Vol. 10 No. 2 March/April 2012
Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

On My Mind:

NGA Transforms Global Navigation

America’s foundational knowledge of deep oceans and distant lands rests on 

the often heroic achievements of mariners and aviators in service to science and 

security. Today’s mariners and aviators have been able to build on this legacy 

with the benefit of transformative new technologies. GPS has replaced celestial 

observation and calculation. Digital information on portable devices is turning 

hard-copy air and sea almanacs into historical artifacts. The National GeospatialIntelligence Agency (NGA) supports this transformation of global navigation 

in a number of ways—including enhanced sensing and imagery collection and 

analysis—using the latest GEOINT (geospatial intelligence). We’re also developing creative new methods to 

deliver our products to air traffic controllers, pilots, port and harbor masters and ship captains working in the 

commercial, civil and defense sectors.

GEOINT for global navigation is a high-stakes endeavor. As the articles in this issue show, GEOINT products 

like digital aeronautical and nautical charts provide the literal map to a location and also give early warning 

of hazards to air and sea navigation, especially for unfamiliar areas. For example, vessels in the Arctic Ocean 

rely on Digital Nautical Charts to gain a common operating picture of the underwater terrain and vessel traffic. 

This knowledge reduces the chance of accidents, protecting the lives of the crews, the local environment and 

the global economy. GEOINT also plays a role in threat assessment and national deterrence. GEOINT anti-piracy 

applications, for example, increase awareness of high-risk sea channels, helping keep commercial and military 

vessels out of harm’s way and improving law enforcement agencies’ ability to bring pirates to justice. 

For global navigation, our vision for online, on-demand GEOINT means moving more capabilities to the bridge 

and cockpit, working in partnership with our customers and the community of university, national laboratory 

and commercial developers of GEOINT products. Our partnerships with international allies also promote 

government-to-government cooperation on navigation safety. We engage in a number of cooperative initiatives 

with our Commonwealth partners, including the Allied Maritime Sub Group, which issues data standards and 

identifies opportunities for burden sharing on maritime safety areas of mutual interest. We also collaborate 

with our partners through international fora, such as the International Hydrographic Organization and 

International Civil Aviation Organization, to exchange vital information to ensure the safety of mariners and 

aviators around the world.

Delivering new applications in customizable distribution formats is one step toward achieving online, ondemand access to GEOINT. We are also creating open, online repositories to share geospatial information 

resources produced by our partners and customers. For example, our Global Maritime Photo Database is a onestop shop for mariners to easily find photos of significant landmarks and other aids to navigation; customers 

can even contribute their own data holdings to the photo database. 

We have earned our customers’ high expectations for reliability, accuracy and speed of delivery. NGA continues 

to meet and exceed those expectations. We will continue to find innovative ways to put the power of GEOINT 

in our customers’ hands so that together we can always put safety first.

ON MY MIND

2

Letitia A. Long

Director
CONTENTS

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

3

DIRECTOR

Letitia A. Long

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

Lloyd Rowland

OFFICE OF CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS,

DIRECTOR

Vonna Heaton

EDITOR

Susan H. Meisner

GRAPHIC ARTIST

Amy Battison

Published by the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Office of Corporate Communications

Telephone: (571) 557-5400

DSN 547-5400

E-mail: pathfinder@nga.mil

The Pathfinder is the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency publication 

that promotes awareness and understanding 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 reproduced, credit the author and the “National GeospatialIntelligence Agency, the Pathfinder magazine.” Any reproduction of 

graphics, photographs and imagery is subject to the original copyright.

On the Cover: The USS Constellation steams through the ocean with 

ships in its battle group en route to a liberty port call in Singapore in 

support of Operation Enduring Freedom. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 

2nd Class Timothy Smith. Cover design by Amy Battison.

On the Back Cover: Dedicated Nov. 11, 1993, the Vietnam Women’s 

Memorial in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Vietnam Veterans 

Memorial, honors women’s patriotic service during the Vietnam War. 

New Mexico sculptor Glenna Goodacre designed the multi-figure 

bronze monument portraying three Vietnam-era women, one of 

whom is caring for a wounded male soldier. About 11,000 American 

military women were stationed in Vietnam during the war, 90 percent 

of them nurses, according to the memorial’s website. Others served 

as physicians, physical therapists and personnel in the medical, air 

traffic control, military intelligence, administration and other fields. An 

unknown number of civilian women also served in Vietnam as news 

correspondents and workers for the Red Cross, the USO and other 

humanitarian organizations. NGA photo by Rob Cox. Photo illustration by 

Amy Battison.

2 On My Mind: NGA Transforms Global Navigation

›› FEATURES

4 Centennial Anniversary of Titanic Tragedy:

Disaster Prompts Timely Broadcast Service

6 Navigational Warning Service Expands Into

Arctic Waters

8 Modern-Day Solutions Hinder Age-Old Piracy

10 NGA Launches New DOD Aeronautical App

12 NGA’s Aero Help Desk Adds New Service Tier

14 Maritime Safety Office Provides Information

Online, On-Demand

16 Shared Experiences Benefit Navy, NGA ShipRiders

18 ShipRider Charts Arctic Seafloor

19 Aeronautical Analysts Support Operation

Deep Freeze

›› TECHNOLOGY

20 InnoVision Develops 3-D Thermal Site Models

›› HISTORY

22 Geospatial Support in Vietnam

24 Remembering Vietnam 6:

The Defense Mapping Agency, 1972

›› NGA IN THE NEWS

26 Employees Focus on Value of Mentoring

Partners in Education Host Annual Student Party

NGA Employees Host Science Demonstration for 

Springfield Area Students

4 14 19
Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

DISASTER PROMPTS TIMELY BROADCAST SERVICE

4

A U.S. Navy submarine transiting under the 

polar ice field via the Denmark Strait receives 

a message that an iceberg lies directly across 

its intended track, 50 nautical miles ahead. It 

changes course to enter the ice at a different 

point. A routine safety message has forestalled a 

potential catastrophe.

NGA’s Maritime Watch, directed by Chris Janus, 

sent that message and screens safety messages 

national and international sources send to NGA. 

The center is the outgrowth of the 

international community’s reaction to the 

1912 sinking of the Titanic, said Janus. That 

tragedy was responsible for NGA’s current role 

in broadcasting time-sensitive marine safety 

messages; the center plays an indispensable 

role in NGA’s mission to warn mariners on the 

high seas of hazards to navigation.

“On April 14, 1912, in the afternoon, the German 

steamship Amerika spotted two large icebergs 

in what was then the most-traveled ocean route 

between Europe and America,” said Janus. 

“The Amerika wanted to warn the U.S. Navy 

Hydrographic Office, Washington, D.C., about 

this danger to safe navigation, but its transmitters 

were not powerful enough.

“Amerika spotted the ‘unsinkable’ RMS Titanic 

on her maiden voyage from Southampton 

(England) to New York. Amerika requested 

Titanic to relay the iceberg message to the 

hydrographic office. The wireless officer, whose 

main job was tending to passengers’ telegrams, 

sent the message to the hydrographic office via 

Cape Race, Newfoundland, but never passed the 

message to the bridge. At 11:40 that evening the 

Titanic struck an iceberg. The rest is history.

“The message from Amerika via Titanic and 

Cape Race reached the Navy Hydrographic 

Office early on April 15, 1912. But, by then 

the Titanic had sunk, killing more than 1,500 

people. The magnitude of this disaster forced the 

world to confront the problem of time-sensitive 

navigation warnings to ships at sea.” 

The following year, as a direct result of the Titanic 

tragedy, the Safety of Life at Sea Convention 

formed, said Janus. The convention led to an 

international treaty concerning the safety of 

merchant ships. 

The convention initiated several reforms in 

navigation safety, said Janus. It began the 

International Ice Patrol to monitor ice conditions 

along the major Europe to America ocean 

routes. It required that transatlantic passenger 

ships maintain a lifeboat capacity to rescue all 

individuals on board. And, most importantly, 

it required all vessels at sea maintain a 24-

hour radio watch. By 1921, these radio officers 

at sea were receiving safety messages from 

the Navigation Safety and Warning Service, 

maintained by NGA’s predecessor organizations. 

In 1977 the International Hydrographic 

Organization established the Worldwide 

Navigational Warning Service (WWNWS), which 

divided the world into 16 navigational areas, 

called NAVAREAS.

“The WWNWS is an international, coordinated 

global service for sending information by 

satellite to ships on immediate hazards to 

navigation which might endanger the safety of 

life at sea,” said Dan Boileau, Maritime Watch 

operations officer. He and his team determine 

which messages go “out for the broadcast.” The 

maritime watch center is the voice of navigation 

safety for the U.S. Navy and merchant fleets. It 

processed over 200,000 messages last year. Of 

those, 7,000 were considered vital. 

Centennial Anniversary of Titanic Tragedy:

By Howard Cohen, Branch Chief, Tactical Ocean Data Branch, Maritime Safety Office

NGA broadcasts ice messages from the International 

Ice Patrol to mariners to prevent further maritime 

disasters like the Titanic. The Titanic sank April 15, 

1912, at 2:20 a.m. at approximately 41 degrees 46 

minutes north latitude and 50 degrees 14 minutes 

west longitude (area indicated by the star) after 

colliding with an iceberg.

