Polar Epsilon: Joint Space-Based Wide Area Surveillance and Support Project LCdr Robert Quinn Project Director Polar Epsilon Directorate of Space Development Phone: +1(613)945-5212 Quinn.rj2@forces.gc.ca
Project Background Project Polar Epsilon initiated in summer 2002 to address capability gaps in Arctic and maritime surveillance. Polar Epsilon will provide wide area surveillance capability in support of Canadian security, sovereignty, and operations to: Canada s Arctic region Canada s maritime approaches foreign littoral areas in support of maritime operations air and land operations at home and abroad contribute to CANUS continental defence Exploit Canada s Radarsat 2 and other commercial satellites
SCOPE Aim: provide space based wide area surveillance capability in support of Canadian sovereignty, security and operations Capability Areas Arctic Region surveillance Ocean Surveillance Domestic and Deployed CF Operations Continental Defence pp p Near Real-time Command and Control Operations Centers (MOSIC, JIIFC, CFNA) Features Ship detection and classification Ship course, speed, length Coherent Change Detection Ground Moving Target Indication Ocean Intelligence Mission Planning
Capability Deficiency 1994 Defence White Paper: We are bordered by three oceans which touch upon over 240,000 kilometres of coastline. Canada seeks to maintain political sovereignty and ensure jurisdiction over 10 million square kilometres of ocean in the Pacific, Atlantic and Arctic. looking ahead, the possibility of developing a space-based surveillance system for North America will be explored
Capability Deficiency Prime Minister Martin on Canadian Security: We must develop as a matter of priority a national security policy for Canada. And we need to be serious about safeguarding the sovereignty of all parts of our country, including our Arctic lands and waters. This means, for example, improving our national land, sea and air surveillance capabilities for all our borders.
Capability Deficiency Senate Committee on National Security & Defence Canada s Coastlines: The Longest Under-Defended Borders in the World Oct 2003 these coastlines on the Atlantic, on the Pacific, and in the Arctic as the longest under-defended borders in the world. They are vast, they are vulnerable, and, unfortunately, they are largely unattended. Defence of North America: A Canadian Responsibility Sep 2002 improve the tracking of ships approaching Canadian territorial waters and moving within those waters coordination of Canadian resources and agencies responsible for intelligence and satellite surveillance to improve defence of Canada s coastlines
Strategic Importance of Canada s North Sovereignty: To enforce territorial claims must first be able to detect and react to unauthorized activity 3 maritime, 1 territorial border issues Hans Island, Chinese Vessel, Northwest Passage Economic: Unauthorized exploitation of resources on uninhabited islands of the Archipelago Significant oil and gas reserves, mineral wealth, fish stocks Environmental Concerns: Future Commercial/Military transit Northwest Passage
Challenges to Sovereignty Hans Island Beaufort Sea maritime boundary Northwest Passage
CENTRAL EUROPE OVERLAID
Maritime Surveillane Requirements Canadian Coasts are divided into three zones: Inner Zone: 0-50 nm Middle Zone: 50-250 nm Outer Zone: 250-1000 nm
Requirements Outer Zone: Revisit Frequency: Daily Targets: Middle (50 m) to Large Ships (100 m) Data Latency: 1-2 hour Middle Zone: Revisit Frequency: 2 to 4 times Daily Targets: Middle (50 m) to Large Ships (100 m) Data Latency: 1-2 hour Inner Zone: Revisit Frequency: 2 to 4 times Daily Targets: Small Vessel (10-50 m) Data Latency: 1-2 hour
Areas Of Interest - Northern Middle/Outer Middle Zone allocated from East Coast AOI Inner
