Geographic Information System,
A Critical Infrastructure for Net
Centric Operations

Colonel Raj Kamal Kapur
 

Throughout the history of warfare, geography and military operations have been inseparable; the knowledge of terrain, transportation networks, and troop placement has played a key role in the outcome of battles. The use of the maps and analysis of ground factors have been and are still being used widely. The earliest of these maps were hand drawn but now with the advent of technology maps draped with aerial photographs and satellite images are available. Today, the technology of Geographic Information System (GIS) not only provides military commanders with extremely accurate maps, but also gives them the ability to analyse many different layers of data and receive continuously updated information which could help them make vital decisions. It plays a pivotal role in military operations as they are essentially spatial in nature, the concept of command, control, communication and coordination in military operations are largely dependent on the availability of accurate information in order to arrive at quick decisions for operational orders. In the present digital era, GIS is an excellent tool for military commanders in the operations.

GIS is a system for capturing, storing, analysing and managing data and associated attributes which are spatially referenced to the earth. It is a computer system capable of integrating, storing, editing, analysing, sharing, and displaying geographically referenced information. It is an integrated system of computer hardware, software, data, trained personnel and procedures.

The core of any GIS is data. The data used in the GIS is essentially of two types, the first being the Spatial Data which is the data about the objects referenced to locations on the earth and this Geo referenced data is stored in Geospatial databases. The second type of the data is the Attribute data which stores additional information tied to the spatial data. The two types of the data sets of GIS require documentation about the data which is stored as Metadata.

The distinctive features of the GIS from other information / map display system are its ability to store and disseminate distributed spatial and attribute data, powerful analysis techniques to compress large amount of data into meaningful information and present a Common Operating Picture (COP). This is achieved by a library of spatial and A-spatial tools which are bundled with the GIS system and its ability to build additional tools as per the requirement. The spatial tools allow analysis of the spatial data such as number of wells around a village or the extent of the built up area. The query of stored attributes of the spatial data is facilitated by the A-spatial analysis. Calculations could be done on the queried data. These would give results like, all wells that have potable water or the total population of villages.

Military operations planning and decisions require information of terrain, weather, cross country mobility, manoeuvrability, dispositions of enemy and own troops, details of communication infrastructure, population centres, location of natural and artificial obstacles, major logistics installation etc. These kinds of information are essentially spatial in nature. NCO characterised by situational awareness, compressed time frames for the commanders and precision attacks have further necessitated the seamless flow of the information between sensors, decision makers and shooters. The inputs from various sources must present a COP to all the entities in the battle space. The GIS acts as a critical defence infrastructure which aggregates the data from all the sources and helps command and control elements and shooters to understand the current situation. The fusion of data occurs because the spatial context between sensors and other entities is maintained. The variety of tools to analyse, assess, and plan actions provided by the GIS assists the decision makers in timelier and better decisions. Precision engagement by the shooters requires the detailed information about the targets such as location, type of target, time to engage etc. The GIS provides the information framework and tools to analyse such data. It coordinates the strike assets in time and space to achieve the desired effect and assists in passing precise information to the Shooter Grid. GIS thus provides the framework for distributed storage, dissemination, and exploitation of battlespace knowledge between the sensors, command and control elements and the shooters. It enables efficient management of geospatial data by fusion, sophisticated analysis and visualisation tools and assists the commander in maximising the combat power at critical points in time and space in the battlefield.

Specific Applications of GIS

Intelligence. The intelligence collection is the most important activity which is continuously carried out to paint a COP. The intelligence staff gets inputs from variety of sources such as Humint, Sigint surveillance devices like RADARs, sensors, satellite imagery, aerial reconnaissance, video streaming from Unarmed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Special Forces (SF) patrols. This geospatial information is integrated using the base data of either maps, satellite / aerial imagery or the fused data of maps and satellite / aerial imagery and is further analysed by creating the overlays of enemy’s threat, weather and terrain which results in production of COP.

Operational Analysis. The intelligence staff carries out an assessment of the enemy’s objectives, capabilities and probable courses of actions. The operational staffs then analyses the important military aspects of terrain which include observation and fields of fire, cover and concealment, obstacles, key terrain features and avenues of approach using the powerful spatial and A-spatial tools provided by the GIS. The operational staff analysis is not only based on characteristics of the ground, but also on the enemy and the commander’s intent. This assessment produces advice to the commander on deployment of own forces, selection of areas for shaping of the battlefield and development of the obstacle plan. The GIS can assist in planning for the following aspects:

Fire Support. Management of fire support assets in support of manoeuvre forces include field artillery systems, mortars, and aircraft in support of tactical missions, army aviation units and offensive electronic warfare. These systems require accurate information of targets (location, type of target and time to engage), weather, location of own resources, air space management, trajectory analysis etc. The essential topographic survey and analysis for fire support in the Army is being provided by Surveillance and Target Acquisition Units and GIS can assist in the following aspects:

Logistics. Logistics is the provision of personnel, material, and other support required for maintaining and prolonging operations or combat until mission accomplishment. The art of logistics is integrating strategic, operational and tactical support while simultaneously moving units, personnel, equipment and supplies in timely execution of the commander’s intent and his concept of operations. GIS can assist logistics units by providing information such as :

GIS and Special Forces (SF) Operations

GIS is a key enabler for Special Force (SF) operations involving small, mobile and dispersed forces over a wide area of operations. These SF require detailed GIS data over very large area in near real time. The ability to store this data electronically increases the efficiency and mobility of the SF.