Prompts Timely Broadcast Service
safety of life at sea; changing political conditions 

can threaten shipping. NGA periodically 

broadcasts special warnings to alert customers to 

any potentially threatening political development.

NGA consults with the State Department, Chief 

of Naval Operations and other government 

organizations to determine the scope of the 

warning. NGA then transmits the special warning 

to U.S. shipping, government agencies and 

military commands worldwide. 

Civilian marine analysts and Navy 

quartermasters jointly staff the 24-hour watch. 

Boileau makes-up the “watchbill” and is also 

responsible for training watchstanders.

“Training to stand the broadcast watch starts 

about six months to a year after a new employee 

arrives,” said Boileau. “That is the time needed to 

gain experience writing U.S. Notices to Mariners. 

For three weeks, the trainee observes and assists 

a veteran watchstander completing a rigorous 

qualification program.” 

The training culminates with a certification exam 

that ensures the watchstander is competent to 

stand the watch solo, said Boileau.

“It’s a little bit intimidating at first,” said trainee 

Dave Anderson. “With all the equipment, 

messages coming in and the phone ringing, it can 

be hectic at times.”

NGA’s Maritime Watch Center is 

extraordinarily proud of its unique position 

and long-standing tradition of providing vital 

worldwide safety service to the U.S. Navy and 

civil mariners, said Janus.

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

DISASTER PROMPTS TIMELY BROADCAST SERVICE

5

Today, NGA’s maritime watch center sends out six 

types of messages: NAVAREA IV; NAVAREA XII; 

HYDROPACs; HYDROLANTs; HYDROARCs; 

and special warnings.

The United States is the coordinator for NAVAREA 

IV (Western North Atlantic) and NAVAREA XII 

(Eastern North Pacific). Besides broadcasting 

NAVAREA messages, the broadcast desk also 

sends out HYDROPAC, HYDROARC and 

HYDROLANT messages, covering the Pacific, 

Arctic and Atlantic Ocean geographic regions, 

respectively. These are similar in content but 

worldwide in coverage. NGA thus gives its 

customers the option of receiving all navigation 

safety messages from one U.S. source, said Boileau.

Such information includes failure of and/

or changes to major navigational aids, newly 

discovered wrecks or natural hazards (e.g., ice 

below 52 degrees north latitude) in or near main 

shipping lanes, military operations, search and 

rescue, cable-laying, scientific research and 

various other underway activities. Due to its 

wide ocean coverage, the broadcast also includes 

information concerning overdue and missing 

ships, aircraft or “man overboard” messages.

Specific notifications cancel navigation safety 

messages when they are no longer pertinent. 

A message addressing an exercise or event of 

known duration includes its own cancellation, 

usually one hour after the conclusion of the event. 

The Warning Service can also publish a U.S. 

Notice to Mariners correction for warnings that 

are sufficiently permanent in nature. Changing 

navigation conditions are not the only threat to 

Titanic photo courtesy Titantic.org website
NAVIGATIONAL WARNING

6

“The potential for accidents and for causing 

environmental harm through operational mishaps 

in the Arctic is rising, while the effectiveness 

of search and rescue services and clean-up 

resources is inevitably stretched to the limit,” 

said International Maritime Organization (IMO) 

Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos.

The expansion of the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency’s (NGA) Worldwide 

Navigational Warning Service (WWNWS) into 

Arctic waters, which the IMO Sub-Committee on 

Radiocommunications and Search and Rescue 

(COMSAR) formally recognized this past year, 

signifies global coverage for all navigable waters.

Ships operating in the harsh Arctic environment 

can automatically receive vital information about 

navigational and meteorological hazards and other 

urgent information vital to the shipping industry. 

IMO and the World Meteorological Organization 

(WMO) delineated five new NAVAREAs and 

meteorological areas (METAREAs), respectively. 

“With the establishment of these NAVAREAS 

(navigational areas) the world is fully provided 

with services to provide navigational and 

meteorological warnings to mariners,” said 

president of the International Hydrographic 

Organization (IHO) Adm. Alexandros Maratos. 

“We can now say that the WWNWS that started 

in the early 1970s is complete. A service which 

is not only very useful but vital to the safety 

of navigation and protection of the marine 

environment will be provided to mariners and 

vessels cruising within this environmentally 

sensitive Arctic region.”

Established in June 2010, and following a oneyear initial operating capacity period, the five 

new Arctic NAVAREAs/METAREAs are in full 

operational capacity. Mitropoulos heralded the 

expansion of WWNWS into Arctic waters as a 

very significant development that addresses the 

increased risks to ships from a combination of 

expanding business activity in the inhospitable 

Arctic region and less predictable, more extreme 

weather conditions. 

The IMO is the U.N.-specialized agency with 

responsibility for the safety and security of 

shipping and the prevention of marine pollution 

by ships. 

Dignitaries attending a formal recognition 

ceremony in March 2011 during COMSAR’s 15th 

session included Secretary-General of the WMO 

Michel Jarraud, Maratos and Mitropoulos. NGA’s 

Peter Doherty, who serves as chairman of the 

IHO WWNWS Sub-Committee, chairman of the 

IMO SafetyNET panel, and coordinator for the 

WWNWS NAVAREA IV and NAVAREA XII, was 

master of ceremonies. 

“The opening up of the Arctic will be a doubleedged sword,” said Mitropoulos at the ceremony. 

“Depending on your perspective, it represents 

either a world of new business opportunities or, 

on the other hand, an unwelcome extension of the 

human footprint into areas still, at the moment, 

predominantly pristine. But I am confident that, 

balancing the two extremes and with measures such 

as those we inaugurate today, the pioneering venture 

in the new frontiers will be met with universal 

approval. Let us, therefore, work together to create 

the conditions that will allow the opportunities the 

Arctic presents to flourish in a framework of utter 

safety and environmental protection.”

Sea ice is projected to increasingly shrink under 

all scenarios and for some projections the 

Arctic late-summer sea ice would vanish almost 

entirely by the middle of the century, opening 

unprecedented challenges to maritime safety 

which were unpredictable just one generation ago, 

said Jarraud. 

The Worldwide Navigational Warning 

Service (WWNWS) in the Arctic 

The IMO first recognized the need to expand 

this service into the Arctic area in 2005, as Arctic 

waters became increasingly accessible with less 

predictable, more extreme weather. The increased 

risk, as well as potential for accidents and 

environmental harm, necessitated accurate early 

warning systems to maximize operational safety 

and minimize environmental damage.

In 2006 the COMSAR Sub-Committee established 

the joint IMO/IHO/WMO correspondence group 

on Arctic maritime safety information services, 

which selected Doherty as leader. At COMSAR 

12 in 2008 the group agreed that the Arctic 

region required a common broadcast system for 

maritime safety information. It also agreed that 

Navigational Warning Service Expands

Into Arctic Waters

By Keith Dominic, Staff Officer, Maritime Safety Office

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012
NAVIGATIONAL WARNING

7

until an Arctic satellite service provider under the 

Global Maritime Distress and Safety System was 

available, they would use the current system of 

high-frequency narrow-band direct printing as 

a viable alternative means of promulgating MSI 

above the high-latitude limits of INMARSAT—

International Marine/Maritime Satellite—

coverage.

In 2009 the COMSAR Sub-Committee endorsed 

the recommendation of the correspondence 

group for live testing of the Arctic NAVAREA/

METAREA operations to be held in 2009 and 2010, 

with a milestone goal of full operational status 

declared at COMSAR 15 in 2011.

Canada, Norway and the Russian Federation 

serve as Arctic NAVAREA coordinators and 

METAREA issuing services as follows:

• NAVAREA/METAREA XVII and XVIII–

Canada 

• NAVAREA/METAREA XIX–Norway 

• NAVAREA/METAREA XX and XXI–

Russian Federation 

“We met the goal and through excellent 

international collaboration were successful 

in establishing an international coordinated 

service for the promulgation of vital maritime 

safety information to all vessels within the new 

Arctic frontier and in doing so have ensured the 

navigation safety and the safety of life, property 

and the environment for all nations,” said Doherty, 

deputy director of the NGA Maritime Safety Office 

and leader of this five-year international effort.

The Worldwide Navigational Warning Service expanded to include the Arctic in 2011; light blue demarks the newly 

established HYDROARC areas.

“The opening up of the Arctic will be a 

double-edged sword,” said Mitropoulos.

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012
MODERN-DAY SOLUTIONS HINDER AGE-OLD PIRACY

8

In Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island,” if 

you heard Long John Silver’s parrot, Cap’n Flint, 

call, “Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight! Pieces of 

eight!” you knew your luck had finally run out—

pirates, no doubt, were afoot!

