Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) information plays a key role in the planning for, and conduct of all military operation. ISR information can be collected from a number of sources such as surveillance aircraft, satellites, human intelligence collectors etc. Once ISR information is collected it is the responsibility of the 'ISR processing system' to collate the information, conduct analysis and processing on the information items in a way that adds value to the information and finally, to move the information items to ISR end-users who are able to make use of the information. Initially, this thesis provides a detailed examination of the information 'need', of ISR end-users, that is fulfilled by an ISR processing system and proposes a technique for examining the way in which that need changes across the broad spectrum of military operations. The environment in which an ISR processing system resides is also examined and a set of attributes are proposed for describing those aspects of the environment which potentially affect the operation of a processing system. In recent times, two distinctly different approaches to the conduct of ISR processing have gained significant attention: Task, Process, Exploit, Disseminate (TPED) and Task, Post Process, Use (TPPU). However, in practice, hybrid ISR processing systems may be built which exhibit some characteristics of both of these approaches. The comparative strengths and weaknesses of these approaches are examined and a framework is proposed for matching the information needs of end-users and the system's operating environment to the most suitable configuration of a hybrid processing system. / Thesis (MEng(SystemsEng))--University of South Australia, 2006.

Report (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. M.S. 1993. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaf 95). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Defense Decision Making and Planning))--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2009. / Thesis Advisor(s): Dahl, Erik. Second Reader: Roberts, Nancy. "December 2009." Description based on title screen as viewed on January 28, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Persistent surveillance. Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-66). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S. in Information Systems and Operations)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Alex Bordetsky, Randy J. Hess. Includes bibliographical references (p. 101-105). Also available online.

Thesis (M. S.)--Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009. / Committee Chair: Dr. George Vachtsevanos; Committee Member: Ayanna Howard; Committee Member: Dr. Thomas Michaels; Committee Member: Eric Johnson; Committee Member: Linda Wills.

The Department of Defense (DoD) has recently undergone radical changes as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union. As the United States continues to downsize its conventional armed forces, new threats, both inside and outside its borders, are emerging. These new challenges include narco-traffickers, rising crime rates, and a massive immigration of illegal aliens that threaten to overwhelm our already strained social programs. This scenario is complicated by limited government resources that can no longer afford the luxury of expensive military equipment which takes an average of seven to ten years to design, manufacture, and field. Government agencies desperately need low-cost, off-the-shelf hardware that can reduce manpower requirements and be rapidly fielded to meet these emerging threats. <p> In response to these new threats and declining budgets, a new system, TAClink, recently "came into being". TAClink is a single-man portable system that can receive, record, display, and play back imagery transmitted from a surveillance aircraft. <p> This report describes how the systems engineering process¹ was applied to the development of TAClink. Throughout the process, the author applied the most techniques he could to maintain a "top-down" systems engineering approach. However, the author was operating under severe constraints: no internal or external funding, only a two month period to produce a prototype, and poorly defined system requirements. Consequently, the approach deviated from a pure systems engineering process and became "bottoms-up." <p> TAClink was designed, prototyped, tested, and delivered to the US Army last year. The system was recently upgraded (TAClink II) using technological advances and feedback from operational users. The system is designed using commercial off-the-shelf components, resulting in a dramatic savings in size, weight, and cost over the existing Army ground station. TAClink is currently manufactured in Arlington, VA and has been operationally deployed with U.S. Forces in this nation's war on drugs. <p> The author and Mr. Gerald V. Bate worked side-by-side to develop TAClink for its rapid fielding. Their combined efforts are largely responsible for the creation and success of the system. / Master of Science

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / The thesis research examines the emergence of wireless technology as a pragmatic baseline supporting the goals of the Department of Defense developing towards Network Centric Forces. Increased international attention to the field of surveillance has developed parallel to the desire to interconnect all possible friendly forces in military operations and the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Ubiquitous surveillance is accomplished by prototyping a network node that is then integrated on board of a military type unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Although the commercial off the shelf network solution itself is broadly deployed, little is known so far how to operate and manage an airborne surveillance network node. The author shows that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for networking purposes is not only possible but also manageable, even with remote operation of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The documented experiments over three generations of prototypes give insight about possibilities of how network infrastructure independence for the purpose of surveillance can be reached. / Kapitänleutnant, Federal German Navy

MBA Professional Report / The goal of this MBA Project is to investigate possible disconnects between doctrine and practice in the employment of the Raven Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (SUAV). The Army's current Small UAV requirements are based upon the Future Combat System's Operations Requirements Document and has not been validated at the platoon or company level. The Raven SUAV is a Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) item that swiftly became the Army's Small UAV of choice for operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Doctrine and Techniques, Tactics, and Procedures (TTP) have been written for the Raven SUAV; however, it is not standard practice for all units operating the system abroad. The last review of the SUAV operational requirements was conducted in 2003 but did not specifically address its usage on the battlefield. In an attempt to fill that gap, this project focuses on real-world usage of the Raven SUAV system. We compare doctrine versus practice using the Department of Defense's (DOD) Doctrine, Organization, Training, Material, Leadership, Personnel, Facilities (DOTML-PF) model as the primary logic construct. The report begins by providing a background of the Raven SUAV, to include its evolution from a COTS item to the Army's SUAV of choice, and how it has impacted the warfighter. Next, the authors provide an overview of DOTML-PF in order to provide a basis for comparing doctrine and practice. The study then looks in-depth at doctrine and practice using DOTML-PF as the model for revealing differences between the two. Finally, the authors analyze these differences and recommend solutions to mitigate shortfalls in actual Raven SUAV usage on the battlefield.--p. i.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / This thesis research examines the emergence of surveillance and biometrics technologies as a sensible baseline for building a ubiquitous surveillance testbed for the Naval Postgraduate School. This thesis also defines what ubiquitous surveillance is, employs biometric applications and technical strategies to build a working testbed, and addresses developmental issues surrounding the hypothesis for a ubiquitous surveillance testbed. The authors conducted several evaluations of the testbed using different scenarios and recommend emerging biometric and surveillance technologies to promote the maturation of the testbed into a premier ubiquitous habitat. / Lieutenant, United States Navy / Lieutenant, United States Navy

Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense placed the technological development of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) tools at the top of its priority list. Area surveillance that takes place in an urban setting is an ISR tool of special interest. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are ideal candidates to perform area surveillance because they are inexpensive and they do not require a human pilot to be aboard. Multiple unmanned systems increase the rate of information flow from the target region and maintain up to date information. The purpose of the research described in this dissertation is to develop and test a system that coordinates multiple UAVs on a wide area coverage surveillance mission. The research presented in this document implements a waypoint generator for multiple aerial vehicles that is especially suited for large area surveillance. The system chooses initial locations for the vehicles and generates a set of balanced sub-trees which cover the region of interest (ROI) for the vehicles. The sub-trees are then optimally combined to form a single minimal tree that spans the entire region. The system transforms the tree path into a series of waypoints suitable for the aerial vehicles. The output of the system is a set of waypoints for each vehicle assigned to the coverage task. Results from computer simulation and flight testing are presented.