N o v e m b e r / D e c e m b e r 2 0 0 8

Foundation Data 

and Technology

Vol. 6 No. 6
On My Mind

Maintaining the Technical Advantage

In offices, labs and forward-operating bases, talented members of the NGA team are developing innovative and effective ways to produce the highest-quality geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) necessary for the 

problem at hand. Technology is often given credit for revolutionizing a process, but the real credit goes to 

the people behind the technology. They innovate, build and operate the tools and techniques to give our 

warfighters and policymakers the information they need to do their jobs. But there are many factors that 

influence how NGA approaches technology development.

Asymmetric threats, adversarial nations and rapidly expanding technologies require NGA to adapt and 

think systematically about what we are doing now, what we should be doing and how we will do so in the 

future. In the recently released Vision 2015: A Globally Networked and Integrated Intelligence Enterprise, 

the Director of National Intelligence reiterates our need for multiple, integrated collection systems, for 

integrated processing, exploitation and dissemination architecture, and for collaborative analysis. The 

key design principles of Vision 2015 are adaptability, alignment and agility; these principles are guiding 

NGA’s technology priorities. Incorporating multiple sensors into our architecture and analysis and improving 

exploitation tools and techniques are two examples of how technology is improving our operations.

Sensor Advantages

Over the last several years, combat operations have demonstrated what full motion video (FMV) brings to 

the fight. As airborne reconnaissance advances, wide-area surveillance (WAS) enables a better view of the 

battlefield and multiplies the effectiveness of each mission. The added value that airborne imagery brings 

to a large number of missions and operations reinforces our need to fully support intelligence, surveillance 

and reconnaissance (ISR) efforts.

Additionally, NGA and our mission partners are leveraging existing capabilities and adapting them to new 

applications. Hyperspectral imagery, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) and advanced radar applications 

are providing high-resolution terrain information that promises feature detection, extraction and attribution. 

In Afghanistan, we have seen firsthand the impact of these new applications in a collaborative coalition 

effort. NGA and numerous partners used hyperspectral imagery to gain a better understanding of the terrain 

of Afghanistan, creating foundation data that assisted in a variety of mission sets. These valuable, dynamic 

capabilities produce exponentially more data that require significant storage and exploitation space and 

appropriate extraction tools that make sure it is used effectively.

Exploitation Advances

Improving our sources and fusing national technical means (NTM) with commercial and airborne assets 

adds significant value to our capabilities. Still, our real power resides in our ability to perform geospatial 

analysis and work with our U.S. and allied counterparts. Our analysts require tools that enable them to 

discover, exploit and share existing imagery and data. Tools like Consolidated Analytic Spatial initiative 

(CASi) and GEOINT Online (GO) allow for quick retrieval of vast quantities of data in a user-friendly format. 

NGA is looking outward for other tools to aid in exploitation, like SOCET GXP®, Adobe® PDF, Microsoft® 

Virtual EarthTM, ESRI Arc ExplorerTM and GoogleTM Earth. Our analysts continue to seek out more collaborative 

tools as they see the power to intuitively find the imagery and geospatial information that they need to 

produce accurate, relevant and timely GEOINT.

To maintain our technical advantage, NGA continues to develop a diverse array of GEOINT sources, 

tools and techniques. Technology has played a major role at NGA and will continue to do so, particularly 

as we focus outward and work more closely with Defense and Intelligence Community partners every day. 

And at the end of the day, we must all remember that our people drive our analysis, innovation, creativity 

and progress.

Robert B. Murrett

Vice Admiral, USN

Director
8 21

3

Contents

2	 Letter to Our Readers

3	 Guest Column: The Advance of GEOINT

6	 Up Front: Agency Applauds Launch of GeoEye-1

Satellite

7	 Up Front: ODNI Vision 2015 Expands View of

Intelligence Enterprise

›› F E A T U R E S

8	 NGA: GPS Consumer and Contributor

11	 Earth Gravitational Model Advances GEOINT

Sciences

14	 AnalystGroup Establishes Boundary Truth

16	 Consolidated Analytic Spatial Initiative

Aggregates Scattered Data

18	 Urban Feature Data Sharpens the Warfighter’s

View

19	 Office of Global Navigation Accelerates

Technology to Meet the Future

›› D E P A R T M E N T S

21	 Our Heritage: GEOINT Foundations Establish

Tradecraft for the Ages

23	 New Campus East: Time-Dominant Operations

Center Will Maintain Vigilance

Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 ›› Vol. 6 No. 6

On the Cover

NGA broke ground for its New Campus East (NCE) on Sept. 25, 2007. As 

the new home for geospatial intelligence (GEOINT), NCE promises to 

foster an improved environment for the ongoing fulfillment of NGA’s mission. The NGA Director, Navy Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett, recently toured 

the NCE construction site at Ft. Belvoir, Va., with the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Intelligence, retired Air Force Lt. Gen. James R. Clapper Jr., 

Murrett’s predecessor. The two surveyed the work in progress, admiring 

the solid foundation being laid for the future of GEOINT. That foundation 

includes the agency’s accumulating wealth of geospatial foundation 

data and the technological systems used to exploit and deliver it. Agency 

personnel will begin the move to NCE in 2010. NCE will be completed in 

2011. Photos by Larry Franklin. Photo illustration by Carmella Bender. 

More to the Story?

The online Classified Pathfinder, which is accessible 

by members of the Intelligence Community, may include additional information and expanded sections 

of some Pathfinder articles. The Classified Pathfinder 

provides a forum for reading and discussing topics 

at the level of “Unclassified//For Official Use Only” 

or higher. For information please contact the editor, 

Heather Cox, at 301-227-2290.

Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

Published by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Office of Corporate Communications

4600 Sangamore Road, Mail Stop D-54

Bethesda, MD 20816-5003

Telephone: (301) 227-7388, 

DSN 287-7388

E-mail: pathfinder@nga.mil

Director

Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett, U.S. Navy

Deputy Director

Lloyd Rowland

Office of Corporate Communications, Director

Paul R. Weise

Internal Communications Branch, Chief

Louis J. Brune

Editor

Jason K. Michas

Managing Editor

Kelly M. Kemp

Graphic Designer 

Carmella E. Bender

Contributing Authors

Denise Damschroeder

John A. Duncan

Glenn Forinash

Emily Kilman

Mark Munsell

Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett, Director, NGA

Dr. Nikolaos K. Pavlis

Lloyd Rowland, Deputy Director, NGA

Wayne P. Schneider

Gregory Wagner

Dr. Gary E. Weir

GETTING PUBLISHED

All members of the geospatial intelligence community are welcome to submit articles of community-wide interest. Articles are 

edited for style, content and length. For details on submitting 

articles, send an e-mail to pathfinder@nga.mil.

The Pathfinder is the medium with which the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency enhances and promotes public 

awareness and understanding of the discipline of geospatial 

intelligence. The Pathfinder is an authorized Department of 

Defense publication for members of the Department of Defense. 

Contents of this publication are not necessarily the official view 

of, or endorsed by, the U.S. government, Department of Defense 

or NGA. Articles in the Pathfinder may be reproduced in whole 

or in part without permission, unless stated otherwise. If they 

are reproduced, please credit the author and the “National 

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, the Pathfinder magazine.” Any 

reproduction of graphics, photographs and imagery is subject to 

the original copyright.

Letter to Our Readers

Foundation Data and Technology

Every building rests upon a foundation, every 

publication begins with a blank page and every 

achievement has a starting point. From concept 

to product, emerging ideas often evolve into 

successful actions.

NGA’s dedication to providing timely and 

relevant geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) is 

fueled by emerging technologies founded 

upon the structurally sound data points of 

NGA’s predecessor agencies. Whether as a 

building, an information system or a class 

of data, NGA’s strong foundation allows the 

agency to succeed in fulfilling its mission 

and supporting its partners. This Pathfinder 

explores the relationship of foundation data and technology and the groundwork they lay for the agency’s success.