Times have changed. The Stars and Stripes, once 

a merchant ship’s best defense against piracy, no 

longer serve as an impenetrable symbol. On April 8, 

2009, pirates captured their first U.S.-flagged vessel, 

the container ship Maersk Alabama, 200 miles off 

the Somalia coast. Her crew’s heroic and resourceful 

actions forced the pirates to abandon ship in a 

lifeboat, but not before they took Capt. Richard 

Phillips hostage. U.S. warships arrived April 9, and 

after a three-day standoff rescued the captain and 

killed the pirates. 

Modern-day pirate attacks, as well as their tactics 

and strategies, have evolved. The National 

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s (NGA) Maritime 

Watch, part of the Maritime Safety Office, remains 

vigilant in its global efforts to keep mariners safe 

and informed of piracy attacks. Within two hours 

of the Maersk Alabama attack, the Maritime 

Watch released a message alerting U.S. Navy 

forces and civilian mariners.

The Maritime Safety Office is not new to the 

piracy game. It has been in the business for more 

than 25 years, providing mariners with the ability 

to quickly access the latest information concerning 

acts of piracy and areas that pose the greatest 

risk. Since April 2009, there have been more than 

1,400 acts of piracy, 483 in 2011 alone. Today, users 

can access NGA’s maritime safety information 

(MSI) 24/7 on the World Wide Web and through 

virtually any Web-enabled device. 

“Before access to the Web became almost 

ubiquitous, in the early ‘90s users had to compete 

for, and hope to connect to, one of the office’s 12 

modems via a toll number to retrieve MSI—but 

even then the system provided an unmatched 

capability,” said Frank Chamberlain, the Maritime 

Safety Office’s technical executive. “Today the 

Maritime Safety Office provides worldwide 

access—at no charge—to its maritime safety 

information databases and, in 1999, when it first 

established its Web presence, set the standard 

for Web access to MSI.” NGA’s Maritime Safety 

Information website has user-friendly menu 

options, allowing customers access to the latest 

information on U.S. chart corrections, broadcast 

warnings, lighted aids to navigation, radio 

navigational aids, offshore drilling units, 

U.S. Coast Guard navigation information, antishipping activity messages (ASAMs) and other 

maritime-related data. 

The ASAM database dates back to 1985; the U.S. 

government Interagency Group on Piracy and 

Maritime Terrorism requested it in response to 

the increase in hostile activity against shipping. 

At its inception, and for many years, it was the 

only centralized database of its kind. Today, 

it still serves as an effective and dependable 

system for loading, storing and disseminating 

reports concerning acts of piracy and threats to 

Modern-Day Solutions Hinder Age-Old Piracy

By Chris Janus, Branch Chief, Early Warning Branch, Maritime Safety Office

ThinkStock image

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012
tip of India—an area encompassing more than 

2 million square miles. Pirates use everything 

from speed boats and grappling hooks to scuba 

gear to board target vessels, according to the 

International Maritime Bureau. In February 2011, 

the line separating terrorism and piracy became 

even more indistinct when Somali pirates hijacked 

the motor yacht Quest and mercilessly killed the 

entire crew, which consisted of four U.S. citizens, 

while negotiations for their release were ongoing. 

The brashness of their actions further highlighted 

the seriousness of the problem, especially 

considering the pirates’ complete disregard for the 

four U.S. Navy warships that trailed the Quest in 

support of negotiations.

Unfortunately, despite the rise in piracy around 

the world, most governments show little 

enthusiasm for apprehending well-armed pirates 

or enforcing piracy laws. Countries no longer 

summarily execute apprehended pirates. Instead, 

modern-day pirates are entitled to their day in 

court. Since most attacks occur on the high seas, 

the challenge is to determine which court holds 

jurisdiction. Victimized countries often lack 

resources, facilities and political will to bring 

pirates to justice. 

While the ASAM database can forewarn—it can’t 

deter piracy—the key is getting the data to those 

who need it, when they need it. The Maritime 

Safety Office is taking the next step to do just 

that, with a smartphone application that allows 

users to access and view the most recent piracy 

attack information. The app will provide the 

infrastructure to push data, overlay it in real time 

and interact with the user’s data and displays to 

create an environment where decisions affecting 

the safety of life at sea are readily apparent and 

can further protect a vessel’s cargo as well its 

passengers. 

Users can view the Maritime website at http://

msi.nga.mil/NGAPortal/MSI.portal. To view the 

ASAM database select the ASAM search link in 

the left column.

9

shipping worldwide. Sources include the Office 

of Naval Intelligence, Maritime Security Center 

Horn of Africa and the International Maritime 

Bureau Piracy Centre. No other international 

hydrographic authority maintains a database with 

similar information.

In recent years, however, piracy attacks off the 

Horn of Africa have increased dramatically in 

number and scope, with attacks occurring as far 

south as Mozambique to just off the southern 

MODERN-DAY SOLUTIONS HINDER AGE-OLD PIRACY

The Anti-Shipping 

Activity Messages 

database contains 

information 

concerning 

acts of piracy 

and threats 

to shipping 

worldwide. 

Depicted are 

pirate attacks 

on merchant 

ships, 

annotated 

by a skull 

and 

crossbones 

icon.

“Before access to the Web 

became almost ubiquitous, 

in the early ‘90s users had 

to compete for, and hope 

to connect to, one of the 

office’s 12 modems via a 

toll number to retrieve 

MSI—but even then 

the system provided an 

unmatched capability,” 

said Frank Chamberlain.

NGA illustration by Chris Janus

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012
NGA LAUNCHES NEW DOD AERONAUTICAL APP

10

Forget riding white-frosted turquoise waves in the 

Caribbean, this kneeboard may just save your life 

and your money. 

Several years ago the commercial airline industry 

began embracing kneeboards, or tablet computers, 

such as the Apple® iPad®, pre-loaded with 

required flight information publications (FLIP). The 

concept of the electronic flight bag (EFB) caught 

on quickly in the commercial sector because it was 

cost-effective and provided additional 

capabilities compared to the bulky, 

hard-copy FLIP paper products pilots are 

required to have during flights.

About 1 1/2 years ago, the National 

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 

(NGA) set out to develop its own EFB 

application. 

“Our goal from the outset was to 

provide a free government solution that 

allows our customers the capability to 

display our NGA aeronautical data on 

various mobile devices with our first 

efforts focusing on the Apple iPad,” said 

Philip Johnson, NGA military services 

digital coordinator for the Office of 

Aeronautical Navigation and program 

manager for the aeronautical app and 

EFB initiative. 

“We wanted to provide the Department 

of Defense (DOD) with a government 

solution that avoided the high start-up 

and lifecycle costs associated with most 

of the commercial alternatives,” said 

Johnson. ”Our goal is not only to provide 

data, products and services to our 

customers, but also add value by fusing 

it together for increased effectiveness and 

situational awareness.”

Johnson became part of the forwardleaning NGA strategic engagement 

committee shortly after he joined the agency 

about three years ago. The committee looked at 

ways to better serve external customers. With 

his 10 years of experience as an airline pilot and 

as a recent convert to commercial EFBs, Johnson 

and the team immediately identified the need 

to “utilize mobile devices to reduce paper in the 

cockpit.”

Although the aeronautical app initiative predated 

NGA’s vision of putting GEOINT into the hands 

of users and making GEOINT more easily 

accessible, it was almost custom-made to fit the 

vision mold, said Johnson. Consequently, NGA’s 

senior leadership, including Director Letitia A. 

Long, embraced the initiative almost immediately. 

By Mario Iván Oña, Contractor, Office of Corporate Communications

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

The 

chart page 

allows users to browse 

through the worldwide set of DOD high 

and low altitude en route charts. With one touch users 

can enter and exit full-screen mode while also zooming in and out.

NGA image by Matt Mayes using the iPhone Operating System simulator.
immediate, word-searchable access,” said Taylor. 

“So one of the big advantages of the kneeboard is 

the ability to electronically have all the regulations 

and flight manual information the crews need.” 

It is conceivable that an iPad may not only be able to 

store the entire library of aeronautical publications 

and charts, but also have the most up-to-date 

versions—another significant safety advantage.

Beyond reducing clutter, the capability of 

electronically carrying every possible map for 

any given situation allows aircrews to be more 

adaptable. In some cases, not having this capability 

may place troops in a precarious situation. 

“There is a chance that you could get called to 

go support troops in contact and you wouldn’t 

have the detailed map of that area,” said Lt. Col. 

William Bufkin in an article by James K. Sanborn 

in Defense News about using iPads for close-air 

support missions.

Despite the obvious benefits, Taylor, who is also a 

retired Air Force pilot with 24 years of active duty 

and more than 4,000 hours of military flying time, 

is cautiously optimistic.

“We are excited about helping NGA refine and test 

the application,” said Taylor, “but if this concept is 

going to take hold, the pilots will need to be able 

to get the information they want, when they want 

it and in an intuitive way.” 

Although the app is in its first version and the 

team will continue to find ways to improve its 

functionality and ease of use, Johnson and his 

team are confident that they can continue to build 

on their product. In future versions, they intend to 

make the uploading and updating of information 

seamless and also make the app available on 

various other platforms, such as AndroidTM. 