Coverage - Northern (Assumes Antenna in Resolute) Resolute Bay Resolute Bay 3 Degrees (2700km) Coverage Circle
Northern Coverage - ScanSAR Narrow (far)
Northern ScanSAR Narrow Summary Total Potential Coverage in one cycle: 100% (261 swaths) including Northern most Middle Zone that was not covered by East Coast Ground Station Frequency of Coverage: Possibility of more than 10 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 98% coverage in 3 days; 99.5% in 4 days Note: 261 swaths is much more data than needed to cover the entire area once
Area Of Interest - Northern 10 000km 2 100x100 Km Area Of Interest
Northern 10 000km 2 Coverage Standard Beam Coverage: 26 Swaths in one 24-day cycle Frequency of Coverage: Average of 1 Swath per day Wide Beam Coverage 22 Swaths in one 24-day cycle Frequency of Coverage: Almost 1 Swath per day
Esquimalt ScanSAR Wide Summary Inner+Middle+Outer Area Coverage in one cycle: 100% (81 swaths) Inner Area: 35 Swaths Frequency of Coverage: Average 1.5 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 100% coverage in 3 days Middle Area: 49 Swaths Frequency of Coverage: Average 2 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 98% coverage in 3 days; 100% in 4 days Outer Area: 63 Swaths Frequency of Coverage: Average 2.6 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 96.4% coverage in 3 days; 99.6% in 4 days
Western Coverage - Esquimalt ScanSAR Narrow B
Esquimalt ScanSAR Narrow (far) Summary Inner+Middle+Outer Area Coverage in one cycle: 100% (79 swaths) Inner Area: 35 Swaths Frequency of Coverage: Average 1.5 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 90% Coverage in 3 days; 100% coverage in 7 days Middle Area: 46 Swaths Frequency of Coverage: Average 1.9 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 73.6% Coverage in 3 days; 100% coverage in 7 days Outer Area: 63 Swaths Frequency of Coverage: Average 2.6 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 63% Coverage in 3 days; 99% coverage in 7 days
Coverage - Eastern Gatineau 3 Degrees (2700km) Coverage Circle Gatineau Halifax Halifax 3 Degrees (2700km) Coverage Circle
Eastern Coverage - Halifax ScanSAR Narrow B To Be Covered by Northern Ground Station
Halifax ScanSAR Narrow (far) Summary Inner+Middle+Outer Area Coverage in one cycle: 100% (80 swaths) Inner Area: 34 Swaths Frequency of Coverage: Average 1.4 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 70% Coverage in 3 days; 99.5% coverage in 7 days Middle Area: 48 Swaths Frequency of Coverage: Average 2 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 70% Coverage in 3 days; 99.7% coverage in 7 days Outer Area: 57 Swaths Frequency of Coverage: Average 2.4 Swaths/Day AOI Coverage: 63% Coverage in 3 days; 99% coverage in 7 days
International Maritime Surveillance Programs Other countries use of Canada s own Radarsat: Australia, Norway, United States, others Admiral Hancock Australia Coastal Watch Maritime Surveillance: using Radarsat for maritime surveillance in Coastal Watch provides both a surveillance and deterrence capability
Ship Detection in the Australian EEZ
Australia Coastal Watch: Integrated Ship Detection & Surveillance Airborne Surveillance RADARSAT-1 ENVISAT RADARSAT-2 Data Fusion More effective use of airborne assets
For immediate release: January 29, 2003 Norway Buys $15 Million Worth of RADARSAT-2 Data (Jan 2003).announced today that the government of Norway has agreed to purchase $15 million (CDN) worth of RADARSAT-2 data. We ve been a longtime RADARSAT-1 customer This agreement to use RADARSAT-2 data demonstrates our appreciation of its utility. Norway will use the satellite data for ship detection, detection of oil pollution, and monitoring ice conditions in the country s territorial waters.