NGA Deputy Director Lloyd Rowland reminds us of the intimate relationship 

between geospatial foundation data and the work of this agency. The successful launch of the GeoEye-1 satellite, a part of the NextView program, points to 

the continual need to develop both data and the technology to deliver it, to 

strengthen the momentum of GEOINT in the pursuit of the nation’s security.

Technology and foundation data magnify NGA’s collaboration with and 

responsibility to the Intelligence Community. These crucial elements also prevent threats and protect warfighters, as illustrated by NGA Director Vice Adm. 

Murrett’s article on the importance of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to 

actionable GEOINT.

Wayne Schneider and Denise Damschroeder provide insight into the Boundary Technical Working Group, a critical partnership that establishes the most 

accurate geospatial truth related to international boundary data in mapping and 

geospatial history. No less valuable, urban feature data reinforces the GEOINT 

support NGA provides to military forces, as discussed in Gregory Wagner’s article.

Valuable GEOINT is collected and constructively shared through the Consolidated Analytic Spatial initiative (CASi). John A. Duncan and Emily Kilman introduce CASi and its role in improving information sharing among analysts. Mark 

Munsell outlines the Office of Global Navigation’s efforts to achieve the future of 

GEOINT by meeting increasing requirements to seamlessly manipulate data at 

the touch of a button.

Join NGA Historian Dr. Gary E. Weir as he travels through decades past, exploring deep into the foundational base of gathering GEOINT. Finally, Glenn Forinash 

shares his perspective on how the New Campus East (NCE) will enhance 

time-dominant operations. The building of NCE continues to progress ahead of 

schedule and serves as an ever-present reminder of the importance of a solid 

foundation to achieving success.

Success and accomplishments come in many forms. The next issue, January/February 2009, will relate many of NGA’s significant accomplishments of 

this past year.

Paul R. Weise

Director, Office of Corporate Communications

Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

Guest Column

The Advance of GEOINT

By Lloyd Rowland, Deputy Director, NGA

More than a decade and a half ago as a pilot in 

Desert Storm, I sat down to plan a mission with a map 

on my knee board. At the time, I remember thinking I 

needed a fused product that would allow me to see the 

imagery overlay of geospatial information with up-todate imagery intelligence. Only later did I come to realize 

the product was one manifestation of what we today 

know as geospatial intelligence (GEOINT).

Over the years I have come to admire the commitment, 

flexibility and can-do spirit of the employees of NGA and 

our predecessor agencies. Time and time again, they 

have demonstrated the strong desire to make sure our 

mission partners have the information they need when 

they need it, in order to make key decisions and to solve 

today’s toughest intelligence challenges. Our people 

have built more than an agency. We have led the way for 

the emergence of the GEOINT discipline and ensured the 

success of the GEOINT tradecraft. With the establishment 

of the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) in 

1996, eight separate organizations were combined to 

bring together the nation’s most capable imagery and 

geospatial assets. NIMA’s creation provided a critical 

fusion of skills and technologies to expand the GEOINT 

discipline under one mission umbrella.

In 2000, we began to experiment with fusing imagery, 

imagery intelligence and geospatial information. This 

conceptual experiment gained significant momentum 

after Sept. 11, 2001. We were among the first to answer 

the call for unified intelligence operations that were at the 

forefront of the nation’s consciousness. Today we are expanding the GEOINT footprint, pushing forward in fusing 

GEOINT with other intelligence disciplines and exploiting 

the digital environment. Our goal is to make sure policymakers, warfighters, and other end users have the GEOINT 

advantage. Whether our partners need a hardcopy map, 

a physical model, 3-D visualization or fused intelligence, 

NGA is there to give them the critical edge.

Looking Forward

As we move forward, GEOINT shows the way! Our future 

is extremely bright, thanks to our ability to meet the 

ever-increasing need for relevant and responsive GEOINT 

in a time of unprecedented global change. NGA and our 

partners learn daily through the ongoing war against 

violent extremism and combat operations how to cooperate, share and fuse data. NGA has a forward-deployed 

strategy that puts our people with our mission partners 

on their ground and operating on their terms. The impact 

of this strategy has been tremendous. As Vice Adm. Murrett and I travel the world, we receive accolades and appreciation for the difference the NGA workforce, and the 

relevant, timely and actionable intelligence they deliver, 

is making on the frontline.

That said, the GEOINT community always has room to 

grow and challenges to face, so we cannot rest on our 

laurels. We must view every challenge as an opportunity 

to excel and to move GEOINT into new arenas. I would like 

to highlight six opportunities that will move us forward.

Balancing Mission Requirements

There is the ever-present need to balance time-dominant with non-time-dominant mission requirements. 

Lloyd Rowland, Deputy Director, NGA

Photo by Rob Cox
Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

This means we must maintain a constant vigilance and 

reprioritize resources as needed. It also requires NGA 

personnel to maintain a sense of urgency, while pacing 

ourselves for the long haul. Remember—this is not a 

sprint; it is a marathon. It is entirely probable that we will 

be fighting the forces of violent extremism for several 

decades to come.

Increasing Partnerships

NGA cannot accomplish our mission alone. We need 

our existing partnerships, and we need new ones. We 

are managing more agreements and providing more data 

to more users than ever before. The good news—GEOINT 

is getting into the hands of those who need it. The bad 

news—many more users still need GEOINT and either do 

not know they need it or do not yet have the capability to 

get it. Spread the word!

Recruiting, Training and Retaining a WorldClass Workforce

As demand for GEOINT continues to grow, NGA must 

keep the outstanding workforce we have and attract the 

best and brightest to meet future requirements. Over the 

next 12 months, NGA will conduct an aggressive hiring 

campaign to reinforce our great workforce. The insertion 

of new hires will undoubtedly bring new energy, new 

ideas and new talent to our agency and our mission. The 

goal is to hire the right people with the right skill sets to 

meet the demands of today, tomorrow and beyond.

Expand Industry and Academic Engagement

GEOINT’s way ahead is grounded in our people, but 

it has a technological angle, too. We must continue 

to expand our industry and academic engagement to 

develop innovative solutions. We will put the best minds 

of government together with the brightest minds in 

industry and academia to solve the toughest challenges. 

For example, with the exponential increase in terabytes 

of information, one of our biggest challenges today is 

managing, storing and retrieving information. We need 

industry and academia to help us identify ways to address these challenges—and they will.

Protect Our Research and Development 

Investment

NGA remains committed to maintaining a strong 

research and development program. Our challenge is 

balancing the budget to address all competing requirements. For example, as sources of data increase, so 

does our drive to evolve to a sensor-neutral architecture. NGA must stay on the forefront, ready and able 

to adapt, exploit, and use the data collected from all 

possible sources, develop a common ground and community information technology and assist in providing 

multi-intelligence (multi-INT) fusion capabilities. Future 

phenomenologies like hyperspectral, multispectral and 

polarimetric imagery will help unlock the toughest intelligence problems.

Deploying the Mission to New Campus East

New Campus East (NCE) provides the first opportunity 

for GEOINT to truly have a new mission home in the East. 

Like our sister agencies, NGA will now benefit from bringing our forces together and working with the Commonwealth and other agency representatives in the same 

facility. The next 18 months are critical to our success in 

moving the GEOINT mission forward. The importance of 

our core sites in St. Louis and Arnold, Mo., will be even 

greater during and after our mission deployment to NCE. 

These locations are key to dispersed operations, breadth 

of mission and continuity of efforts.

As we move forward and address these challenges, 

the GEOINT community approaches the biggest leap 

forward in our tradecraft evolution—the move to predictive analysis. I am certain there will come a day when the 

combination of great people, technology, and multi-INT 

fusion will enable an analyst to say, with a high degree 

of certainty, where the next improvised explosive device 

plantings will be or where the next Al Qaida cell will be 

employed. This predictive analysis will allow our mission partners to move quickly to interdict with a greater 

probability of success through actionable intelligence. 