“We’re breaking new ground,” said Johnson. “At 

times, it seemed we were the first to arrive at 

some of these hurdles, so in some ways, we’ve 

laid the foundation for the development of 

subsequent apps.” 

In their insatiable quest to keep up and embrace 

the new technology, they are helping open NGA’s 

door of innovation.

Pathfinder is an independent publication and has not 

been authorized, sponsored or otherwise approved by 

Apple, Inc. Apple and iPad are registered trademarks of 

Apple, Inc.

NGA LAUNCHES NEW DOD AERONAUTICAL APP

11

But there were challenges. 

“Technology is moving faster than even the 

civilian community can keep up with, and 

certainly faster than the government,” said 

Johnson. “There is simply not a ton of guidance 

on a lot of the stuff we were trying to do, so that 

was a major challenge we had to overcome.”

After trailblazing through the “how,” they had 

to also figure out the “where.” Johnson and 

NGA EFB lead developer Matt Mayes—also a 

pilot—along with two NGA InnoVision scientists 

assigned to the initiative part time, Josh K. 

and Wes R., had to find a workshop for their 

development project. They worked closely with 

the NGA West site security team to designate a 

small, unclassified space to house the necessary 

hardware, including iPads, Apple computers and 

various other mobile devices.

The first iteration of NGA’s aeronautical 

and EFB app launched in January. The iPad 

app allows pilots to view electronic versions 

of NGA’s aeronautical publications and is 

admittedly rudimentary, said Johnson. Even so, 

it instantly provides two significant benefits: 

safety and cost-effectiveness. 

Although estimates vary and it is difficult to 

put a dollar amount on the savings, the dual 

benefits are clear when considering hardcopy 

FLIP products can weigh from 50 to 90 pounds, 

according to various open-source reports. 

An iPad, conversely, weighs 1 1/2 pounds. 

Eliminating the additional load equates to a 

reduction in fuel costs particularly in smaller 

military aircraft, as well as substantial printing 

costs, and it also improves safety by providing 

more space in confined military cockpits and 

cargo compartments, said Johnson.

Before the EFB even launched,

end-users were already enthusiastic 

about the benefits.

“From the limited testing we’ve done so far, I 

think it works very well,” said James Taylor, a 

flight simulator instructor at the 558th Flying 

Training Squadron in Texas, who was furnished 

with two NGA iPads pre-loaded with the EFB 

app. “If this app has the right features, it could be 

extremely useful to an aviator. Dealing with the 

approach books in the cockpit is often a pain.”

“Currently, many aircraft are flying around 

with three-ring binders full of information that 

can easily fit onto a computer or kneeboard for 

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012
Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

NGA’S AERO HELP DESK ADDS NEW SERVICE TIER

12

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 

(NGA) introduced a new support service—the 

Aeronautical Help Desk—for civilian and military 

aviation customers and other users of geospatial 

intelligence (GEOINT) last summer. The Aero 

Help Desk provides a middle tier of customized 

assistance for Aeronautical Navigation Office 

customers and GEOINT partners. Its military and 

civilian customers use NGA flight information 

publications (FLIP) for 

safety of navigation. 

The Aero Help Desk 

operates from within 

NGA’s Operations CenterWest. In addition to 

handling phone calls and 

emails, help desk staff 

monitor for worldwide 

open source information 

concerning volcanic 

eruptions, seismic activity, 

potential tsunamis, 

Pacific typhoons and 

Atlantic hurricanes 

that may pose safety of 

navigation threats. The 

help desk supported 

events such as last year’s 

Japan earthquake and 

tsunami by providing 

situational awareness on 

which airfields were operational, and providing en 

route charts to speed air evacuations and supply 

logistics. 

The help desk also supports stability operations. 

For example, it aided navigation for defense and 

relief missions during the Libyan uprising. 

“Each morning, we put together a report on 

airfields that pilots depended on to move 

people and materiel,” recounted Ed Balling, 

a former air traffic controller and current 

aeronautical intelligence analyst with NGA’s 

Source Operations and Management Directorate, 

Aeronautical Navigation Office. “It’s not just 

the condition of runways, but also the size of 

the apron and how many aircraft it can hold, 

and whether the landing and takeoff path has 

sufficient clearance for the aircraft.” 

By piecing together information about a 

particular landing site, the Aero Help Desk 

staff designed a map of taxiways parallel to the 

landing strip that allowed pilots of cargo planes 

to safely take off and land. 

With the creation and staffing of the Aero 

Help Desk, the Aeronautical Navigation Office 

now provides NGA and its customers with a 

consistent level of readiness to provide embedded 

support to crisis action 

teams responding to 

natural disasters and 

other worldwide events. 

From July through 

the end of December 

2011, both senior and 

journeyman aeronautical 

analysts spent two weeks 

apiece at the Aero Help 

Desk handling calls and 

emails. The effort was so 

successful that this year 

senior analysts will pair 

up with junior analysts 

to staff the desk. The help 

desk’s mentoring and 

peer-coaching approach 

will ensure a sufficient 

number of analysts are 

available to respond if/

when the help desk 

ramps up to a 24/7 crisis response mode. 

NGA announced the Aero Help Desk initiative 

at the 2011 Mission Planning User’s Conference. 

This annual event draws approximately 2,000 

participants from all four military service 

branches, other government agencies and U.S. 

military allies. Word spread quickly by word-ofmouth, and the help desk now fields an average 

of 120 questions a month, received through 

phone calls and emails. Many aviation tools and 

products include help desk contact information.

On a typical day, customers will request help 

with product specifications, ask questions about 

product quality, inquire about how to obtain 

late or missing sources, report Web or download 

issues and a plethora of other issues. 

NGA’s Aero Help Desk Adds New Service Tier

By Karen Walker, Contractor, Office of Corporate Communications

NGA Aeronautical Intelligence Analyst Lance Scharkey monitors 

online aeronautical account functionality by accessing and 

checking links to a digital terminal chart. Help Desk watchstanders 

routinely access flight information products electronically to verify 

that online services are in working condition and to support any 

and all incoming questions from the warfighter. NGA photo by Marcella Taylor

ThinkStock image
Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

NGA’S AERO HELP DESK ADDS NEW SERVICE TIER

13

Sometimes requests come in from unusual 

quarters. Aeronautical intelligence analyst Lance 

Scharkey picked up an urgent phone call from 

an air traffic controller at the Kennedy Space 

Center on the morning of Aug. 3, coincidentally 

during pre-launch preparations for the Atlas V 

rocket destined to explore the planet Jupiter. The 

air traffic controller needed to verify the validity 

of the Center’s Flight Information Publications. 

Scharkey verbally walked the controller through 

the help desk’s product supports. The help desk’s 

handling of this call ensured that the Space Center 

controllers had online, on-demand access to the 

most up-to-date procedural information. 

Aero Help Desk veterans and aeronautical 

intelligence analysts Larry Woods and Scharkey 

estimate that 70 percent of customer interactions 

provide quality feedback on safety and 

navigation. Ed Balling attributes the demand for 

Aero Help Desk support to its ability to provide 

answers as a one-stop shop with guaranteed 

follow-up. 

“Our customers really appreciate the rapid 

response,” adds Steve Buske, an aeronautical 

intelligence analyst. The Aero Help Desk response 

to customer requests for aeronautical information 

may be within minutes of initial customer contact. 

Looking forward, Woods and Scharkey plan 

to develop FAQs and other aids to move more 

aviation customers from assisted service to online 

self-help. As a starting point, self-service products 

will include online tutorials, aviation terms, 

definitions and specifications and a full index 

of NGA’s flight information product line with 

detailed explanations and ordering information 

and support.

The Aero Help Desk operates from 4 a.m. to 8:30 

p.m. CST, Monday to Friday, including holidays, at 

the worldwide accessible number 1-877-817-9134.

The Aero Help Desk produced this image of the Sendai Airport in the days following the Japan earthquake to support U.S. Pacific Command’s 

disaster recovery and reconstitution mission. PACOM relied on these images to guide pilots safely in and out of the disaster recovery zone.

“Each morning, we put together a report on airfields 

that pilots depended on to move people and material.” 

—Ed Balling, former air traffic controller and current 

aeronautical intelligence analyst with NGA’s Source 

Operations and Management Directorate.
Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

MARITIME SAFETY OFFICE

14

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s 

(NGA) Maritime Safety Office has a rich maritime 

heritage that traces its creation to the U.S. Depot 

of Charts and Instruments 181 years ago. From 

hardcopy to Digital Nautical Charts (DNC®), much 

has evolved since then. Today the office is moving 

to the next level—online and on-demand access. 

Smartphones already enable users to locate 

points of interest such as theaters, restaurants or 

shopping facilities in their defined geographic 

area. This same technology will help enable the 

transition to “smart” Sailing Directions. Containing 

detailed descriptions of landmarks, coastlines, 

weather patterns and hazards to mariners, Sailing 

Directions preceded the modern nautical chart, 

which is dependent upon an accurate coordinate 

system to determine location. 

The basic content of Sailing 

Directions has remained 

remarkably unchanged 

through the years, 

although photographs 

have replaced sketches 

of lighthouses and 

shoreline cliffs, and 

communication 

methods now include 

port websites and fax 

numbers. 