SATELLITES AVAILABLE FOR WIDE AREA SURVEILLANCE Satellite System SAR Optical Panchromatic Optical Multispectral Optical Hyperspectral Finest Spatial Resolution Radarsat 2 Yes 3 m Envisat Yes 9 m SPOT 5 Yes Yes 2.5 m Landsat Yes Yes 15 m IRS-P5 Yes 2.5 m Quickbird Yes Yes 0.61 m Ikonos Yes Yes 0.82 m Orbview 3 Yes Yes 1 m EROS B1 Yes Yes 0.87 m COSMO SkyMed Yes 1 m Pleiades Yes Yes 0.70 m ALOS Yes Yes Yes 2.5 m optical + meteorological and oceanographic satellites
Interoperability through Partnerships DND MARLANT, MARPAC, Trinity, Athena, METOC CF Northern Area CF Joint Imagery Centre DRDC Other Government Departments and Agencies Canadian Space Agency Environment Canada (Oil Polluters and Ice Services) Department of Fisheries and Oceans/Coast Guard Allied and Intergovernmental US NORTHCOM/NORAD (CANUS BiNational Planning Group) Interdepartmental Maritime Security Working Group (IMSWG) UK MOD/DSTL Arctic Security Interdepartmental Working Group (ASIWG)
Features and Capabilities Spiral development: capabilities demonstrated through tests, trials and experimentation Key features: Land Surveillance via Change Detection Ship Detection Ship classification through self-cueing Ground Moving Target Indication (GMTI) Ocean Intelligence Near-real time dissemination Mission planning tools for satellite selection Automated Integration into command systems Cross Cueing to other sensors (UAV, MPA, ship, space )
Ocean Intelligence Many requirements such as surface temperature, surface currents (littoral), surface winds (speed and direction), fronts and eddies, turbidity (ocean colour), sea state, sea ice, ocean bathymetry. For example, Ocean Colour can be quantified to determine concentration of chlorophyll (photosynthetic pigment found in phytoplankton) in water. This will help to map ocean fronts in size and depth. Meterological Oceanography Center Halifax (Dec 2003): This new insight could revolutionize our present oceanographic predictions, because it gives the end-user indication of 3D structure over a wide area 17/03/2004 00000625 Project Brief 32
Ocean Colour 17/03/2004 00000625 Project Brief 33
Wake Detection DRDC Ottawa Algorithm and software tool development Surveillance Utility: Extracts heading and velocity information 17/03/2004 00000625 Project Brief 34
Alert NWT Coherent Change Detection Feature detection using RADARSAT-1 1. Alert runway 2. fuel tanks (8) 3. buildings with corrugated metal walls or roof 17/03/2004 00000625 Project Brief 35
RADARSAT FLEMISH CAP from CCRS web site The image shown here is a very small portion of a standard (S7) RADARSAT image acquired over the "Flemish Cap", an area in the Atlantic Ocean, south east of the coast of Newfoundland.. The features identified by the OMW [Ocean Monitoring Workstation] on this sub-image are two natural slicks (A) and five ships. Two of the ships can be identified to the east of the slicks and three are clustered to the south.. Wakes are clearly visible behind the three ships at the bottom of the image 17/03/2004 00000625 Project Brief 36
EASTERN ENTRANCE TO NW PASSAGE This spectacular image of the area of Pond Inlet was acquired by RADARSAT-1, Canada's first commercial Earth observation satellite, on August 20, 2001 at 23:10 GMT in EH3 mode. The Students on Ice expedition ships are located inside the red circle. from Canadian Space Agency web site 17/03/2004 00000625 Project Brief 37
Halifax Dockyard (QUICKBIRD 61 CM) 17/03/2004 00000625 Project Brief 38
Camp Julien, Kabul, Afghanistan (13 Sep 03 Quickbird) 17/03/2004 00000625 Project Brief 39
Vision Polar Epsilon is a transformational first step for Canada in using space to support the sovereignty of the Arctic Region, maritime security and continental defence at the strategic level. By taking this first step, Canada will gain the knowledge and capability to influence and exploit future space developments in meeting future security challenges. we need to be serious about safeguarding the sorvereignty of all parts of our country, including our Arctic land and waters improving our national surveillance capabilities Hon Paul Martin, 30 Apr 03 17/03/2004 00000625 Project Brief 40