THE MILITARY GIS OF THE SPANISH ARMY (SIGMIL) Julio Palacio Rabanedo Lieutenant Colonel of Artillery Military Geodesist Chief of the Research and Development Department Spanish Army Geographic Centre ABSTRACT The deep and detailed knowledge of the terrain and of the geographical and environmental conditions, as fundamental and determinant factor in the decision-making in military operations, constitutes a basic need both in the planning phase and in the execution and conduction phases. Therefore, it is vital to have the technologically advanced management and geographic information analysis tools, which allow to give a suitable response, according to its peculiar characteristics, its specific needs and materials and the organizational structure. The SIGMIL (Military Geographic Information System) Development Library is an ad hoc product, specifically designed and implemented to give response to the needs of the Spanish Armed Forces with regard to geographic information, in a global way, including the whole variety of its activities. INTRODUCTION The Armed Forces in general, as any another organization for which the knowledge of the terrain and of the environmental conditions is fundamental in order to carry out its missions, need to have suitable and updated geographic information and the tools for its exploitation and analysis. Due to the great complexity and size of the military organization, there is a big variety of potential users of geographic information, not only concerning its training and knowledge levels (basic, medium, advanced, specialized), but also as for the type of specific needs, depending on the nature of the area of its activity: command and control, logistics, intelligence, operations, communications, simulation, training, etc. This situation implies the practical impossibility that a commercial product can cover effectively all the raised needs. Besides, it is necessary to consider the peculiar characteristics of the deployable equipments and systems: limited capacity, with high cost of replacement; need of integration of the geographic capacities in the system, with minimum impact on it; adaptation of the tools to its operational needs, as well as the standardization of information and procedures, in order to achieve interoperability. Therefore, it is necessary to have specific geographic products with enough flexibility to adapt to the requirements of the final users, specially for deployable and mobile systems for command and control of military operations. DEFINITION The SIGMIL program is a library of modular developing components, which allows analysts and programmers to incorporate and integrate utilities for access, management and analysis of digital geographic information, in other information systems, in a flexible and selective way according to its specific needs and nature. CRITERIA AND REQUIREMENTS OF THE DESIGN The system has been developed as a national R+D program, under the direction and control of the Army, and implemented under contract with a Spanish civilian company. Both the product itself (development library and associated documentation) and the source codes are property of the Ministry of Defence of Spain.
The most remarkable requirements, taken into account for the design, configuration and implementation of the software are the following ones: The functionalities have to be adapted to the specific needs of the military users, mainly regarding normalized military symbology and terrain analysis capabilities (line of sight, viability, cross-country mobility, etc). Capacity to access, to import and to export all military standard formats and products, as well as the commercials more used. Easy to use and facility of information management. Modularity and minimum impact on client systems. Flexibility and compatibility for updating and incorporation of new versions, assuring its compatibility with previous versions, both in software and data. Standard development environment, which guarantees to be used in commercial programming tools and compilers. Scalability, in order to incorporate new capacities or to adapt to the technological evolution, in an easy way. MAIN FEATURES The most remarkable characteristics, relating to the architecture and technical design of the system, are: The different functionalities have been developed as components COM/DCOM-ActiveX, in order to assure its integration with other applications, as well as its operation under any version of the Windows operative systems family (see Figure 1). The diverse components organize and grouped, inside the library, by blocks of related functionality. The system can work with a wide range of geographic information formats: raster, matrix, vector (with or without associated database) and gazetteer. It uses proprietary data formats (encrypted and optimised for its effective treatment), and also of the possibility of direct access to military normalized products, both raster and vector. Optimization of the access to big blocks of information, with a minimal exigency of machine resources. It manages raster or matrix files of up to 4 GB. Capacity of importation and exportation of information and military normalized products, as well as of most used commercial formats, in order to guarantee the interoperability. Management of normalized military symbology within NATO (APP6a Standard). CHRONOLOGY OF THE DEVELOPMENT The system has been developed by phases, with successive improvements and increase of functionalities, based on the experience of use and the new raised needs: Phase I (1999-2000).- It contemplates the basic functionalities of visualization and analysis of raster information, digital terrain elevation data, gazetteer, simply symbology and three-dimensional visualization. Phase II ( 2001-2002 ).- Previous capacities are improved and the vector data model is incorporated by means of relational database, with the corresponding capacities of attribution and spatial analysis, as well as the possibilities of access and interchange of information (interoperability) and complex vector symbology. DESCRIPTION OF FUNCTIONALITIES In this paragraph, the set of functionalities and the more prominent geographic capacities of the product, grouped by functionalities, are exposed in summarized way. Data access, import and export
Raster Formats. It uses native format, compressed, encrypted and optimised for visualization, up to a maximum of 4 GB (".fre" extension). It has capacity of importation and exportation of normalized military raster products (RPF, ADRG, CADRG, CIB, CAC, etc.), as well as GeoTIFF geo-referenced data. Matrix Formats (digital terrain elevation data). It uses the grid type data structure, in native format, compressed, encrypted and optimised for management, up to a maximum size of 4 GB (".geo" extension). It possesses capacity of importation and exportation of DTED products, both of single cells and CD format, as well as of diverse ASCII formats (CEGET, ArcInfo, Intergraph, etc). Vector Formats. It uses proprietary format for the vector data without associated DB (".vec" extension), with classification of entities in thematic layers. Regarding to vector data with associated DB, it has drivers for access to RDBMS of MS Access and Oracle spatial. It can import VPF (Vector Product Format) in its different levels, as well as DXF or Shape file. It offers the possibility of direct access (only reading) to normalized military products type VPF, VEC98 and S57 (Hydrographic) with normalized symbology (GeoSimb). The types of geographic elements that it is able to manage are: points, lines, areas, texts and complex entities (multiple geometry). Management and edition of geographic data Raster Formats. The set of utilities for the management of this type of information, allows to carry out the following operations: Re-sampling, optionally with reference system change. Clippings or partial extractions, and merging or generation of mosaics. Geo-reference. Application of matrix filters. Operations on the histogram (shine, contrast and equalization), adjustment of intensity, tone and saturation and modification of the colours palette. Matrix Formats (DEM). This set of utilities allows to realize the following operations: Re-sampling, optionally with reference system change. Clippings or partial extractions, and merging or generation of mosaics. Geo-reference. Change the type of data storage. Arithmetical operations on a model, or among two models: sum, difference, multiplication or division for a constant, maximum, minimum or average value. Vector Formats. The following operations can be executed for the vector database control and management: Data Sets: creation, deletion, reference system change, spatial indexation, clipping, replies, record of modifications and automatic update. Management of tables: creation, deletion, edition, export/import among datasets, and historical record of modifications. Management of geographic features: creation, attributes management, geometry edition and export/import to ASCII format. Analysis capabilities DEM. Based on the information about the terrain surface, the system offers the following possibilities of analysis. The results are stored as raster layers for visualization and overlapping purposes, with the possibility of saving in raster files for later use: Automatic generation of contour lines defining equidistance and symbology for intermediate and main contours.