The book format has also remained relatively 

unchanged. 

The Maritime Safety Office is supplementing the 

current text of Sailing Directions with geospatial 

data depicting such items as warning, firing, 

reporting and sensitive sea areas. The office is 

also improving the World Port Index, providing 

information in plain English and cross-referenced 

with the Enroute Guides and DNCs®. Instead of 

reading through volumes of text to find potentially 

hazardous areas, navigators will have the option of 

seeing this information overlaid on charts, making 

it easier to correlate information using current and 

future mobile and Web technology. Current formats 

require users to know the specific product they 

need before they can query it for a specific port, 

navigate through multiple drop-down boxes and 

select from a list of over 40 publication titles. 

Downloading large publications with limited 

bandwidth, such as on ships, is not efficient or 

acceptable. NGA is converting 

Sailing Directions from 

a PDF document 

created 

Maritime Safety Office Provides Information 

Online, On-Demand

By Brandie Schieb, Branch Chief, NGA Maritime’s Publications Branch and Jason E., GEOINT Analyst, Maritime Safety Office

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Strom and the Maritime Safety 

Office’s Steven Offenback collaborate on a HyperText Markup 

Language prototype of Navy Fleet Guides; ongoing collaboration 

with consumers of maritime safety information is key to the 

NGA photos by Rob Cox

creation of products and services which will best meet their needs. 
MARITIME SAFETY OFFICE

15

using publishing software to a database that can 

serve up data both as an HTML website and as 

a print on demand PDF document. NGA can 

update publication information within days 

of receiving new source data, rather than the 

months it took through the hardcopy patch and 

new edition process. Web pages will contain 

active links to databases of photographs and 

video clips which meet specific navigation criteria 

and relevance to the ship. This same technology 

will also provide a two-way interactive 

process, allowing the user to forward relevant 

photographs and perhaps video of ports of entry 

that he or she can share with other users and store 

in an NGA defined database.

Smart Sailing Directions could eventually 

provide the platform for a user to navigate 

and easily find all Maritime Safety Office 

products worldwide as well as other products 

and information, such as National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration Coast Pilots and 

Charts, U.S. Coast Guard Light list publications 

and foreign publications. 

“The key to publications transformation is 

the transition from maintaining and updating 

publications data in proprietary publishing 

software to an XML database which can be 

exported to multiple outputs on demand,” 

said Peter Doherty, deputy director of the 

NGA Maritime Safety Office. “The goal is to 

make publications data more discoverable and 

accessible by the user in a format optimized for 

Web viewing as well as improve the speed at 

which updated information is made available.” 

App Development

“There’s an app for that” is a common refrain 

in the technology world. The Maritime Safety 

Office is following this model through the 

creation of applications to meet end users’ needs. 

The office showcased one of these apps, aimed 

at making piracy attack messages available on 

mobile devices, at the 2011 GEOINT Symposium. 

Imagine a ship’s master looking at a tablet 

computer while sailing the Gulf of Aden to find, 

and add, new pirate attack information. Further, 

the ship’s master can display the most current 

digital chart and reference the latest sailing 

direction information. All of this contributes to 

a more complete safety of navigation picture for 

the mariner. Additionally, mariners will soon be 

able to use the Maritime Safety Office’s nautical 

calculators, previously available only from 

NGA’s Maritime Safety Information webpage 

and publications CDs. Using one of many mobile 

platforms, a mariner will be able to calculate 

great circle routes, convert measurements and 

measure various distances, all on a mobile device 

or from a webpage widget.

The Maritime Safety Office is evolving to meet 

the needs of end users, including the mariner. 

As an active supporter and participant in NGA’s 

strategic initiatives, the office is continuing the 

long tradition of providing timely and relevant 

maritime domain awareness by using current and 

emerging technologies to aid in the discovery 

of and access to this information. In the end, 

mariners will be able to search, find and use the 

wealth of NGA’s maritime information and data 

more easily using the latest technology.

Depicted are a sample of the legacy hardcopy publications which NGA now provides online and on-demand as part of the Maritime Publications 

Transformation Initiative.

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012
SHARED EXPERIENCES BENEFIT NAVY

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

16

“As the NGA (National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency) support team liaison officer to Military 

Sealift Command (MSC), I was able to gain a 

better understanding of the command I support,” 

said Peter Strzyzewski of his ShipRide on the 

USNS Guadalupe last summer. “Having three 

NGAers aboard the Guadalupe proved to be 

beneficial to both the captain and his crew as well 

as to us. The captain was very interested in what 

we do for NGA and how we can assist him and 

his crew better.

“I appreciated seeing one of the MSC’s ships in 

use,” added Strzyzewski, “albeit one of MSC’s 

many missions and many ships. I found this 

experience to be particularly rewarding. The 

captain took a sincere interest in our business of 

geospatial production and products and aiding 

his navigational needs.”

Along with NGA Maritime cartographers Matt 

Cronin and Justin Fristoe, Strzyzewski assisted 

the Guadalupe with using NGA’s Digital 

Nautical Chart services and its Enterprise PrintOn-Demand capabilities, which allow the ship to 

print NGA products at sea.

The USNS Guadalupe is part of the Combat 

Logistics Force (CLF), MSC Pacific. The ship 

refuels other naval ships at sea and serves as a 

Navy logistics asset. The ability to receive 

fuel and supplies at sea enables warships 

to remain on station and accomplish 

their missions for longer periods of 

time than if they had to pull into port 

to refuel and resupply. USNS Guadalupe has a 

180,000-barrel fuel oil capacity, including aviation 

fuel, and refueled three naval ships during the 

July ShipRide, two simultaneously.

While under way in the Southern California 

operations area and conducting logistics 

services, the Guadalupe replenished the frigate 

HMCS Vancouver of the Canadian Forces 

Maritime Command with ship and aviation 

fuel. HMCS Vancouver was en route to support 

Operation Mobile, the Canadian contribution to 

Operation Unified Protector, the NATO mission 

supporting Libya.

The replenishing process began as the HMCS 

Vancouver pulled up alongside the Guadalupe’s 

port (left) side. Once both ships maintained a 

constant speed, the Guadalupe fired a line over 

to the Vancouver. The crew then attached the line 

to both ships, which then guided the fuel line. 

Through a series of pulleys, the crew transferred 

the fuel line from the Guadalupe to the Vancouver. 

Once secure, the refueling began. This process, 

from beginning to end, took about an hour and 

occurred approximately 15 miles off the coast of 

southern California in international waters.

Later in the week, while out at sea about 350 miles, 

the Guadalupe replenished Navy destroyers 

USS Gridley and USS Stockdale 

simultaneously. Like the HMCS 

Vancouver, the Gridley 

Shared Experiences Benefit Navy, NGA ShipRiders

By Peter Strzyzewski, USTRANSCOM NST Liaison Officer to Military Sealift Command

The Military Sealift Command fleet replenishment oiler USNS Guadalupe and the guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey conduct a 

replenishment at sea. 

U.S. Navy photo
Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

SHARED EXPERIENCES BENEFIT NAVY

17

approached alongside the Guadalupe’s portside. 

After the refueling began, the USS Stockdale 

approached alongside the Guadalupe’s starboard 

side. Refueling the Stockdale started before the 

Gridley completed. 

“It was impressive to watch as these two 

destroyers were refueled simultaneously in the 

relatively rough seas of the Pacific Ocean,” said 

Strzyzewski. “Both the USS Gridley and USS 

Stockdale were en route eastward from Pearl 

Harbor, Hawaii, to California.”

While closer to the coastline, NGA’s ShipRiders 

also witnessed Navy SEALs from the San Diego 

Naval Base practice an assault on the Guadalupe 

called a visit, board, search and seizure. They 

also participated in the Guadalupe’s muster, fire 

and evacuation drills during the week at sea, said 

Strzyzewski. “During the fire and evacuation 

drill, we donned life preservers and boarded our 

assigned lifeboats.” The crew sprayed a sulfurinfused liquid into the ocean to extinguish the 

simulated blaze.

“The MSC ShipRide experience enhances the 

NGA-mission partner relationship and is a great 

professional development opportunity,” said 

Strzyzewski. MSC offers a number of ShipRide 

opportunities throughout the year, ranging from 

an overnight trip to a five-day, four-night voyage 

aboard an MSC ship. The East-coast voyages 

generally depart from Norfolk, Va., and Westcoast voyages generally depart from San Diego, 

Calif. These events are more frequent during the 

summer (warmer) months, as ship schedules 

will support. 

USS Abraham Lincoln, right, USNS Guadalupe and USS Cape St. George conduct a replenishment at sea.

NGA ShipRider Justin Fristoe, center, observes crewmembers 

conducting bridge operations.

MSC operates approximately 110 noncombatant, 

civilian-crewed vessels daily around the globe, 

replenishing U.S. Navy combatant ships, 

conducting special missions, strategically 

prepositioning combat cargo at sea and 

transporting military equipment and supplies in 

support of U.S. forces. MSC provides services to 

the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force as 

well as U.S. Transportation Command, Missile 

Defense Agency and other government agencies.