That is our ultimate goal, after all—operational success, 

national security and the saving of lives. Thanks to everyone who makes the power of GEOINT possible. Know 

the Earth, Show the Way! 
Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008

Layers of foundation data skillfully applied with the 

proper technology contribute to the accuracy of NGA’s 

geospatial products.

Photo illustration by Carmella Bender
Up Front

Agency Applauds Launch of GeoEye-1 Satellite

On Sept. 6, NGA and the geospatial intelligence 

community applauded the successful launch of GeoEye-1, 

a new source of high-resolution color imagery. GeoEye-1 

is the second commercial imaging satellite developed 

under NGA’s NextView program.

GeoEye officials report that the satellite is functioning properly. Following the launch, NGA Director Vice 

Adm. Robert B. Murrett commented, “Everything so far 

in terms of the initial testing has been successful, it is 

tracking as it should be, and we look forward to getting 

the initial images.” On Oct. 8, GeoEye released the first 

image collected from the satellite, a view of Kutztown 

University in Pennsylvania. GeoEye anticipates beginning commercial sales of GeoEye-1 imagery in late 2008.

NGA initiated the NextView program as a partnership 

with the commercial remote sensing community to ensure access to commercial imagery in support of national 

security. Speaking of NextView and the agency’s commitment to its commercial partnerships, Murrett stated, 

“We are the single strongest supporter of the commercial 

remote sensing industry. It is absolutely integral to our 

success and is a fundamental building block of what we 

do as an agency.” 

Liftoff of the GeoEye-1 satellite at 11:50:57 a.m. PDT from Space Launch

Complex 2 West at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Photo by Carleton Bailie, ©2008 Boeing

Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
Up Front

ODNI Vision 2015 Expands View of Intelligence 

Enterprise 

This summer the Office of the Director of National 

Intelligence (ODNI) published Vision 2015: A Globally 

Networked and Integrated Intelligence Enterprise to chart 

a new path for how Intelligence Community (IC) agencies 

will work together in the 21st century. Given that the 

vision’s principles of integration, collaboration and innovation are already part of NGA’s culture and strategic 

planning, how will Vision 2015 change NGA?

ODNI’s mission is to create “decision advantage” for 

policymakers, warfighters, homeland security officials 

and law enforcement personnel, all of whom NGA serves 

daily to meet its mission. To help create decision advantage as part of Vision 2015, NGA will contribute geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) within the framework of the 

IC’s customer-driven intelligence. 

For example, NGA will 

continue to fuse 

NGA’s processes with other IC processes to fit into 

the ODNI’s operating model and result in new missionfocused capabilities. NGA analysts will continue to 

deepen their own expertise by importing other IC expertise into NGA’s processes. NGA will participate in joint IC 

projects as a way of life, having fewer processes that are 

confined, or “stovepiped,” within the agency. IC agencies will work toward removing barriers to cross-agency 

collaboration, training, facilities and other resources that 

can be shared to achieve a net-centric information enterprise that is agile, lean and flexible enough to respond to 

a dynamic environment. 

To guide the way to 2015, the ODNI is implementing a 

strategic roadmap to serve as the basis for planning and 

budget programming. IC agencies are involved in shaping the roadmap and the major actions and milestones 

needed to achieve the vision. The more the vision is 

discussed among IC members, the better the IC will be 

integrated by 2015.

The DNI has stated that a vision without a map is just 

a wish. As ODNI completes the strategic roadmap and IC 

agencies adopt Vision 2015, a globally networked and 

integrated intelligence enterprise will become reality, 

creating decision advantage with GEOINT.

The Vision 2015 document is available on the 

ODNI Web site, www.odni.gov.

 Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

NGA: GPS Consumer and Contributor

By Vice Adm. Robert B. Murrett, Director, NGA

Over the past decade, the NAVSTAR Global 

Positioning System (GPS), managed by the U.S. Air Force 

(USAF) Space Command for the Department of Defense 

(DOD), has become the most exploited space-based asset that the U.S. government has ever developed. Since 

GPS provides space-based radio navigation for anyone 

with a GPS receiver, both military and civilian uses have 

increased exponentially.

In fact, everything geospatially oriented today is reliant on GPS. Most military and intelligence operations depend on knowing precisely where something is located. 

NGA’s mission is to provide the accurate, timely and 

actionable geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to our mission partners, when and where they need it most. From 

the warfighter on the front line to the local search-andrescue team seeking flood victims, NGA provides GEOINT 

to support operational and decision-making needs.

For example, we provide the geospatial products that 

enable our warfighters—soldiers, sailors and airmen—to 

accurately locate and hit targets. Our analysts will build 

a picture for the warfighter by layering natural features, 

such as rivers, hills and waterways, with man-made 

features, such as roads, power lines and buildings, to 

develop a 2-D or 3-D picture for common use. Knowing 

that a target of interest exists is important; knowing 

where exactly that target of interest is located ensures 

accurate targeting and minimizes the risk of collateral 

damage. To target an object, the warfighter needs accurate geographic coordinates. Subsequently, each data 

layer used in the development of a GEOINT product is 

referenced to a standard coordinate system.

Ensuring Accuracy and Reliability

U.S. national security, transportation and navigation 

safety, economic interests and scientific uses all rely 

on GPS. This increasing dependence demands that the 

coordinate information and reference system be both 

accurate and accessible. NGA plays an essential role in 

maintaining and improving the accuracy and reliability of 

GPS by providing the DOD with precise GPS orbits, satellite and station clock corrections and Earth orientation 

information. NGA is not only a daily consumer of GPS but 

a robust contributor as well.

NGA and its predecessor organizations partnered 

with the DOD to develop the World Geodetic System 

1984 (WGS 84) as the standard geodetic frame of reference. The WGS 84 global reference frame provides a 

mathematical representation of the Earth’s shape, a 3-D 

coordinate system, and a gravity model that is essential 

for computing satellite orbits and precise locations on, 

above or below the Earth’s surface. WGS 84 provides a 

common, standardized reference frame for interrelating 

and integrating all geospatial data, including GPSderived position location information. This global reference information is what allows users to determine their 

locations on Earth based on the precise positions of GPS 

satellites in space.

Prior to the 1950s, coordinate systems were developed 

regionally. Once satellites became available in the 1950s 

and 1960s, we were able to establish an Earth-centered, 

global coordinate system. Today, the WGS 84 coordinate 

system, used by GPS, is defined by the 3-D coordinates 

established by the combination of the Air Force and NGA 

satellite tracking stations distributed around the world. 

The more accurately we know the positions of these 

tracking stations, the more accurately we can determine 

the GPS satellite positions. Currently, we estimate the 

accuracy of these station coordinates within a few centimeters or less. As a by-product of this data processing, 

Satellites like this one form the NAVSTAR Global Positioning System 

constellation.

DOD photo
U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist First Class Roger S. Duncan

A U.S. Navy seaman practices navigational skills using a GPS unit.

Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

we can also detect small variations in the Earth’s orientation in space and its rotation rate. This information 

is crucial for the accurate and precise orientation and 

geopositioning of satellite imagery.

Precise timing is the key to GPS’s accuracy. Every DOD 

GPS tracking station and GPS satellite is equipped with 

an atomic clock, each of which runs at slightly different 

rates. NGA collocated a tracking station with our nation’s 

master timekeepers at the U.S. Naval Observatory (USNO) 

in Washington, D.C. This allows us to take advantage of 

the stability, precision and accuracy of the USNO time by 

defining it as our GPS “master clock” and then to adjust 

all the other satellite and station clocks to the master.

Reliability of service is essential to GPS effectiveness. 

Beginning in the 1980s, NGA provided personnel support 

at the GPS Joint Program Office (now the GPS Wing) at Los 

Angeles Air Force Base (AFB) and the Operational Control 

Station (OCS) at Schriever AFB in Colorado Springs. 