Generation of polygonal profiles. The representation is carried out on a specific window representing the vertical cut, wide complementary information of every section and global statistics. It allows to establish the symbology of representation (colours, text sources, reference ruler, etc.), as well as the calculation parameters (vertical and horizontal scales, accuracy, reference system, etc.). Line-of-sight analysis. It allows to establish the area of interest, the calculation parameters (heights above the terrain of the observatory and the observed target, coordinates of the point of observation, accuracy, etc.), and the symbology of visible and non-visible areas. Optionally you can introduce in the calculation vegetation areas by means of the average height of the canopy. Calculation of slopes, both maximum and ascending and descending in a certain direction. It allows to define the area of interest, the calculation parameters and the representation symbology, depending on the established intervals of values. Vector Data. The tool set of analysis on the entities stored in the vector DB can work on its geometry or on the associated attributes. The results are stored as queries which can be transferred to existing features or stored as new features (see Figure 2). Querying geographic features based on its associated attributes values. Generation of spatial queries based on the geometry and topology of the elements, like buffering, distances, centroids, intersection, difference, addition, as well as the use of standard spatial operators, based on the specifications of OGC (Open GIS Consortium), like equals, touches, within, disjoint, crosses, etc. Optimum way calculation with filtering of entities based on the topology information contained in the VMAP Level 1 product (1:250.000). Toponymic Data. The system allows to exploit place names DB,s of every cartographic series stored on the Gazetteer format, which contains key data associated with every toponym (description, sheet of the series to which it belongs, geographic feature type, geographic coordinates, and another associated data). It offers possibilities of navigation and selection on the list of entities, as well as the interactive selection of toponym on the cartographic viewer and automatic displacement of the window, centering it on the position corresponding to the selected toponym. Adding user's annotations, to complete or to extend the information, is another possibility. Visualization capabilities The system provides a number of components for management of the visualization of geographic information and analysis operations results. These data are stored in layers, which can be overlapped in order to increase the richness of the representation. The types of layers, as well as the configurable parameters, according to its nature, are: Raster (cartographic or images). The associated data file, name of the layer, transparency colour, filters of combination and other parameters can be defined. Vector without DB. The geographic features are grouped by thematic layers and sub-layers with pre-defined symbology. It allows to activate the visualization or hidden of every layer and component elements in an independent way, as well as the automatic management of the density of representation, depending on the current scale of the viewer. Vector with associated DB. Besides the parameters mentioned before for the raster layers, it allows to visualize and to assign symbology independently for every existing query, being able to define hierarchical structures of directories in order to group them thematically. Also, it permits to establish the order of preference in the visualization, for its proper representation, as well as the assignment of complex symbology, according to the type of element (point, line, area or text), by means of modifiable symbology libraries for the user with raster and vector editors. Another group of tools allows the global modification of the size of the symbology, to adapt it to different work scales, as well as the automatic management of the elements filtered, depending on the current scale of representation, to avoid collapses and unnecessary process times. The thematic hierarchical structure of queries is
reflected in the corresponding visor of legend, from which, in an interactive way, it is possible to accede to the different configurable parameters. Drawing. It constitutes a layer where the user, by means of a set of specific tools, can incorporate auxiliary elements like point, linear, area or simple textual type, defining them interactively on the cartographic visor. Every layer can contain other sub-layers and it can be stored in files. User Symbology. It permits to generate a library of complex symbols, both raster and vector, by means of the combination of other simplest elements, focused on specific or specializing information, according to the area of use of the application (e.g. military symbology). It has an editor of vector elements, as well as the capacity of importation of raster elements, in "bmp" format, for its incorporation to the symbols library. The characteristics of each one of the available viewers, depending of its specialization, are described next: Cartographic viewer. It constitutes the basic graphic interface for the representation and visualization of the geographic data and information (see Figure 3). Its most relevant features are: Graphic window divided in two areas: geographic viewer, where the geographic information is represented, and legend viewer, where the different loaded layers are shown. It offers the possibility of opening several windows, each one with its associated cartographic visor, representing different organizations of information, of the same or different geographic areas. From the legend viewer it is possible to control, interactively, the parameters of visualization of every layer. It allows the creation of several windows, with the basic operations of control of the visualized area: scroll, zoom, rotation and re-projection. Every window its own reference system associated, which can be different for the representation of graphic information and for the visualization of the current cursor coordinates. Multi-layer management capacity. In the same data set can be loaded, visualize and combine several layers of geographic information, of any type of described before. Capacity of interaction with the user, to receive the necessary information to execute the different commands and available operations. It has auxiliary tools, like navigation window or rapid reference, coordinate ruler, bar of complementary information (cursor coordinates, reference system, visor scale). 