MSC ShipRide opportunities are open to 

NGA employees who want to gain a better 

understanding of an NGA mission partner, 

as well as familiarize themselves with NGA’s 

hydrographic products and safety of navigation 

at sea mission. 

NGA photo by Matt Cronin

U.S. Navy photo
Treaty. Article 76 defines the extended continental 

shelf in multiple ways; the bathymetric definition 

is 60 nautical miles seaward from the foot of the 

slope. Scientists predict nearly a quarter of the 

world’s undiscovered oil and gas may lie beneath 

the seabed of the Arctic, making this a hotly 

contested area. The current mission is an ongoing 

effort which began in 2003. 

The vessel departed Barrow, Alaska, and teamed 

with the Canadian coast guard vessel Louis S. St. 

Laurent for joint operations. This teaming allowed 

alternating ice breaking duty and data collection 

between the ships, giving one ship at a time the 

ability to focus solely on data collection. On Sept. 

1, just 93 miles from the North Pole, the two ships 

reached their most northern point at 88 degrees 

27.4 minutes north latitude and 159 degrees 15.4 

minutes east longitude. The Healy charted a total 

of 9,187 kilometers (5,708 miles) by the end of the 

voyage. The trip ended when the cutter transited 

through the Bering Straits, into the Bering Sea and 

docked in Dutch Harbor, Alaska.

This was the second time the Maritime Safety 

Office sent a ShipRider as a guest of the U.S. 

Coast Guard; the first participant sailed in 2010. 

Resio participated as an integral part of the 

science team, standing a daily eight-hour watch 

in the science spaces. In addition to allowing 

hands-on data collection, the program also 

provided a great opportunity to coordinate with 

NGA mission partners. 

“The ShipRider program provides our analysts 

an opportunity to see firsthand how data is 

collected for use in our Digital Nautical Charts,” 

said Howard Cohen, Maritime Safety Office 

ShipRider program manager. “It combines serving 

as a maritime domain representative, gaining 

experience in workrole development, observing 

bridge operations and collaborating with a 

mission partner. The mission partner benefits 

directly also as our ShipRiders act as ambassadors 

for us to provide direct information for a better 

understanding of who we are, what we do and 

what we offer.” 

At the conclusion of this voyage, both the 

science team lead and the Healy captain 

expressed their appreciation and interest in 

continuing this partnership.

SHIPRIDER CHARTS ARCTIC SEAFLOOR

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

18

ShipRider Charts Arctic Seafloor

By Jennifer Resio, Bathymetrist, Maritime Safety Office

The U.S. Navy has predicted an increasing 

tempo of operations in the Arctic Ocean over the 

coming decade, as the ice conditions permit more 

frequent and longer voyages. A bathymetrist from 

the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s 

(NGA) Maritime Safety Office embarked Aug. 

15 as a ShipRider aboard the U.S. Coast Guard 

Cutter Healy for a 44-day voyage to chart the 

Arctic seafloor. 

The author, Jennifer Resio, participated as 

part of a 30-person science team comprised of 

people from multiple academic and government 

agencies. The University of New Hampshire’s 

Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping (UNH 

CCOM) provided the lead scientists. 

“We were really pleased to have a maritime 

specialist from the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency (NGA) on our Arctic 

mapping cruise this year,” said Andrew A. 

Armstrong, co-chief scientist at UNH CCOM 

and a retired captain with the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration. “NGA is an 

important partner in the United States Extended 

Continental Shelf program and a key customer 

for our bathymetric mapping data. It is very 

helpful for us to establish direct working 

relationships with the scientific personnel from 

NGA who use our data.” 

The mission for this voyage 

was to collect multibeam 

sonar and seismic data to 

support the Extended 

Continental Shelf 

sovereign rights 

as defined by 

Article 76 

of the U.N. 

Convention 

on the Law 

of the Sea 

The Coast Guard Cutter Healy is the United States’ newest and most 

technologically advanced polar icebreaker.

U.S. Coast Guard photo
OPERATION DEEP FREEZE

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

Two aeronautical analysts with the National 

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) 

Foundation Geospatial Intelligence Group 

helped produce and validate 56 instrumentapproach procedures at 12 airports Oct. 14-24, 

allowing the U.S. military to safely resupply 

personnel and equipment in the region 

supporting the U.S. Antarctic Program.

Alison Devereux-Naumann and Amanda 

Yeager worked with Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA) and terminal en route 

procedure specialists at McMurdo Station, 

Antarctica, in support of Operation Deep 

Freeze (ODF), resulting in an early completion 

for the 2011 FAA flight inspection.

ODF is a joint service, on-going Defense 

Support to Civilian Authorities activity 

supporting the National Science 

Foundation (NSF), the lead 

agency for the U.S. 

Aeronautical Analysts Support

Antarctic Program, said Lt. Col. Edward 

Vaughan on the Armed with Science website. 

Joint Task Force–Support Forces Antarctica (JTFSFA) carries out the mission and coordinates 

with inter-agency and international partners to 

provide air and maritime cargo and passenger 

transport throughout the Antarctic Joint 

Operations Area. 

JTF-SFA forces consist of active duty, Guard 

and Reserve personnel from the U.S. Air 

Force, Navy, Army and Coast Guard as well as 

Department of Defense civilians and attached 

non-DOD civilians. ODF operates from two 

primary locations situated at Christchurch, 

New Zealand and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. 

Under the NSF’s lead, ODF works closely with 

other national Antarctic programs, to include 

those of New Zealand, Australia and Italy.

Operation Deep Freeze

Personnel and supplies arrive on a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster 

at the ice runway near McMurdo Station, Antarctica.

NGA photo by Amanda Yeager

19
NEWS HEADLINE

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

INNOVISION DEVELOPS 3-D THERMAL SITE MODELS

When National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency 

(NGA) director Letitia A. Long announced that 

she wanted to “fundamentally change the user’s 

experience by putting the power of GEOINT in 

the hands of the user,” the NGA senior scientist 

for photogrammetry went to work. 

Todd Johanesen, a recipient of funding through 

the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) 

Tech Fellow program in 2010, developed a 

concept to build and evaluate new methods of 

fusing thermal infrared (IR) imagery—imagery 

that shows the heat objects emit—with other 

geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) data sources to 

provide improved GEOINT data. He developed 

a 3-D site model that he could register thermal 

data to using traditional photogrammetry, 

transforming different datasets into one 

coordinate system. The 3-D Thermal Site Model 

(3-D TSM) is a highly accurate 3-D model of a 

given facility or scene that integrates spatial, 

engineering schematic or blueprint and relative 

temperature information into a single, precise 

InnoVision Develops 3-D Thermal Site Models

By Nathaniel Ovans, Project Scientist, InnoVision Directorate

GEOINT product. Photogrammetry is the science 

of obtaining information from images using 

measurements and interpretation.

The operational and intelligence uses for the 

3-D TSM are boundless. Accurately combining 

the different sources of information could help 

analysts perform infrastructure analysis for 

critical nodes, aid in planning and rehearsing 

missions, or even support personnel recovery, 

said Johanesen. 

“One example is the ability to rapidly and 

accurately pinpoint a sniper while pinned in 

the sniper’s line of fire,” said Johanesen. “In this 

scenario, troops employ a simple thermal imager, 

pinpoint the sniper’s thermal signature, register 

that to a reference light detection and ranging 

(LIDAR) point cloud and deliver an accurate 

description of the sniper’s 3-D geolocation.” 

LIDAR is one of the many different 

phenomenologies that NGA uses to create 3-D 

ground terrain maps. NGA’s Photogrammtery 

This figure depicts a 

registered thermal 

map overlay (colored 

area) with LIDAR 

point cloud.

20
INNOVISION DEVELOPS 3-D THERMAL SITE MODELS

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

and Image Science Division (IBP) led research 

into the acquisition, fusion and visualization 

of data to support 3-D TSM generation. The 

TSMs combine known information from a 

photogrammetric site model with thermal data 

captured from hand-held, airborne and/or 

spaceborne perspectives. The key is establishing 

metadata elements of all sources, to include the 

thermal imaging system, to integrate additional 

data points such as temperature. 

To investigate the potential, IBP acquired a highly 

accurate (photogrammetric) commercial-offthe-shelf hand-held long wave IR camera and 

developed a sensor model for it. This sensor 

model supports current research on fusion of 

thermal data from this camera with LIDAR 

point cloud data. Scientists manually register 

datasets today, but IBP is researching automated 

methods of registering the datasets to support 

a more timely and automatic capability. This 

combination yields thermal data with predictive 

estimates of the data’s absolute accuracy relative 

to actual position on the Earth and facilitates 

more accurate fusion with other data sources.

IBP scientists tested the data in the field, using 

an IR camera, an optical camera and a terrestrial 

(land) LIDAR system to image buildings of 

different materials and shapes along with 

scenery. “The camera was easy to use compared 

to other similar sensors and is portable, it has 

UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) application, 

and the application of using the camera in an 

unattended mode looked promising,” said Robert 

Lund, former Southern Command NGA Support 

Team deputy director. 