Additionally, we invested in building and operating a 

global network of unmanned GPS tracking stations to 

augment the Air Force’s permanent GPS tracking stations. 

The result has been substantial benefits to the entire GPS 

user community. As part of a major accuracy improvement initiative, NGA stations now feed real-time data to 

the GPS through the OCS at Schriever AFB. These data 

are incorporated into the real-time estimation process for 

GPS orbit determination, resulting in increased accuracy 

and integrity of GPS navigation signals for GPS users.

Looking Forward

Future improvements and maintenance of GPS, augmentations and backup capabilities are necessary to meet 

growing national security, economic, commercial and 

scientific requirements and opportunities. For example, 

new foreign-based Global Navigation Satellite Systems 

(GNSS), such as the Russian GLONASS and the European 

Galileo System, provide additional options for current 

and future GPS users. These foreign systems are not yet 

as robust as our GPS system but may be in future years. 
Photo illustration by Carmella Bender

10 Original photo by U.S. Air Force, Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

With ongoing efforts to ensure interoperability among all 

the systems, every system may be vulnerable to the same 

intentional or unintentional interference. The sheer number of combined GNSS satellites, upwards of 60–100 

in the future, may help to mitigate these effects. 

The defense community is exploring new mitigation 

strategies to counter electromagnetic radiation interference caused by solar flares or geomagnetic 

storms, as well as intentional and unintentional 

radio jamming caused by man-made techniques. 

DOD’s development and implementation of a 

military-only code and other new satellite features are 

designed to protect and preserve U.S. strategic access to 

GPS, even in hostile environments.

As we look toward the future and the next evolution of 

GPS, we must ensure interoperability and compatibility 

in the context of geospatial information. NGA will continue our strong collaboration with the USAF to ensure 

future satellite procurement and technological decisions 

consider GEOINT needs and capabilities. Additionally, 

NGA’s continued participation in the International GNSS 

Service, the international organization that produces 

state-of-the-art GNSS data and products for the 

scientific community, will also help ensure that 

NGA stays up-to-date on the latest GNSS science and technology. 

As both a consumer of and a contributor 

to GPS, NGA is committed to integrating 

and working collaboratively with our 

mission partners as we make the best 

decisions to ensure our national 

security, safety and stability.

This article also appeared in the 

May 2008 issue of High Frontier, a 

publication of the Air Force Space 

Command.
Earth Gravitational Model Advances GEOINT Sciences

By Dr. Nikolaos K. Pavlis

On April 17, 2008, NGA officially unveiled the latest 

and most accurate global model of the Earth’s gravitational field: Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM08). 

Making this new and unrestricted model available to the 

public confirms NGA’s leading geospatial role within the 

worldwide scientific community.

A Global Need

Many people may recall from their high school physics 

that on the surface of the Earth, the acceleration of gravity is 9.8 meters per squared second. Most physics textbooks don’t mention the fact that this is only an average 

value or that variations of the Earth’s topography, bathymetry, geology and other geophysical features affect 

the acceleration of gravity at a given spot on the Earth. 

The precise determination of these gravity variations 

is the focus of the branch of science called gravimetric 

geodesy. A long-standing goal of this discipline is the 

determination of the gravity field of the Earth at the highest possible resolution and with the highest possible 

accuracy, anywhere on or above the Earth. The encapsulation of this information into a set of parameters 

that mathematically describe the gravity field is called a 

gravity field model. Some models of the Earth’s gravity 

field are global and may be used to estimate any type of 

quantity related to the field anywhere on or above the 

Earth, while others are regional or local and may be used 

to estimate only certain quantities related to the field 

over a given geographic area. The accuracy of any gravity 

model depends primarily on the accuracy of the data 

that were used to create it and secondarily on the rigor 

and expertise with which these data were treated.

Global models are inherently superior to regional 

models, especially for NGA’s interests and for NGA 

customers who use this information for Department of 

Defense (DOD) or Intelligence Community applications. 

In part because they require more effort to create, global 

models have historically lagged behind regional and 

local models in terms of resolution by a considerable 

amount. This situation changed dramatically when NGA 

officially unveiled EGM08 and made it publicly available 

to all. This new global gravity model not only describes 

the gravity field for the entire planet but does that at a 

resolution comparable to that of regional models and 

with accuracy that in some cases surpasses the accuracy 

of regional models. In the same fashion as the geometric 

portion of the World Geodetic System 84 (WGS 84) reference frame has replaced the myriad of local and regional 

geodetic reference frames (datums), thus providing 

much-needed uniformity and consistency among DOD 

users, EGM08 now enables a dramatic advancement in 

NGA’s quest for higher accuracy of the global vertical 

reference frame and the highly accurate targeting products NGA supplies to DOD customers. Since this gravity 

model is unclassified, many scientific applications are 

also possible. For example, scientists can use this model 

to improve understanding of global ocean circulation, 

which is important to global climate studies.

A Global Solution

Before EGM08, the global model of choice for many 

applications was EGM96, which was developed jointly by 

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NGA’s predecessor) and The 

Ohio State University. EGM96 required approximately 

130,000 parameters to be estimated for its numerical 

realization and could support a nominal resolution 

of 30 minutes of arc, which corresponds to about 55 

kilometers on the equator. Within EGM96, the long wavelength portion of the model, which describes the broad 

features of the field, required the processing of satellite 

tracking data acquired over decades, from tens of different spacecraft. In contrast, for EGM08, 57 months of 

the highly accurate data from the Gravity Recovery and 

Climate Experiment (GRACE) mission—the first satelliteto-satellite tracking mission ever launched where both 

satellites orbit at low altitude—were enough to support 

the estimation of the long wavelength portion of this 

model 100 times more accurately than was possible for 

EGM96. This long wavelength portion of the model is 

critical for the accurate determination of the geoid surface (approximately the Earth’s mean sea level extended 

through land). While EGM96 was capable of supporting 

the determination of the geoid with an average accuracy 

11Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
of about +/- 50 centimeters and a nominal resolution of 

30 minutes of arc (55 kilometers), EGM08 can support 

geoid determination with an average accuracy better 

than +/- 15 centimeters and a nominal resolution of 5 

minutes of arc (corresponding to 9.3 kilometers on the 

equator). Thus, with EGM08 NGA is now realizing more 

than three times higher accuracy at six times higher 

resolution, compared to EGM96. 

The determination of the high-resolution component 

of EGM08 over land areas depended critically on the 

availability of elevation data from the Shuttle Radar 

Topography Mission (SRTM), which cover more than 

80 percent of the Earth’s landmass. To achieve this 

higher resolution, EGM08 required the estimation of 

approximately 4.7 million parameters, which are necessary to define the model numerically. Most users of the 

model are interested not only in the model’s products, 

but also in reliable accuracy measures associated with 

these products. This requires the estimation of errors 

associated with each one of these 4.7 million parameters 

within a well-defined statistical framework. The solution 

of such a large estimation problem required the development of an estimation strategy and the implementation 

of highly innovative analytical and numerical methods, 

which have become the envy of many theoreticians and 

practitioners within the discipline.

12Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
Dr. Nikolaos K. Pavlis

is a Project Scientist in the Geodesy and 

Geophysics Division of NGA’s InnoVision 

Directorate. His research focuses on very high 

resolution global and regional gravity field 

determination.

Gravity anomalies computed from EGM08 reveal numerous geophysical 

features, such as oceanic trenches, ridges, subduction and fracture zones 

and seamount chains.