3D viewer. It is a window specializing in the representation of three-dimensional views, with the following characteristics (see Figure 4): Direct connection with the cartographic viewer for the generation of the 3D visualization. Developed under technology OpenGL. Dynamical adjustment of the position of the point of view and of the camera angles with possibility of interactive navigation in the whole extension of the model of elevation. Automatic generation of videos, along an itinerary and parameters established in advance ("avi" format). Profile viewer. It is a window specializing in the representation of the profile tracing, with the following characteristics (see Figure 5): Configuration of symbology and graphic styles for the representation of the diverse sections of the profile, as well as presentation of auxiliary information like horizontal and vertical reference scales and statistical information of the tracing. Interactive operations of scroll and modification of the horizontal and vertical scales
Alphanumeric visor. It is a window specializing in the representation of the information, in tabulate form, of the information corresponding to vector geographic features and of the queries or analysis results. SYMBOLIZATION CAPABILITIES OF VECTOR DATA The product offers a wide range of possibilities and capacities of vector data symbolization for its suitable representation, which is described later, depending on the type of data source: Generic Geographic Information An extensible architecture is offered, by means of the employment of libraries for every type of element (points, lines or areas), that allow -by corresponding editors- to define, to edit and to associate symbology and complex styles to every query realized on the database. That symbology is scalable, and you can created templates which contain preestablished definitions of queries and associated symbology, in such a way that they can be applied automatically to other sets of similar data (p.e. cartographic series) without need of new definitions. Normalized military products For the direct visualization of normalized vector military products, it is provided standard libraries, according to the STANAGS. For example, GEOSYM for the access to VPF data and S52 for the access to DNC (Foxglove Nautical Chart) hydrographic data. APP6a military symbology It is a module specialized in the generation and management of layers of military specific information according to the APP6a standard. This standard establishes the reference regulation for the generation and symbolization of vector elements and graphs of specifically military character, regarding deployment, planning and control of military operations. The different elements are stored in vector format and in relational database, of analogous form to the geographic information. The most important options of this module are (see Figure 6): Organization of elements in layers, named deployments. Every database can contain several of them, and open them simultaneously. The above mentioned elements are subject to the mechanism of queries for attributes and spatial of the application, like the geographical information. When elements are created, automatically they are assigned the obligatory fields established in the standard, with the possibility of extend by the user, according to his needs, allowing the electronic interchange of information among nodes or applications. It offers a library of symbols that contains, thematically grouped, all the elements contemplated in the standard for its easy location and selection. Flexible mechanisms for the labelling and automatic visualization of textual complementary information, according to the standard or established by the user.
OTHER CAPABILITIES Besides the main exposed possibilities, there are other complementary tools, for the management and analysis of the geographic information: Systems of reference The product has modules specialized for the creation, edition, storage and management of reference systems (coordinate systems and associated datums), for the visualization of geographic information and for its generation, transformation and analysis. Printed outputs All the mentioned viewers have a connection to the printing module, which allows to manage and to obtain printed reports on paper (printer, plotter, etc), as well as to digital files in the most common graphic formats, geo-referenced (GeoTIFF) or not (jpeg, tiff, bmp, etc.) Organization of the data In order to facilitate the management of the data, the application provides methods of data organization by grouping of diverse type and defined in a simple way by ASCII files like: Cartographic sets. They allow to organize and to group raster data (or raster groups), digital terrain elevation data, toponymy database and coordinate systems definition in such a way that it is possible to accede to all the information of these kinds, corresponding to a specific geographic at one time. Multi-scale raster groups. They allow to group raster layers of diverse scales or resolutions in such a way that the application manages them automatically, visualizing in every moment the layer most adapted to the scale or level of the visor current zoom, avoiding unnecessary process times and facilitating suitable use of the information. Mono-scale raster groups. They allow to group raster layer of the same scale or resolution in such a way that the system allows to navigate in a seamless way across the whole extension of the data, realizing the mosaic automatically without need to join the files previously. GPS signals The system has a module of management of GPS signals with diverse parameters of configuration, which permits to incorporate and to visualize the navigation information regarding to the instantaneous localization of the receiver, as well as the record, visualization, storage and recovery of traces or itineraries. ESTABLISHEMENT The system has been declared of compulsory use for the development of all Army functional programs and geographic module of all the information systems. Nowadays it is well-established and giving service to more than twenty programs of all kinds, among which it is necessary to emphasize the following ones: Command and Control (C2) SIMACET (Army Command and Control System), PCGACA (Artillery Command Post), SMCOA (Amphibious Operations Command and Control System), PREPARES (Signal Intelligence and Electronic Warfare), SIS (Surface Information-Intelligence System), COAAAS (Anti-aircraft Artillery Operations Centre).
