USE OF GEOSPATIAL TECHNOLOGIES IN DEFENCE AND RELATED INTELLIGENCE.pdf
Creators: name: ngeno, kipkirui
Publisher: name: figshare
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Space Science
subject: 20199 Astronomical and Space Sciences not elsewhere classified
subject: FOS: Physical sciences

description: Acts of terrorism and violent extremism are common tragedies in all nations across the world. Every nation thus is always in pursuit of strengthen their military capability by formulating various counter terrorism strategies. Although our country may boast of being the most democratic, stable and effective gorvernment compared to other countries in East Africa, it has, over the last decade, experienced the most terrorist attacks which have challenged both the intelligence and the security related services (Kariuki, 2019). This study is thus aimed at seeking how to strengthen the planning and the operations of our security forces using Geospatial Technologies (GTs), which have proven to be very effective in the developed countries. Geospatial technologies offer capabilities of monitoring, predicting and countering threats, while helping to strategize and support field operations, and thus the main objective of this study is to document the application areas of this technology in defence and related intelligence. This is with the understanding that location and time are the fundamental things to consider while conducting military operation. The ability to understand what happened, where it happened, how it happened and when it happened is very key. Understanding the nature of terrain is also a key component in military operations. This study involved extensive literature review so as to gather detailed information of how the Geospatial Techniques, such as remote sensing, aerial photogrammetry, Satelite imagery, and GIS have been deployed in military operations, as well as to know their potential in future operations. The study also involved using SRTM data and topographic maps in exploration of GIS tools for military, such as; distance and direction tools which allow determination of distances and bearings from one point to another as well as drawings such as circles, ellipses and range rings for target analysis; coordinate conversion tools which neccesitate easy and convenient conversion of coordinates from one coordinate system format to another; visibility tools that allow determination of linear line of sight (LLOS) and Radial Line of Sight (RLOS) for purpose of strategic mission planning; ii and finally military symbols editor which was explained briefly in this study. The tools above were further demonstrated on 3D Arcscene tool which gives 3D perpective of the actual terrain upon which the military personnel are to operate in. This tools helps the military to predict and establish the nature of insurgency they are likely to face and plan on how to navigate unhurt during the actual operations. While the study done guarantees some level of success, It is a good point to note, however, that this study is not exclusive, since there are other numerous facets of Geospatial Technologies that have not been dealt with in detail, such as crime hotspot mapping, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) mapping, Community of Interest (CoI), Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) and Web GIS, GPS and Precision Guided Munitions (PGM) among others. Whereas further study in the subject is highly recommended, various challenges presents themselves such as constantly changing individual dwelling levels, issues to do with data security lest the enemy breaks into the system and use it for their own advantage and finally substantiating the reasons why a strategy such as this should be instituted when it is such a small percentage of the world’s population that is causing breaches in security (Michael, Katina &amp; Masters, Amelia, 2006).