associated with the rapid proliferation of geospatial
information, and expects to advance the understanding of the
challenges of spatio-temporal analysis.
Contact Information: busdev@draper.com