GIS and Internal Security (IS)

Within the operating environment of modern warfare, internal security presents the greatest complexity of all, including terrain and infrastructure, wherein, the GIS inter-operability with local law enforcement, utility services, Para Military Forces (PMF), Central Police Organisations (CPOs), other government departments and intelligence agencies will become critical for a coordinated and effective response.

In Internal Security (IS), Armed forces will require a level of detail in GIS data that include not only physical structure but also power lines, telephone communication lines, water pipe lines, sewage system, building wall thickness and a range of other obscure but important data. For much of our Internal Security environment, this data does not exist and where it does exist, our ability to access the above mentioned data in a timely manner, in a format that is compatible with our own planning and command support system, remains a challenge. Since our national security will depend on GIS, all attempts to address this issue must be coordinated at the highest level by the government with Private Public Partnership (PPP) or Army Industry Partnership (AIP) programmers.

GIS for Management of Military Stations and Establishments.

The GIS can be very effectively utilised for managing the garrisons and other military establishments. This will include the following :

Inter-operability. Inter-operability of GIS for military applications is required to be addressed on two fronts. The first pertains to data inter-operability and the second is software inter-operability. The issues involved with each and the methods to achieve the same are as follows:

Data Inter-operability. The military use of GIS normally demands greater data requirements than other fields of GIS due to existence of varied systems in defence with varied set of requirements. Topographic data, digital terrain data, vegetation data, geological soil data, variety of sensors data and satellite / aerial images are used in a single application. The standardisation of object models, attribute data, data base structure, topology etc. is absolutely vital. Data inter-operability can be achieved by laying down of a common set of standards to be followed by all. Some initiatives have been taken in this direction. The Survey of India has laid down that all creation of digital maps would be conforming to Digital Vector Data (DVD) standards. These standards are published by it. This gives feature by feature digitisation standards. Each type of map feature has a separate DVD reference code. The features are grouped into 63 layers that are transparent to the user. The National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) has published the National Spatial Data Exchange (NSDE) format, to be used by all GIS users in the country.

Software Inter-operability. There are large numbers of software which are available for various GIS tasks. There is no single software that can meet all the features. Software that is good at CAD can show 3D model of a place very well but may not be able to process satellite data accurately. A 3D rendering software could be able to show a fly through of a place very well but may not carry out GIS calculations accurately. For the developer of the software, the requirements of GIS need specialisation in each field. Hence, today, a large numbers of software are - commercially available catering for specific user needs. The issue of inter-operability between different software needs special attention so that there is no / minimum loss of data while using different software. Software inter-operability can be achieved by use of open technology. At the global level an initiative called the Open GIS Consortia (OGC) is being spearheaded by a group of vendors. This aims at enabling each of the software to talk to every other software without the loss of data. The users would be able to use any software and exploit each of the software to its full potential. The central issue while choosing software should be that it must support OGC (Open General Consortium) standards and is also easy to operate. The system has to be finally operated by soldiers on the ground; hence intuitive software with a gradual and less steep learning curve should be preferable.

Requirement Specifications. Many of the requirements of C4I system demand GIS functionality. Common GIS foundation must be specified at the inception stage of various applications. If the GIS requirement is not explicitly specified as a foundation component then one may be tempted to build a separate GIS for each application. This may meet the present requirements but is unlikely to meet the future enhancements and the user expectations. Standardisation of GIS will ensure that software components can be reused, spatial components of different applications can communicate with one another, geospatial data can be centrally managed and training requirements are standardised across all applications. All applications have a common look and feel. The GIS is at the centre of system capabilities and the design of the system must be based around the GIS

Training. The most vulnerable part of the GIS system is the human resource. The GIS System requires specialists, in the fields of geographic data management, geographic data creation and geographic data distribution, who require specialist training. However, user awareness remains the biggest challenge. It involves creating awareness among users about the capabilities of the system and putting the system to effective usage.

Conclusion

The Army in the coming years will operate in complex battle space in all kinds of terrain for both offensive and defensive operations. Communication networks at strategic, operational and tactical levels, common GIS platform and the applications software linking various entities, will allow dispersed forces to coordinate and integrate their battle actions, concentrate quickly when required and bring to bear maximum combat power at the point of decision. GIS is a force multiplier and any delay in employment of this capability would deny combat elements an advantage over the enemy.