Graphic provided by NGA

The development of EGM08 was possible only because of the long-term close collaboration between the 

Geodesy and Geophysics Division of NGA’s InnoVision 

Directorate and Office of GEOINT Sciences. InnoVision 

provided the research and development resources, the 

technical leadership for the project and the rare analytical and numerical expertise required for global gravity 

field modeling, estimation and validation. The Office of 

GEOINT Sciences provided specialized geodetic expertise 

and large, processed, carefully selected unique data 

sets, including a custom-developed subset of the NGA 

gravity data holdings that contains more than 55 million 

point gravity measurements. EGM08 required the effort 

of four individuals over approximately four years, and 

in this regard it has been developed at a comparatively 

low cost to NGA. The worldwide interest generated by the 

announcement of the initiation of this project in 2004 

made it also possible to benefit from the contributions of 

national and international partners. These have provided 

valuable input to this effort, in the form of gravity data 

contributions, in the processing of satellite altimetry data 

over the oceans, in terms of feedback from the evaluation 

of preliminary solutions, etc., all at no cost to NGA.

With EGM08, NGA has achieved a quantum leap 

towards establishing a new state of affairs in gravimetric 

geodesy, whereby a single model can be used to support an extremely wide variety of applications. These 

include highly accurate orbit determination for artificial 

satellites, geoid computations necessary to achieve a 

representation of mean sea level around the world, the 

estimation of other gravimetric quantities known as 

“deflections of the vertical” and several others. All of 

these identified applications are important to DOD and 

Intelligence Community customers. Finally, the achievement of EGM08 brings an intangible, yet highly significant benefit to NGA—introduction of this groundbreaking 

gravity model has secured an indisputable leadership 

role for the agency in applied geodetic research.

EGM08 resources can be found on the Web at: 

http://earth-info.nga.mil/GandG/wgs84/gravitymod/

egm2008/index.html 

13Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
Analyst Group Establishes Boundary Truth

By Wayne P. Schneider and Denise Damschroeder

Frontier issues are at the heart of many of today’s 

geopolitical conflicts. Political boundary information—the location and status of international and administrative boundaries, both terrestrial and maritime—is 

a fundamental component of geospatial intelligence 

(GEOINT). Increasingly stringent requirements for more 

accurate and authoritative boundary information have 

compelled NGA and its partners to take a more systematic and rigorous approach to boundary analysis.

International boundaries are often the focus of global 

problems that can incite crises. Resolving border conflicts and managing cross-border movement requires a 

clear understanding of where a legally defined boundary 

falls on the ground. Policymakers, diplomats, analysts, 

coalition forces and others increasingly expect accurate 

and timely GEOINT from NGA regarding the location and 

status of political boundaries.

Many modern international boundaries were delineated at a time when the geography and cultural landscape 

were unknown, leading to much disharmony among 

nations and sometimes to open warfare. In 1890, British 

Prime Minister Lord Salisbury observed:

We have been engaged in drawing lines on maps ... 

giving away mountains and rivers and lakes to each 

other, only hindered by the small impediment that 

we never knew where the mountains and rivers and 

lakes were. 

Sorting out U.S. government policy and creating 

geospatial truth related to boundary location is the 

combined job of analysts at the Department of State’s 

(DOS’s) Office of the Geographer and Global Issues, 

NGA GEOINT analysts within the Source Operations 

and Management Directorate and Analysis and Production Directorate, and boundary analysts at the United 

Kingdom’s Defence Geographic Centre (DGC). The unified 

forces of these organizations have produced the most 

accurate international boundary data in mapping and 

geospatial history. Known as the Boundary Technical 

Working Group (BTWG), these analysts meet to discuss 

boundary issues, policy, theory and processes to ensure 

that only the most correct boundaries are distributed 

throughout the Intelligence Community (IC). The group 

is constantly searching for new technology and methods 

for the dissemination of boundary information. 

Boundary work requires an in-depth knowledge of geospatial tools and research principles. To fully understand 

the issues surrounding international lines, BTWG analysts 

carefully study national political history, international 

boundary history, culture, environment and resources.

Recently the group accomplished an in-depth analysis 

of the 1949 Armistice Line that separates Israel from the 

West Bank in support of the ongoing Middle East peace 

process. Analysts researched and reviewed original 

treaty maps augmented with current materials to depict 

the line to the highest degree of accuracy to date. In addition, the group revised and updated with imagery the 

depiction of the security barrier that physically separates 

much of Israel from Palestinian areas in the West Bank. 

The analysts completed a series of 28 Border Image 

Maps (BIMs) portraying both the Armistice Line and the 

Security Barrier.

14Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
The BIMs include explanatory notes to aid the user in 

accurate boundary delineation and boundary–natural 

feature association. The entire project has been a collaborative effort between NGA, the United Kingdom and 

DOS. The BIMs and associated vector data will likely be 

used during any peace talks to determine the historical 

positioning of the Armistice Line. The maps and vector 

lines are available to the IC via NGA’s Digital International Boundary Database (DIBDB), the official repository 

of international, internal (1st, 2nd and 3rd order) and 

maritime boundary data collected in cooperation and 

consultation with the NGA Geographer, the NGA Political 

Boundary Branch, DGC and DOS.

The reconstruction of any boundary entails the selection of the best base sources, alignment treaties and 

maps. In the reconstruction process, the BTWG selects 

sources for utmost accuracy and currency. These include 

historical and current hardcopy sources; digital data, 

such as Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED®); imagery; 

commodity data; and open source collateral information. 

The group thoroughly investigates all sources to build a 

picture of the intended boundary delineation.

The analysts create geospatial boundary data by aligning all digital vector data against the natural features as 

understood from their systematic study. Accurate cartographic source, DTED® and mono and stereo imagery are 

used as the base to trace the boundary along the features. 

In many cases, skilled analysts will collect vector data in 

stereo, resulting in an exceptionally accurate boundary 

vector line. If the boundary was previously demarcated, 

Wayne P. Schneider and Denise Damschroeder

are Lead Regional Geographers in the NGA GEOINT Foundation 

Office, providing actionable data to customers.

analysts identify the location of boundary pillars and 

transfer them to stereo imagery for accurate placement.

Demarcation work does not stop at the international 

level but includes the portrayal of internal administrative 

boundaries along with maritime limits. GEOINT analysts 

require current boundaries to the detail of the largest 

scale possible.

All good scholarship requires documentation. The 

BTWG authors an in-depth analysis of sources and 

process to accompany each boundary segment with 

paragraphs on boundary history, geography and cartographic guidance. Included are graphical presentations 

and virtual scenes.

Boundary history and location are essential to understanding human terrain and the relationships among 

local people and their neighbors. Throughout history, 

land ownership has always been a divisive issue, with 

invasion and conquest a common historical occurrence. 

Exactly where one state ends and another begins remains a point of contention and conflict. 

As population density increases and the world 

scrambles for scarce resources, the boundaries of land 

ownership become even more crucial. NGA and its BTWG 

partners will continue to provide the key GEOINT perspective in collaborative boundary analysis. 

15Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
16Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

Consolidated Analytic Spatial Initiative Aggregates 

Scattered Data

By John A. Duncan and Emily Kilman

For years, analysts have recorded a multitude of 

valuable geospatial features that are often overlooked in 

standard collection. This ad hoc feature data has tended 

to remain stored in “shoeboxes,” typically available only 

to the analysts who originally noted it. Now, an NGA 

initiative is expanding access to this valuable data for the 

agency and its partners. The Consolidated Analytic Spatial 

initiative (CASi) improves geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) 

sharing among analysts within NGA, the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Department of Defense (DOD).

To an urban planner, a manhole cover is a cast-iron 

disc that allows access to underground infrastructures. 

But to an insurgent or terrorist, it can be a portal to insert 

guerillas or explosives. To an imagery analyst, a manhole 

cover can be worth noting. Yet manhole covers—and 

other often overlooked commonplace features—are not 

included in standard feature databases.

The various systems that make up CASi enable 

analysts to collect, discover and share access to vast 

amounts of nonstandard GEOINT data. CASi incorporates 

new and emerging information and technologies to 

support the discovery, dissemination and analysis of 

GEOINT feature data within a system compliant with 

Open Geospatial Consortium standards.

