Award-Winning Geospatial Technology at 2008 GEOINT Symposium

The U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center will demonstrate its BuckEye system, Geo-referenced PDF project (GeoPDF), Joint Geospatial Enterprise Services (J-GES) program, and Engineering Field Planning, Reconnaissance, Surveying, and Sketching Set (ENFIRE) during the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation's 2008 GEOINT Symposium, October 28-30, at Booth 975.

BuckEye is a high-resolution digital imagery system that uses a 39-megapixel color camera and Light Detection and Ranging elevation data to produce unclassified 10-15 centimeter resolution imagery for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and change detection missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The system received Army Greatest Invention of the Year honors in 2006, as well as USGIF's 2006 Geospatial Intelligence Achievement Award for the system's valuable contributions to the geospatial capability of coalition forces during the Global War on Terrorism. It was also selected as one of C4ISR Journal's Big 25 Award finalists (sensor category) this year.

GeoPDF allows Soldiers to print easy-to-read maps "on demand" and to access detailed, up-to-date information on Adobe PDF-enabled computers. Standard NGA map sheets for 8 countries involved in the Global War on Terror have been converted into the GeoPDF file format and packaged on DVDs with a user-friendly index sheet.

J-GES was developed to partner with Dept. of Defense and federal agencies, private industries and academia to develop and influence geospatial standards, policies and procedures, promoting the use of geospatial technologies to allow data management, collection, exploitation, visualization and dissemination of geospatial information from any available national or tactical source. It provides a dynamic, customizable common operational picture and tactical decision aids to allow rapid analysis and situational awareness based upon the best available information across the network, especially from Soldiers on the ground. J-GES received the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.'s (ESRI) Special Achievement in GIS Award for demonstrating vision and leadership through the center's use of geographic information system (GIS) technology to better serve the warfighter and the nation.

ENFIRE, an Army Program of Record, is a tactical engineering tool set designed to modernize the collection and dissemination of engineering information. It enables the user to auto-populate bridge, road, hasty minefield, and other data on standard Army forms in a digital format using custom commercial and government off-the-shelf hardware and software, as well as computer-based geographic information systems linked to peripheral components. ENFIRE also allows engineer Soldiers conducting tactical reconnaissance under hazardous conditions to do so using a standardized format and at a safer distance.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's (ERDC) Topographic Engineering Center (TEC), located in Alexandria, Va., provides the warfighter with superior knowledge of the operational environment and supports the nation's civil and environmental initiatives through research, development, and the application of expertise in the topographic and related sciences. The ERDC is the premier research and development facility for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, consisting of six laboratories and one center at four geographical sites with more than 2,000 employees and an annual research program approaching $1 billion. It conducts research in both military andcivil works mission areas for the Department of Defense and the nation.

For more info, contact:

JAMAL B. BECK
Public Affairs Specialist
ERDC Topographic Engineering Ctr
7701 Telegraph Rd
Alexandria, VA 22315
Ofc: 703-428-3736
Mobile: 571-215-8181
FAX: 703-428-6257