Using the collected data, IBP was able to 

register a building’s LIDAR point cloud with 

its thermal profile creating a 3-D TSM. IBP 

was also able to characterize an efficient 

collection system for gathering thermal data 

and incorporating it into a 3-D TSM as well 

as create a prototype software tool for 3-D 

TSM creation and accuracy assessment. The 

prototype allowed IBP to make an initial 

assessment on the value of 3-D TSMs, which 

became apparent when the model highlighted 

and georeferenced unseen building attributes.

IBP continues to explore the potential use of 

IR applications and the desirable attributes 

of the 3-D TSMs used for reference data. 

The current focus is to broaden community 

awareness, increase collaboration and conduct 

additional research. A key goal is to calibrate 

current operational IR sensors and develop 

sensor models so that scientists might use 

operational IR data to generate 3-D Thermal 

Point Clouds to support time-phased analysis 

like change detection. Additionally the team will 

continue to explore the structure and content of 

photogrammetry-based 3-D TSMs to increase the 

value of the GEOINT reference products used to 

fuel thermal fusion. 

21

This figure depicts a point on a thermal image (left) with its correspondence point and its accuracy noted on the 3-D TSM (right This figure depicts a point on a thermal image (left) with its correspondence point and its accuracy noted on the 3-D TSM (right). ). 
GEOSPATIAL SUPPORT IN VIETNAM

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s and do not 

necessarily reflect the views of the National Geospatial-Intelligence 

Agency (NGA) or the U.S. Department of Defense. 

The French, who were ousted from their French 

Indochina colonies (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos) 

by the Japanese early in World War II, met with 

resistance when they tried to reclaim them 

after that war. By 1954 the French forces found 

themselves encircled by Ho Chi Minh’s army at 

Dien Bien Phu, a remote valley of northwestern 

Vietnam. The Vietnamese managed not only to 

surround the French without their knowledge 

but also to bring up artillery through the jungles 

and onto the heights overlooking the French 

encampment. This was the final turning point 

in their colonial war, and the French were soon 

forced to surrender. Meantime, U.S. military 

authorities decided to prepare a contingency plan, 

in the event that President Dwight D. Eisenhower 

chose to send in a relief force.

Following termination of the U.S. occupation 

of Japan, the U.S. Army Pacific had retained a 

G2 geographic analysis unit and Army Map 

Service (AMS), Far East (AMSFE) on the outskirts 

of Tokyo. AMSFE, in addition to its mapping 

and surveying roles had a terrain analysis unit. 

These units were tasked to rapidly produce 

analyses of routes that a relieving force could 

use, entering either through the Saigon or Hanoi 

area. Eisenhower decided against any 

intervention, but this was the first U.S. 

geospatial intelligence activity in 

Vietnam.

After the French 

departed in the 

mid-1950s, AMS 

Washington and 

AMSFE extended 

their mapping 

and geodesy 

program to include 

South Vietnam, 

Cambodia and 

Laos. Cooperative 

agreements were 

negotiated with the three 

countries that called for the 

United States to fly precision 

mapping photography, conduct geodetic and field 

classification (ground truth) surveys and produce 

bilingual maps at standard map scales. AMS 

contracted the mapping photography to a U.S. 

company, while AMSFE assumed responsibility 

for survey operations and overall coordination 

with the local mapping authorities. Relying 

mainly on Filipino surveying companies, trained 

years earlier during U.S. postwar mapping of 

the Philippines, survey parties were first sent 

into South Vietnam where they proceeded to 

survey the entire country under AMSFE on-site 

supervision. Concurrently, Americans provided 

training to the Vietnamese Service Geographique. 

AMS and AMSFE began production of 1:50,000 

scale maps in 1960. Large-scale mapping of North 

Vietnam, necessarily less accurate in the absence 

of field access, employed older aerial photos 

flown by the French. The mapping of South 

Vietnam was largely completed by the time that 

U.S. combat forces were introduced in March 

1965. For the first time Army mappers could 

provide accurate, ground-truthed large-scale 

topographic maps at the outset of a U.S. conflict.

Cambodia field operations, begun shortly after 

the Vietnam operations began, were completed 

well before the Khmer Rouge coup in 1975, so 

AMS/AMSFE could produce good quality maps 

over that country. However, the Laos operations, 

the last to commence, were soon disrupted by the 

political turmoil. When a coup unseated the Lao 

government in 1960, the U.S. embassy directed 

AMSFE and its contractors to evacuate. Lacking 

adequate survey data, the resultant topographic 

maps were not of comparable accuracy, but a 

vast improvement over the sketchy smaller-scale 

French maps they replaced.

As the Vietnam War got under way, the forces 

soon found that conventional line maps did 

not provide sufficient detail in the largely 

undeveloped and jungle-covered interior. 

AMS quickly responded by developing a new 

product, the pictomap, a photomap at 1:50,000 

scale produced with an edge-enhancing camera 

technique that facilitated map-reading and 

navigation. The 29th Engineer Topographic 

Battalion in Hawaii also produced 1:100,000 

scale line maps and AMS furnished reproduction 

material, the color-separated map and chart 

negative films from which they made press plates 

Geospatial Support in Vietnam

By Allen Anderson, National Geospatial-Intelligence Alumni Association

This aerial photo shows Bien Hoa Air Base in 1964.

NGA Historical Research Center image 22
GEOSPATIAL SUPPORT IN VIETNAM

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

for rapid updating and tailoring of maps by 

the in-country Army topographic unit. In the 

late 1960s, AMS and the Aeronautical Charting 

and Information Center (ACIC) responded to 

a need for more precise positioning of aerially 

sown sensors and other devices that would 

monitor and attack enemy movements into South 

Vietnam—the so-called McNamara Line. They 

developed a technique using photogrammetry to 

better calibrate LORAN D (a short-range, highaccuracy, low-power, tactical system designed 

for use as a bombing aid) over land areas. The 

technique enabled monitoring and periodic 

reseeding of the devices.

The Vietnam conflict also gave rise to new 

target positioning techniques developed by 

ACIC. The warfighters needed highly accurate 

latitude/longitude/elevation positions for targets, 

navigation and other purposes, often in jungle 

areas that were largely featureless on the maps. 

ACIC had the technology: precision optical 

measuring instruments and highly classified 

satellite imagery in a computer-intensive process. 

The problem was how could the warfighter 

describe the desired position and get rapid 

turnaround from St. Louis, since neither the 

imagery nor the technology could be deployed.

ACIC developed several innovative techniques. 

The first was to deploy minimally classified U2 

and SR-71 imagery, optical measuring devices 

and civilian technicians to operate and train 

military personnel. This was fairly 

successful. Another involved 

satellite transmission of 

annotated imagery 

from in theater to the 

United States, with transmission back of ACIC 

solutions. This was too slow to be useful. The 

real answer came with a rather simple technique. 

Deployable imagery with an arbitrary grid was 

sent out to the theater along with ACIC teams, 

and a duplicate set of the gridded imagery was 

maintained at ACIC. The user could determine 

the coordinates of the desired position and 

transmit them to St. Louis. ACIC exploited 

satellite imagery, precision optical equipment 

and computer power to rapidly send an accurate 

position back to the user. As a footnote, the large 

computers of the time had about one-tenth of the 

power of today’s personal computer.

The geospatial support was massive and utilized 

both the conventional technology of the time and 

rapid target-positioning innovations that were 

further developed and deployed in later years to 

support U.S. forces.

NOTE: Allen Anderson served in various capacities with the 

Defense Mapping Agency and its predecessor organizations. His 

final position was deputy director for programs, production and 

operations. This article is based upon his and others’ personal 

experiences in supporting the Vietnam War effort. He is a member of 

the National Geospatial-Intelligence Alumni Association. 

The Pathfinder makes space available for NGA alumni groups to 

provide content that may be of interest to the current NGA 

workforce. NGA does not endorse any particular alumni 

group or any other outside organization.

23

The graphic depicts Halong Bay.

ThinkStock image
REMEMBERING VIETNAM 6

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

On the 50th anniversary of the first direct 

American military involvement in Vietnam, 

the Department of Defense (DOD) has called 

upon our country to remember with respect and 

gratitude those who served in Southeast Asia. 

This concludes a series of six articles designed 

to illuminate the significant role played in 

Southeast Asia by people in the communities 

of practice that now comprise the National 

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).

In the spring of 1971, during the American 

involvement in the Vietnam War, President 

Richard M. Nixon signed a directive 

reorganizing the Intelligence Community 

and recasting its relationship to DOD. Very 

few people realized that at the same time, the 

president approved a consolidation of the 

mapping, charting and geodesy functions 

(MC&G) within DOD. 

As far back as the late 1960s the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) toyed with the 

idea of transferring these vital functions from the 

military services to a single, dedicated agency. 

As a driving force behind the possibility of 

consolidation, Wilkie Donaldson of OMB wanted 

to take a closer look at the idea and the added 

benefits it might provide. As one veteran of the 

time described Donaldson’s viewpoint, “He was 

thoroughly convinced that there was a waste 

of assets in MC&G. There was duplication, and 

the MC&G community of the three services was 

really not delivering what the services needed. 