The original call for CASi came about two years ago, 

when analysts from NGA’s Analysis and Production 

Directorate voiced concerns at the difficulty of storing 

and sharing data that did not conform to standards, 

yet had obvious value to their work. NGA Director Vice 

Adm. Robert B. Murrett understood these concerns and 

instructed the agency to remedy the situation, leading 

to the establishment of the CASi program office within 

the Analysis and Production Directorate. While the CASi 

staff put together full processes and plans to stand up 

the related systems, they also made a CASi prototype 

available at NGA’s Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, 

Md., facilities to provide analysts an interim capability to 

load data and encourage them to suggest improvements 

to the CASi interfaces. During the development and 

implementation phases, CASi benefitted greatly from a 

bridged development approach that took advantage of 

the complementary skills of NGA personnel from each 

directorate, in collaboration with the program office, 

to develop and maintain a system that provides data 

storage, management, discovery, retrieval, analysis and 

accessibility of nonstandard GEOINT features.

The three CASi program segments—CASi-Internal 

(CASi-I), CASi-External (CASi-E) and CASi-Forward 
17Pathfinder ›› November/December 200

(CASi-F)—were created to facilitate and enhance analytic 

exchange, yielding sharable knowledge for the IC. The 

CASi infrastructure design promotes GEOINT interoperability across networks, hardware platforms and operating systems.

CASi-I allows analysts to aggregate, manage, search, 

discover and share nonstandard GEOINT data. CASi-I 

servers allow analysts to utilize the data without having 

to download it, saving limited computer space and delivering data consistently across the network.

CASi-E extends data-sharing capabilities to NGA, the 

IC and DOD. Analysts can share their data with the wider 

IC by loading it to the CASi-E servers, search for features 

relevant to their work loaded by other analysts, and add 

value to the data by rating and commenting on it.

CASi-F provides forward-deployed GEOINT analysts a 

hybrid of CASi-I and CASi-E, offering data gathering and 

distribution capabilities for nonstandard country datasets 

and products to analysts working side by side 

with warfighters. A CASi-F system was deployed to 

Baghdad in June 2008, and CASi-F for Afghanistan is 

currently under development.

To load data to CASi systems, users complete 

a few elements of standard geospatial metadata. 

These provide the framework for users to locate relevant 

features, understand their history and purpose, and 

contact the data producer for further collaboration.

The program office develops and releases CASi elements on a spiral schedule. Program segments were 

initially released at 65–70 percent of their intended 

capability. Subsequent releases provide additional functionality several times a year. Analysts who use the CASi 

systems guide this spiral development by commenting 

on current capabilities and suggesting functions that 

they would like to see in future releases.

The accuracy of GEOINT analysis only improves as 

analysts more fully aggregate and share the nonstandard 

feature data they each discover. At the forefront of the 

effort to collect and share these important resources, 

CASi effectively extends the analysts’ ability to support 

the IC, DOD and the warfighter. 

John A. Duncan (Left) and Emily Kilman (Right)

John A. Duncan is a Regional Analyst and 

CASi Representative in the GEOINT Foundation Office, supporting the National System for 

Geospatial Intelligence.

Emily Kilman is a Geospatial Data Steward in 

the GEOINT Foundation Office, assigned to the 

CASi Program Office.
18Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

Urban Feature Data Sharpens the Warfighter’s View

By Gregory Wagner

Urban Feature Data (UFD), one of many NGA 

products serving the warfighter, has proven effective in 

the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT). This high-density 

urban area vector data can be overlaid on imagery depicting areas of high interest for use by intelligence operatives and special operations forces. UFD is part of an 

initiative to fuse multiple intelligence sources, ground 

movement target indicators and other data to provide 

actionable intelligence to frontline operators.

Since 2003, UFD has provided NGA analysts and 

partners with the data needed to make better decisions 

as the landscape of today’s war zone transitions to 

an urban environment. UFD supports urban planning 

operations to help both the military and the Intelligence 

Community to fight the GWOT.

UFD has helped fill the increasing demand of the 

modeling and simulation community for site familiarization and route-, mission- and target-planning data. UFD’s 

high-density geospatial data, when combined with other 

intelligence sources, provides the necessary spatial 

context for identifying key terrain, cultural, and streetlevel features required to track persons of interest. The 

following hypothetical example illustrates UFD’s utility:

Information indicates that a person of interest is 

staying at a hotel one block from a government facility. 

Additional information places the target in the vicinity 

of a named road. Neither the hotel, facility nor road 

can be easily identified from imagery alone. To provide 

context, UFD can be quickly overlaid on imagery that 

has been georegistered to known geographic control 

points. Analysts can then search the extensive UFD 

attributes to find the features efficiently and locate the 

person of interest.

Intended for use within geographic information systems, UFD has evolved to offer three levels of enhanced 

2-D or 3-D vector data over urban and some rural areas. 

The data is primarily extracted from stereo imagery. More 

current commercial imagery is used to update the data set.

Direct feedback on the product has been extremely 

positive. One user remarked that “Urban Feature Data for 

Baghdad, Samarra, Kirkuk, Kabul and Hit will aid the user 

in creating a detailed product for any mission, route and 

target planning in these cities. While this is a good find 

from a 2-D perspective, it is even more useful from a 3-D 

perspective. Because the UFD shapefiles include building data along with height values for each structure, the 

data can be loaded into Terra Vista [scene visualization 

software] to create a 3-D build of the entire area.”

Another user stated that “UFD is a valuable tool for 

tactical line-of-sight requirements in urban operations 

on or near the ground, in addition to site familiarization. 

We also like its use in navigation—good representation of 

landmarks—and its use as an urban planning graphic.”

The GEOINT Foundation Office (SG) within NGA’s 

Source Operations and Management Directorate manages NGA’s UFD program with support from the Office of 

Commercial Partnerships. Almost all UFD data has been 

produced by commercial vendors. However, SG cartographic analysts have recently begun work on NGA’s first 

in-house UFD data set.

NGA faces many challenges regarding UFD’s future. 

With the increasing demand for the product, NGA is investigating how best to disseminate and distribute UFD 

to the user community. The program faces additional 

challenges, including standardizing UFD, creating common specifications among its variations, and updating 

the product to remain current. Nevertheless, given its 

proven benefits and NGA’s dedication to solving these 

challenges, the ever-improving UFD will remain crucial to 

the warfighter for a long time to come. 

Image provided by NGA

Individual buildings and an extensive system of walls are illustrated in this 

example of Urban Feature Data.

Gregory Wagner

is a Cartographic Analyst in NGA’s Source 

Operations and Management Directorate, 

GEOINT Foundation Office, where he supports 

the Urban Feature Data program.
19Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

Office of Global Navigation Accelerates Technology to 

Meet the Future

By Mark Munsell

What does a geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) 

analyst need to confront a world of complex threats and 

rapid change? The essential requirement, in a word, is 

data—abundant current and historical information with 

which to understand a situation and draw conclusions—

and the faster the better. The analyst also needs tools to 

manipulate data and seamless lines of communication 

to reach other analysts to collaborate.

NGA’s Office of Global Navigation is working to create a setting that would provide all of these attributes. 

Consider how a hypothetical day might unfold in such 

an environment: 

Upon logging in, a maritime analyst receives several 

messages from collaborative partners, including some 

unexpected tip-offs about important changes in the navigation infrastructure within the analyst’s geographic area 

of interest. After a quick review, it’s apparent only one of 

the tip-offs requires immediate attention. The analyst retrieves fresh GEOINT from the source management system 

through a simple and direct interface. The infrastructure 

behind it can input host-country navigation publications 

at a furious rate. This system contains every paper and 

digital navigation product known to exist, indexed and 

searchable both geospatially and via keywords.

