Improving Evolution

Security at critical infrastructures needs to keep pace with threats

• By Mike Studer
• Jul 16, 2007

YOU’VE heard it all before. “We’re living in a post-9/11 world.” “The terrorist threat is higher than ever.” “It’s just a matter of time before the next Sept. 11.”

Yes, it’s tired. But unfortunately, it’s the truth. The fact is, terror threats continue to be a top concern at critical infrastructure sites. And domestic criminals continue to evolve and become smarter and more savvy in efforts to thwart security measures.

So imagine just one breach at a critical infrastructure site like a nuclear power plant, marine port, airport or dam. EPA reports indicate that there are 123 facilities in the United States where a breach can put more than 1 million people in jeopardy. The Army surgeon general has suggested that an attack on a chemical plant can result in up to 2.4 million casualties. And the Department of Homeland Security has identified nearly 500,000 individual sites as critical infrastructure sites. These spots have the potential to cause mass harm if a security breach occurs.

Add all of these factors together, and you’ve got a pretty bleak picture.

That’s not to say that tomorrow is going to bring the next big terrorist attack or that there is an attack on a critical facility every other day. But it certainly does mean that these sites need to be prepared—and that requires staying at the forefront of surveillance technology. For years, that meant employing just one or two of the major technologies, such as CCTV, image intensification, perimeter lighting or day TV with lights. But today, a complete detection, management and control system is imperative to ensure a site has put all possible measures in place to prevent disasters from occurring. By integrating the highest standard technologies—thermal imaging, automated software detection, immersive 3-D visual assessment and wide-area command and control capabilities—at each step, a complete security system is the most powerful prevention tool.

In the Beginning
Thermal imaging is what allows security personnel at critical facilities to see, so it’s best to start with an overview of the technology. Increasingly, these cameras are being used at strategic locations because of their superior performance in nighttime and in challenging weather conditions; their ability to see through foliage; and covert surveillance capabilities and long-range detection.

Most critical facilities are found in remote locations where lighting only serves to alert potential criminals of exactly where to target an attack. Because thermal cameras detect heat—rather than rely on light—to produce images, critical facilities that use these cameras don’t need to risk using perimeter lighting. No other surveillance technology performs as well as thermal imaging in detecting security breaches in the dark of night, in shadowed corners or in dark areas. These threats often go undetected with visible or near IR cameras.

Thermal imaging cameras also can spot people hiding within moderate or light density foliage. Visible CCTV cameras often leave these areas undetected since criminals can easily camouflage themselves within foliage.

Thermal imaging cameras also succeed in challenging weather conditions where other options cannot. They can conduct surveillance over waterways, lakes and ports, and they enable surveillance despite inclement weather conditions, such as rain, snow, fog, smoke, smog, dust and haze. Today’s thermal imagers offer previously unheard of clarity—as high as a 1,024 x 768 focal plane array in high-definition—offering greater scene detail, longer detection ranges and reduced image smearing. As technology evolves, these cameras are becoming increasingly cost-efficient.

It’s easy to see why thermal imaging is being widely adopted by critical infrastructures. Add passive detection capabilities that identify active signals and the stand-off range, and it’s even easier to see why these cameras are an essential part of a complete surveillance solution.

Single-Celled to Multi-Celled
While being able to view a security threat with a thermal imaging camera is a great proactive measure, the capability is only useful if an operator happens to be watching the screen when the security threat is present. And unfortunately, human error—such as fatigue or blurry vision from staring at a monitor for hours —results in too many threats going unanswered. The solution has traditionally been to use video analytics to automatically alert an operator to motion in a scene. However, these systems have a high false alarm rate and can typically only detect motion due to the simplistic processing that has previously been performed. Next-generation video analytics perform more complex image analysis, significantly reducing the number of false alarms. These systems also detect additional alarms, such as a perimeter breach, loitering and unattended objects.

When combined with intelligent video systems, the increased visibility at night provided by thermal imaging cameras gives increased protection since intruders cannot enter the surveyed area without sounding an alarm. Also, the number of false alarms is reduced since thermal imagers are not fooled by shadows from clouds moving across the scene, trash, debris or other external elements that commonly deceive traditional video analytic software.

Furthermore, recently-developed video detection algorithms use pixel tracking rather than pixel change analysis, providing an improvement in performance that can discriminate artifactual motion—snow, rain or camera sway—from the actual motion of an intruder.