Simulation and training CESIFAMET (Helicopter Flights Simulator), EUMP (Portable Missiles), CENAD (National Training Centre), ACART (Simulator and Trainer of Artillery s Academia). Weapon Systems LEOPARD (Leopard Tank), GACTA (Coastal Artillery Group), HLA (S76-Helicopter Flight Simulator), VRAC-NBQ (Reconnaissance Vehicle of Contaminated and NBC Areas). DERIVED GIS APPLICATIONS Based on the SIGMIL development libraries, and in order to provide to the users -specially in the Armed Forces- tools for the access and analysis of geographic information, GIS applications named Digital Chart have been generated, in diverse versions according to the specialization, the needs and the hierarchic level or area of employment of the final users. Nowadays, there are the following official versions, regarding these criteria above mentioned: Digital Chart V 2.5.2 C. Summarizing, it provides access to the capacities and mentioned tools, except the relating ones to vector geographic information with database and the management of standardize military products. It is diffusion-free and is directed generic users (basic and average levels) with possibility of direct access to the geographic information, not classified, of the Spanish Army Geographic Centre. Digital Chart V 2.5.2 M. It has the capacities of the previous version plus the management of standardize military products and the raster specific military symbology libraries. It is for internal Armed Forces use and is directed military generic (basic and average) users. Digital Chart V 3.0. To the mentioned capacities, it joins the correspondents to the vector geographic information with associated database and its mechanisms of analysis and query for attributes and spatially, plus the management of APP6a vector standardize military symbology, implementing practically all the functionality of the development library. It is for internal Armed Forces use and is directed high level users both for the products and information generating Centres and for the high-specialize geographic support. FUTURE FORECASTS Nowadays, in view of the new needs arisen in the different programs and developments of the Armed Forces, as well as of the studies and results of the different programs and working groups -to national and international level regarding standardization, interoperability, co-production projects and spatial geo-information infrastructures- it is in process of contracting a third phase of development of the SIGMIL system in order to response to the new needs and challenges, specially concerning interoperability (data access, importation, exportation and standardize data interchange), generation and management of metadata, improvement of the simulation capacities and three-dimensional texture, Web Services, etc. REFERENCES JNSR (Joint NATO Staff Requirements) for Military GIS Program (SIGMIL) SIGMIL program General Documentation
AUTHOR S BIOGRAPHY Name: JULIO PALACIO RABANEDO Current rank: Lieutenant Colonel of the Army 1973: Entry in the High Military School 1978: Finalize studies in the Military School, with de rank of Lieutenant of Artillery 1986: Entry in the Army Geodesy and Topography School 1988: Graduated as Military Geodesist 1989: Assigned to the Army Geographic Centre, where works in the next activities: - Photogrammetry - GIS and cartographic production - Geographic information standardization - Military Standard products generation - Multinational co-production projects (Vmap, MGCP, etc.) 2005: Current position: Chief of R+D Department of the Army Geographic Centre