The analyst enters a foreign port into the search field 

and, within moments, results start flowing, including: 

» Six host-country published, scanned nautical 

charts, at various scales, coverage and dates

» Two new foreign partner electronic nautical charts 

» Two other foreign nautical charts, scanned and 

georeferenced

» Two open source articles published by U.S. and 

foreign newspapers on recent activity in this port, 

including which contractor performed the work and 

its estimated value

» The most recent commercial reports on port activity, 

fuel prices, piracy and traffic, plus a variety of open 

source information from Wikipedia, GoogleTM, etc.

» Two bathymetric surveys of unknown origin

» A recent Notice to Mariners published by the 

host country

Nothing in the source appears suspicious, but the 

analyst digs deeper. Based on metadata associated with 

the query’s original results, the analyst clicks on the 

newest chart from a foreign partner, and it opens in a 

geographic information system (GIS) window. The analyst repeats the process for other charts, a bathymetric 

survey and an outline of a commercial image. 

In the GIS, the analyst adjusts the order and transparency of the data layers. The analyst then brings up layers 

from the Maritime GEOINT database and compares the 

recently added source to the current database that is 

transmitted to NGA’s Department of Defense (DOD) 

customers weekly. The comparison reveals several 

significant feature changes. The analyst then receives an 

instant message from an imagery analyst that all inbound 

traffic is at a halt offshore waiting entry into the port. 

The analyst immediately adds the live feed and latest 

airborne imagery and lays it over the current database. 

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Christopher Fowler

U.S. Navy crews depend on accurate information to navigate safely. NGA is 

working to accelerate the analysis and delivery of essential maritime data.
20Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

Shockingly, much of the port is destroyed, though the 

cause is unclear. 

Immediately, the analyst begins a videoconference 

with the partner who provided the initial tip-off. The 

analyst includes an aeronautical analyst as similar 

destruction to an airfield is discovered. Then several 

senior analysts join the conversation to lay out a plan 

of action—one of the first steps being to alert ships in 

the area of the port closure via a broadcast warning 

message. Working together, the analysts begin to “data 

intensify” all of the nautical and aeronautical charts in 

the region for possible immediate military operations or 

humanitarian relief missions.

From an operational standpoint, this scenario depicts 

far swifter and deeper access to maritime source data 

than analysts currently have. And it describes a quantum 

leap in the ease of collaboration. Yet, from a technical 

standpoint, this scenario is not far-fetched. All of the 

technologies described are available today.

This begs a critical question, namely: Why doesn’t 

NGA have such a system right now? The reason is that 

the challenge of building such a capable system is not 

just technical but logistical. The goal is in sight, but NGA 

will only achieve it through the heavy lifting of integrating data and systems and making total functionality 

accessible to its analysts. The following will have to be 

developed to realize this concept of operations:

» A robust system of source ingest, archiving, indexing and retrieval fed by many sources.

» A database that every analyst can access, with current safety of navigation and navigation infrastructure, information and intelligence data. Aeronautical 

and maritime analysts can update this database 

dynamically, as well as nominate updates from 

outside sources.

» Tools to easily compare, overlay, ingest and merge 

data from the source management system. 

» Tools to support and use the persistent surveillance, 

Web-based geospatial visualization and community 

collaboration of the NGA time-dominant operating 

picture for information development, data fusion 

and situational awareness.

NGA will transform to create this future operational 

state, beginning with two ambitious pilot projects of the 

Global Navigation Services (GNS) for the Aeronautical 

and Maritime Domains. Currently, maritime feature data 

resides on 29 CDs held in hundreds of Digital Nautical 

Chart libraries. The goal is to build a database for maritime feature data—a groundbreaking feat in itself—and 

design this system to rapidly deliver Digital Nautical 

Charts on demand. The present GNS-Aeronautical 

database is 10 years old and strains under a software 

architecture that is no longer supported. Beyond ensuring higher reliability, the new, more robust aeronautical 

database will incorporate additional feature data, 

updated data standards and new product lines, such as 

Stereo Airfield Collection. 

Implementation of both GNS pilots will follow a 

phased approach for smooth integration into the entire 

system in a service-oriented architecture that facilitates 

cross-organizational publishing of information. Further, 

both databases will employ network-attached storage to 

facilitate data sharing. Compliance with Open Geospatial 

Consortium standards will make these pilot databases 

more interoperable and accessible to NGA’s partners in 

DOD and the Intelligence Community. 

The ultimate goal of both pilots is to provide 

one-touch maintenance of safety of navigation in a 

database environment, where digital source data are 

automatically ingested and fused, and where products 

are created directly from the database, regardless 

of whether the source material is textual, digital or 

hardcopy. This environment will allow analysts to do 

their jobs more efficiently and will empower them to 

lead the way in GEOINT-sharing capabilities with NGA’s 

partners. The Office of Global Navigation pilots will start 

to realize the day-in-the-life scenario described above, 

bringing NGA analysts and their partners closer to 

“analytical nirvana.” 

Mark Munsell

is the Technical Executive for the Office 

of Global Navigation, where he works on 

transformational issues and facilitates technology insertion for the Aeronautical and Maritime 

Domains.
21Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

Our Heritage

GEOINT Foundations Establish Tradecraft for the Ages

By Dr. Gary E. Weir

Shortly after the Great War of 1914–1918, a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy made a startling 

discovery on a naval summer cruise. He observed that 

the primary chart upon which the ship’s navigator relied 

dated to 1839. This seemed remarkable for a number 

of reasons. First, he discovered the high quality of early 

19th century surveying and mapmaking and the reliability of the foundation data gathered over 80 years earlier. 

In addition, the chart formed part of a collection that 

emerged from the U.S. Exploring Expedition that circumnavigated the globe and diverted to such places as 

Antarctica between 1838 and 1842. This very successful 

venture marked the first time the young United States of 

America engaged in exploration far from its own shores. 

Not too many years ago, the Smithsonian Institution 

honored the expedition with an exhibit entitled “The 

Magnificent Voyagers.” Finally, the discovery seemed 

even more remarkable and the episode more ironic to 

the midshipman because Navy Lt. Charles Wilkes, commander of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, prepared the 

chart. As it happened, the midshipman recognized Wilkes as his great-grandfather. As part of his professional 

naval education, this young officer discovered at sea the 

vital and eternal nature of the knowledge provided both 

by his family and the foundation tradecrafts.

In preparing the reports based on the collection 

compiled over four years at sea, the personnel of the 

U.S. Exploring Expedition employed the considerable 

treasure they brought back from their long journey. The 

six-ship squadron brought back to the United States 

280 island surveys; 180 charts, maps and surveys of the 

Oregon Territory coastline extending for 800 miles; and 

1,500 miles worth of similar data for the Antarctic coast. 

Their efforts actually validated Antarctica as the seventh 

continent. The expedition eventually supplied the infant 

Smithsonian with the beginning of its extraordinary 

natural history collections. Combining the expedition’s 

Oregon maps and charts with the 1842 Rocky Mountain 

work of Capt. John Frémont soon enabled the United 

States to create a geodetic base for the territory between 

the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. Wilkes 

himself prepared observations based upon personally 

gathered data for the expedition reports on the Earth’s 

magnetic field and its gravity.

Their effort to understand the Earth in these most 

basic and essential ways places Wilkes, his expedition 

staff, Frémont, and other determined explorers among 

the scientific parents of the National Imagery and 

Mapping Agency (NIMA) and NGA. The four years, the 

six wooden ships, and the foundation research of the 

U.S. Exploring Expedition clearly emerged from the same 

fundamental requirement that gave birth in our own time 

to the Defense Mapping Agency’s (DMA’s) Digital Terrain 

Elevation Data, or DTED®, mapping database that provides accuracy down to 300-foot intervals across a much 

greater expanse of geography.