Security personnel at critical infrastructures should consider several elements when implementing an advanced automatic software detection system. They will require real-time, 24/7 monitoring and analysis of activity and automatic detection, display and tracking of security violations such as intruders, moving objects and suspicious packages.

Fight or Flight
With thermal imaging combined with automatic detection, a critical infrastructure is on its way to being fully protected. Still, these two alone provide little information other than an alert that an event is about to occur. For example, a typical monitor can usually cover an area of more than a mile from the top of the screen to the bottom, which can make potential threats look closer or farther away than they actually are. And more cameras mean more alarms that are detected and have to be analyzed. Traditional methods of video assessment and display are inadequate for the increasingly complex and diverse threats now facing airports, Air Force bases, power stations and other high-risk facilities.

A 3-D immersive video surveillance system combats these holes in a combined surveillance system by merging live camera views from fixed or PTZ cameras with a 3-D representation of the environment. This enables a user to go back and forth in time and space, controlling PTZ cameras and immersing them in the scene in much the same sense as a video game. This eliminates the chaotic switching from view to view by entering camera numbers into a keypad.

This 3-D visualization enables security personnel to gather the most basic requirement for situational awareness: the exact location of an object in the scene—latitude/longitude coordinates—and the relative location of an object, for example, the subject is next to a building off-camera. These factors put the scene into context. For example, if a remote operator is viewing an airplane on a runway, it is hard to tell from thermal imaging alone which runway the aircraft is on and where on the runway it is positioned. Using 3-D immersive video surveillance puts this scene into context and enables the operator to see exactly where on the runway the aircraft is located. Also, clicking on the aircraft displays its precise coordinates since the model is geo-registered. This process is enhanced when video from multiple cameras is overlaid on the 3-D model at the same time, since a 3-D immersive video surveillance system can accommodate hundreds, or even thousands, of camera sensors.

This system is further enhanced when PTZ cameras are used onsite. A small number of these cameras are capable of recovering high-resolution video over large areas. They may be moved manually or pointed automatically to a preset location based on the output of a fence sensor or unattended ground sensor. Of course, the farther a PTZ camera is zoomed in, the more visual context surrounding the object of interest is lost. This is particularly evident in open spaces, roadways or at fence lines where reference points are not available or repetitive in appearance. This is a problem eradicated by the 3-D immersive system, which also eliminates other PTZ setbacks, such as attempting to follow multiple moving subjects. A 3-D system can automatically select which PTZs can be used to observe any point in a scene based on a number of factors, such as the 3-D geometry of the model and the sightlines from each camera location to the object being watched. A user can simply click on a location in the model in one PTZ video, and the camera will point to that location. If the system determines that the current PTZ cannot view the object, the system determines dynamically which cameras are best positioned to view the subject.

The Next Step
At this point, it might seem like all the bases are covered. However, while 3-D immersive surveillance provides full situational awareness, there is a need—particularly for facilities with dispersed sites across the country—to manage large numbers of alarms as they are received from sensors of any type. Users also will need to coordinate rapid local responses that can include automatically connecting one or more 3-D immersive surveillance systems to perform visual assessment of a particular alarm event. A wide-area command and control system provides users with this capability.

The two systems work in tandem with the wide-area remote surveillance system, managing the detection and response of a series of alarm events. One or more 3-D immersive video surveillance systems manage individual events in particular locations. Information, such as geographic coordinates, can be passed automatically from the wide-area remote system to the 3-D system so that the event is immediately presented to the user.

Wide-area remote surveillance systems need to be able to monitor all security sensors at one or more large-area sites and ensure fast responses to security threats. They also should have visual interfaces that arrange and manage the information so that users can have easy access to all of the information.

What does it all boil down to? Simply put, the threat level against critical infrastructure sites continues to increase, and criminals and their equipment constantly evolve. In order to prevent a catastrophic event from happening—because even a minor breach could affect millions—the security systems at these facilities need to evolve. Having one or two systems in place simply isn’t going to cut it in the event of a real threat. A complete security system, combining the latest in thermal imaging, automatic software detection, immersive visual assessment and wide-area command control, can overcome a facility’s vulnerabilities to protect not only the facility, but also human lives. And what’s more important than that?