He felt that, if the assets were brought together, 

it would be a far more efficient and effective 

organization.” Donaldson sought to enhance 

already excellent products and services by 

further concentrating resources. 

The deputy secretary of defense signed a 

memorandum on Dec. 27, 1968, that instructed 

the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) to 

examine the nature and variety of MC&G 

functions in DOD; the agency eventually decided 

to propose a consolidation plan for general 

consideration. One senior official at the Defense 

Intelligence Agency who worked with Wilkie 

Donaldson through the Bureau of the Budget 

and found himself constantly justifying his 

Remembering Vietnam 6:

The Defense Mapping Agency, 1972

By Dr. Gary E. Weir, Chief Historian, Office of Corporate Communications

own resource requirements now received an 

unexpected call. At DIA’s behest Dewey Pegler 

composed a team to conduct an independent 

study examining the proposed consolidation. 

Completed in 1971, the study strongly 

recommended unification, concluding “that 

significant benefits, particularly unanimity 

of purpose, would accrue to DOD if MC&G 

were consolidated into a single agency, and 

recommended that a separate MC&G agency be 

established.” The period of coordination with the 

services and agencies involved brought almost 

immediate and unanimous resistance to the 

recommendations, each entity desiring to control 

these precision products, always so essential to 

the mission at hand. With this nearly universal 

negative reception, the director of DIA, Army 

Lt. Gen. Donald Bennett, sent the report forward 

to the deputy secretary of defense without his 

support, according to DMA consultant Robert 

H. Kingsley in a 1979 history of DOD MC&G. 

Donaldson became Pegler’s only regular attentive 

audience and the two discussed in detail the 

report’s findings and recommendations, as well 

as possible consequences and economies.

Dewey Pegler

NGA Historical Research Center photo

24
REMEMBERING VIETNAM 6

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

Both sides of the debate drew many of their 

talking points from experiences in Vietnam. 

One veteran of these discussions recalled that 

Pegler’s report “presented both economic 

arguments for consolidation and presented 

case studies (from Vietnam) where the ground 

forces were not on the same reference system—

and there were cases where our airplanes hit 

our own troops because the geodetic positions 

were on different coordinates. There were 

cases that came forward very clearly that 

you needed to pull the MC&G activities of 

DOD together. When the Army, Navy and 

Air Force were all arguing for more money 

to carry out their mission and targeting, the 

belief was that, if you took the money that was 

being spent collectively and put it into one 

organization, you could get a lot more MC&G 

data by avoiding duplication. ... That was all 

part of the argument that led to DMA.” Thus 

the Vietnam experience strongly suggested 

consolidating the considerable talent of 

the MC&G community to enhance valued 

capability even further. 

Given the report’s reception and fully expecting 

his effort to land inconsequentially on the shelf, 

Pegler went off to a training class. During his first 

day of instruction he received a telephone call from 

Donaldson at about 11 a.m. informing him that text 

OMB prepared and placed into the presidential 

directive before signing had authorized the creation 

of a defense mapping agency. Pegler’s report would 

profoundly inform a new, dedicated federal agency 

for MC&G. 

The president’s action caught by surprise many who 

expected to retain the status quo. It also severed some 

relationships between individuals on opposite sides 

of the debate. However, the effective agency that 

emerged after 1972 from the implementation effort 

became a pillar of the defense establishment and one 

of NGA’s most important predecessor agencies.

Beginning in late March the NGA museum in 

St. Louis will host an exhibit commemorating 

NGA’s roots and celebrating the 40th anniversary 

of the Defense Mapping Agency’s creation. NGA 

shall explore its roots, its legacy to NGA and its 

significance both to the national defense and the 

Intelligence Community. 

NGA Historical Research Center image

25
NGA IN THE NEWS

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

Partners in Education Host Annual Student Party

By Sam Wilson, Office of Corporate Communications

Volunteers from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) 

Partners in Education program held their annual party Dec. 21 for 

students at Hodgen Elementary School in St. Louis, where NGA West 

employees have been volunteering for more than 20 years.

Twenty-three third-grade students made personalized ornaments, 

with the assistance of NGA volunteers, and enjoyed food, drinks and 

presents donated by NGA employees.

The students are enrolled in Hodgen’s Excellent Academic Reading 

Tutors (HEARTs) program, a community volunteer tutoring initiative. 

NGA has nine volunteers who tutor at the school.

“I really enjoy being part of the program,” said Steve Maneikis, an 

NGA HEARTs volunteer who helped at the party. “It’s always fun 

working with the kids.

Partners in Education encourages NGA employees 

to volunteer with 

local schools in 

the community. 

Volunteers meet 

with their student 

for one hour every 

other week to help 

them develop 

their reading and 

comprehension 

skills.

Employees Focus on Value of Mentoring

By Kathi Ghannam, Contractor, Office of Corporate Communications

More than 100 employees learned about the National GeospatialIntelligence Agency’s mentoring programs at the Human 

Development Career Development mentoring fairs at NGA Campuses 

East (Springfield, Va.) and West (St. Louis) Jan. 12, held in conjunction 

with National Mentoring Month.

“Of all the relationships possible during one’s lifetime, mentoring 

relationships are some of the most informative and have the capacity 

to change careers and even lives,” said Judy Wolf, Mentoring Program 

manager, who helped coordinate the events.

Informal mentoring has long played a large role at NGA and its 

predecessor organizations as a means of career development, but its 

formal programs have not been well known, said Wolf. Events like 

these are invaluable, energizing networking opportunities where 

people from every key component can come together and make 

connections, making it easier to participate in and make effective use 

of the program.

Participating protégés had the opportunity to engage experienced 

mentors and gain perspective about the value of the mentoring 

experience, while mentors had the opportunity to learn more about 

what the workforce wants from a mentoring relationship, said Wolf.

The voluntary program is open to all government civilians and 

military members, said Wolf. It is designed to be a flexible, convenient 

way to facilitate career and professional growth of the workforce 

while supporting the mission of the agency.

Third-grade students show their ornaments during 

the HEARTs holiday party.

NGA photo by Julia Collins

NGA IN THE NEWS

NGA Employees Host 

Science Demonstration for 

Springfield Area Students

Story and Photo by Laura L. Lundin, Office of 

Corporate Communications

Researchers with the National 

Geospatial-Intelligence Agency’s 

(NGA) InnoVision Directorate spoke 

to more than 200 West Springfield 

High School (WSHS), Springfield, Va., 

students about Light Detection and 

Ranging, or LIDAR, during a science 

and technology presentation Dec. 

19 as part of the agency’s Partners in 

Education (PIE) program. 

The presentation, which was the 

first event under NGA’s new PIE 

partnership with WSHS, highlighted 

the basic scientific principles of 

LIDAR while showing its realworld applications in areas such as 

geospatial intelligence, or GEOINT, 

environmental management, mapping, 

geology and even archaeology. 

“[The students] were amazed and 

surprised, as many of them never even 

knew this type of technology existed,” 

said Benjamin Matthews, WSHS 

Advanced Placement Environmental 

Science teacher. “And many students 

thought it was interesting to see how 

LIDAR supports both military and 

environmental programs.”

LIDAR, a technology that uses light 

to measure and create 3-D images of 

objects, their locations or even speeds, 

is frequently used by NGA to provide 

detailed geospatial information about 

what is happening around the world. 

U.S. Air Force Capt. Michael “Andy” Lundin, with NGA’s 

InnoVision Directorate, speaks with students at West 

Springfield High School, Springfield, Va., about Light 

Detection and Ranging, or LIDAR, during a science and 

technology presentation Dec. 19.

26
KNOW THE EARTH

Pathfinder ›› March/April 2012

HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGING (HSI)

No two 

materials are 

identical. Materials, 

much like fingerprints, have their 

own unique characteristics. One 

important and unique characteristic is the way in 

which a material interacts with different types of 

electromagnetic energy, such as light and heat. 

Measuring this interaction yields information that 

analysts can use to identify the material. 

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology 

provides a way to measure the interaction 

between a material and hundreds of different 

types of electromagnetic energy. NGA graphically 

represents these measurements as a unique 

spectral signature or fingerprint. Analysts 

use these signatures to detect and identify 

materials. HSI is a powerful tool that can aid in 

distinguishing between materials that may look 

the same to the human eye, but have different 

spectral attributes that cause them to interact 

differently with energy. Whether conducting 

mineral identifications, monitoring crop health 

or identifying unknown surface materials, HSI 

technology is an innovative way NGA uses the 

power of geospatial intelligence to find solutions 

to intelligence problems.

What is ...

H

S

I

Image courtesy NASA Jet Propulsion 

Laboratory Airborne Visible/Infrared 

Imaging Spectrometer, a visible 

near infrared/short-wave infrared 

hyperspectral sensor.

27

HYPERSPECTRAL

IMAGING

HYPERSPECTRAL

IMAGING
www.nga.mil

March is Women’s 

History Month

March is Women’s 

History Month