While time moved on, the need for knowing the Earth 

in this way obviously did not change. Wilkes and his 

company desired to know our world more intimately and 

NASA photo

The Space Shuttle Endeavour collects topographical data during the 

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission in February 2000.
22Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

pursued that goal with a single-minded drive that confirmed a new continent. In the same way, DMA continued 

to refine the precision of DTED® by using the additional 

data that came from photo analysis and mensuration to 

improve the accuracy of its products.

The U.S. Exploring Expedition wanted to visualize 

as much as possible and take those physical impressions back to the United States in data, charts and art. 

Knowing how the Earth actually looks can make all the 

difference to peace, war, prosperity and understanding. 

One of the most impressive images produced by the 

expedition shows Sugarloaf Mountain overlooking the 

harbor of Rio de Janeiro. Expedition member Navy Lt. 

John Dale composed a landscape demonstrating the 

beauty of the mountain and its surroundings that both 

pleased and strategically informed. Over a century later, 

DMA and the U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center 

performed the same function for the participants at the 

Dayton Peace negotiations on Bosnia in 1995, using their 

foundation data to impel the required terrain visualizations and automated cartography to tailor maps and 

analyze the topography in a way that made negotiators 

more comfortable with their assumptions and decisions. 

Just as our predecessor agencies did, NGA now provides 

this service daily in the form of geospatial intelligence 

to the warfighter and to allies in need of support due to 

natural disasters or external aggression.

In 1999, three years after DMA, the National Photographic Interpretation Center and other organizations 

combined to form NIMA, which became NGA, the agency 

went on an exploring voyage of its own with NASA. NIMA 

used the space shuttle Endeavor to dramatically improve 

DTED® by exploiting the radar interferometry techniques 

developed at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, 

Calif. For 222.4 hours in February 2000, the Shuttle Radar 

Topography Mission, or SRTM, successfully surveyed 80 

percent of the Earth’s surface and 95 percent of its populated areas. The improved DTED® contributed incomparable accuracy to everything from geophysics to earthquake 

research to the best location for cell phone towers to missile targeting. This voyage did not involve a wooden ship 

under sail, and its techniques would have astonished 

Charles Wilkes, but he would have understood the goals 

and the importance of the data and the final products to 

both commerce and the national defense.

The best foundation activity lasts forever. It informs 

currently and provides the basis for an ever-deeper 

understanding and a platform upon which to build. It 

never grows old or irrelevant. The need for SRTM data 

and DTED® products and the importance of World 

Geodetic System 84 and Earth Gravitational Model 08, 

which NGA recently made available to the public, testifies to the constant relevance of foundation data and 

tradecraft. In 1943, during the island-hopping campaign 

against Japan in World War II, the Allied staff planning 

the landing on the island of Tarawa resorted to using a 

chart composed by the U.S. Exploring Expedition from 

the foundation knowledge the expedition had gathered 

in the 1840s. Having used techniques that stood the test 

of time, Charles Wilkes once again stepped forward in an 

essential way, this time to help American forces subdue 

the Japanese in a difficult campaign. NGA foundation 

professionals, past and present, regularly follow in the 

footsteps of Wilkes and his Magnificent Voyagers. 

Dr. Gary E. Weir

is the NGA Historian. 

Image courtesy of the U.S. Naval Historical Center

“Schooner Porpoise and Flying Fish in Heavy Seas” by Alfred T. Agate. The 

Porpoise was one of several ships of the U.S. Exploring Expedition.
New Campus East

Time-Dominant Operations Center Will Maintain 

Vigilance

By Glenn Forinash

Editor’s Note: The Pathfinder and the New Campus East 

Advocacy effort invited Glenn Forinash of the Time-Dominant Operations Center to contribute this article. 

The National System for Geospatial Intelligence 

(NSG) Strategic Concept of Operations for 2015 lays out an 

expectation that Department of Defense (DOD) and Intelligence Community (IC) customers will require immediate 

geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) with increasing urgency. 

In anticipation of shortening timelines, in 2007 NGA established the Office of Time Dominant Operations, which 

provides a persistent stream of situational awareness 

data to its operations directors, analysts and customers 

across the NSG. The standup of the office and the implementation of the agency’s own Time-Dominant Operations 

Center (TDOC) concept of operations synchronized timedominant entities and provided a single NGA voice to its 

broad customer base. The New Campus East (NCE) TDOC 

will form the fulcrum of NGA’s time-dominant support.

NGA units involved in time-dominant operations 

currently reside in a number of locations across the 

United States. The NCE TDOC will consolidate NGA’s 

geographically and functionally dispersed time-dominant operations on the East Coast within a single, 

integrated center to enhance internal collaboration 

and the quality and timeliness of its GEOINT. TDOC 

analysts will have ready access to information technology support, and NGA leadership will have easy access 

to operational information and personnel. A similar 

plan to align agency time-dominant units in St. Louis, 

Mo., is also in work. The multidirectorate entity in St. 

Louis will be operational prior to the stand up of the 

NCE TDOC and will be critical in providing continuity 

of time-dominant operations during the relocation of 

units to the NCE.

The integrated NCE TDOC design adheres to four key 

concepts to better serve IC and DOD customers: 

23Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 

New Campus East will consolidate NGA’s East Coast operations.

Illustration provided by RTKL/KlingStubbins
» The integration of time-dominant efforts across 

components will be managed by NGA operations 

directors (ODs) who will synchronize efforts and 

marshal resources across NGA to respond to customers’ needs. The ODs will continue to serve as a focal 

point for NGA customers requesting time-dominant 

support. The ODs will maintain their interaction with 

watches and operations centers across the IC, DOD 

and foreign partner organizations to ensure that 

NGA’s time-dominant intelligence efforts are aligned 

with customers’ priorities and information needs.

» The development of tradecraft and training for 

TDOC professionals will continue to enrich the field 

of time-dominant operations. NGA’s current training 

and certification programs for ODs ensure that they 

are able to fully represent and leverage NGA capabilities and respond thoroughly and consistently to 

customers’ requirements. A training program for all 

NGA professionals performing elements of the timedominant mission is currently in development and 

will carry forward to the NCE environment.

» The insertion of already evaluated communications 

and technology to enable operations will facilitate 

persistent collaboration and situational awareness among IC sites and mission partners. The 

increased situational awareness and collaboration 

capabilities will enhance the quality and timeliness 

of NGA’s GEOINT. Information technology resources 

will display all pertinent information needed by 

TDOC personnel, assisting them in maintaining 

analytic focus. The ability to display large amounts 

of information on NCE TDOC’s newly engineered 

Glenn Forinash

is an Operations Director in the 

Office of Time-Dominant Operations. 

knowledge wall will greatly increase the situational 

awareness of the ODs and TDOC components. Webbased geospatial visualization tools will package 

large volumes of data, and security technology will 

provide new means for disseminating intelligence 

information across multiple security domains.

» The improvement of the facilities at NCE TDOC will 

synchronize time-dominant activities and help 

provide the best possible GEOINT to customers. 

Time-dominant analysts’ ability to reach the broader 

NSG elements will be enhanced. Subject matter 

experts in many cases will reside in close physical 

proximity, providing greater access to the deep 

analytic capability found in NGA’s functional and 

regional offices. NGA and the NCE professional staff 

have ensured that time-dominant operations will be 

conducted in an environment that allows persistent 

collaboration and guarantees multiple-security level 

access and seamless system interoperability.

 NGA’s critical contribution to the time-dominant mission will continue to grow as the demand from the agency’s customers for timely and relevant GEOINT increases. 

The NCE TDOC will greatly enhance the information 

superiority and technological advantages essential to 

providing influential time-dominant GEOINT and warning 

of imminent threats. 

A concept sketch anticipates the striking interior of New Campus East.

Illustration provided by RTKL/KlingStubbins

24Pathfinder ›› November/December 2008 
NCE

PROGRESS

the plan

All NCE images by NGA

the groundbreaking

on schedule

the steel signing

the final rendering

©2008 Jupiterimages Corporation
www.nga.mil