Eagle Vision - Exploiting Commercial Satellite Imagery - military use of imagery processing systems

DISAM Journal, Summer, 2001 by James A. Hartmetz

General

Eagle Vision is a family of systems that includes Eagle Vision I, an operational system that collects and processes commercial (SPOT, Landsat, Radarsat, and IRS) and national imagery located at Ramstein AFB, Germany; National Eagle, an operational system that processes (no collection capability) national and commercial imagery at 152 IS, Reno (ANG), Nevada; and Eagle Vision II, a system developed by the National Reconnaissance Organization for the U.S. Army that collects and processes commercial (SPOT, Landsat, Radarsat, and Orbview) imagery. Eagle Vision I and II are composed of two elements, a data acquisition segment (DAS) which includes an antenna and a shelter that collects and processes imagery into a standard format, and a transit-cased data integration segment (DIS) that processes the standard format products into useful products for a combat commander's mission planning, rehearsal, and intelligence gathering. The acquisition segment for Eagle Vision I and II were developed by EADS Matra Systems and Information, Velizy, France and the Eagle Vision I DAS is sustained by Matra as well. The integration segments for both Eagle Vision I and II were developed and are sustained by Veridian International, Ann Arbor, Michigan, as is National Eagle, a shelter version of the delta integration segment.

Operational

The Eagle Vision family emerged from the Desert Storm combat commander's operational demand for digital imagery to support air and carrier based mission planning/rehearsal and intelligence gathering systems, as well as Army and Marine Corps topographic units. The requirements are documented in the Combat Air Forces Short Method to Acquire Ready or Replacement Technologies Operational Requirements Document CAF 304-96-IIIA for Commercial Imagery Exploitation Systems, 23 July 1998; the Joint Services Imagery Processing Systems Program Management Directive 2379(1)PE#0305154D, dated 10 April 1995; mission need statements AESPACECOM MNS (003-92) for Multi-spectral Imagery (MSI) (S/NE), 12 February 1992; and JROCM MNS 070-91, Remote Earth Sensing (5), 22 November 1991.

During Desert Storm, U.S. forces did not have the organic capability to receive and process broad area/multi-spectral imagery, but they relied on the purchase of commercial SPOT imagery.

This imagery required extensive processing at four different CONUS sites prior to shipment to the theater, a process that took four to six weeks. This delay did not meet the high tempo operational needs of Desert Storm. The operational requirement for "real time" mission critical imagery spawned the concept of Eagle Vision. Modifications have been made to the requirements based on emerging technologies (higher resolution/all weather satellites) and operational needs. Eagle Vision has been used extensively in the Balkans (Operation Allied Force) and deployed to Japan, Alaska, the United Kingdom, Italy and various CONUS sites to satisfy real world contingencies.

Acquisition History

In the past, Eagle Vision acquisitions and modifications have been procured under the foreign comparative test (FCT) program (DoD 5000.3-M-2). By using the FCT program, U.S. government commitments under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Republic of France were also fulfilled. An FCT candidate nomination proposal for the fabrication and demonstration of Eagle Vision I was submitted to OSD/DDR&E (T&E) on 15 May 1992. The proposal was based on a market survey conducted by ESC and USAFE that determined that the most cost effective candidate for the development of the Eagle Vision program was Matra. On 28 October 1992, the Office of Secretary of Defense selected and funded the Eagle Vision program under the FCT provisions. Subsequently, a sole source request for proposal was released to Matra for the demonstration and validation effort.

In 1995, the operational community identified a requirement for multi-spectral broad area imagery. To satisfy the requirement, a Landsat 5 capability was added to the system. Requirements for higher resolution imagery and an all-weather capability were identified in 1996. On 21 March 1996, a second foreign comparative test proposal was submitted to OSD/DDR&E, and was approved and funded. The purpose of this second candidate was to study higher resolution electro-optical and all weather synthetic aperture radar imagery collected by multiple foreign satellites (Canadian Radarsat, Indian Remote Sensing (IRS), and European Radar System (ERS). This study was combined with the Landsat 5 upgrade and was designated as the Renaissance View foreign comparative test. Again, Matra was the designated source. Under this effort, a Radarsat satellite capability was added to the system, but IRS and (ERS) were not due to funding constraints. Data from IRS and (ERS) were evaluated to fulfill a need for higher resolution imager y, and for day and night and all-weather large area synoptic and optical coverage. These platforms provided a low-cost gap-filler to existing surveillance satellites, and improved the timeliness of data delivery due to faster revisit rates and all-weather capabilities.