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A02-137 TITLE: Improved Processing of Geospatial Vector Data TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM, Combat Terrain Information Systems (CTIS) OBJECTIVE: Increase the speed of knowledge transfer and decision making abilities within the Objective Force to assist in achieving information dominance by reducing operational and tactical decision timelines through improved computational efficiency of geospatial vector data. Reduce the time required to perform 2-dimensional geospatial data vector operations by at least an order of magnitude; apply research results to 3-dimensional vector data sets now being developed. DESCRIPTION: The shorter command decision cycles under which the Objective Force will be operating imply the need for faster automated processing of spatially referenced data. This data is used extensively throughout the Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB) process; the data is also a major component of decision aids which support mission planning, mission rehearsal, and mission execution. Vector spatial data, containing both geographic coordinates and detailed descriptive information underlies many of these automated processes. The goal of this work is to conduct research and develop technologies for significantly reducing the time and computational resources needed to perform set operations (intersection, union, etc.) and to efficiently utilize topological relationships between natural and man-made features (nearness, adjacency, etc.). These capabilities are required to improve the utility of geospatial vector data within the Army's FCS/OF and its integration with other DOD elements. The Government seeks breakthrough technology that will result in order of magnitude faster, and more computationally efficient, methods for combining the location and attribute information associated with point, line, and area vector features. Typical applications include identifying suitable areas for a variety of military operations by variously combining specific information from multiple thematic "layers". Potential areas of investigation may include research and development in (but are not limited to) the following areas: data structures/formats, parallel processing technology, and computational algorithms. The risk associated with developing more improved data structures/formats is considered high. The literature contains many references to novel object oriented structures designed to improve interoperability and “openness”, but significantly fewer theoretical approaches to improving the speed of vector operations. Likewise, significant research is needed to develop significantly faster indexing/retrieval techniques and database schemas for multi-source vector data. This research will become particularly important as improved data sets, containing full 3-diimensional topology, are delivered. These data sets will be used to support “look inside” and “look under” visualization tools, and will also help to integrate descriptive information with “bare earth” elevation models. Non-federal markets for the results of this research include state and local agencies responsible for emergency operations. These agencies are already relying heavily upon geographic information systems, and will soon demand more efficient access to, and processing of, greater amounts of data. This research also supports other technologies intended to deliver a growing number of services to personal digital assistants (PDAs). As these services move from delivering pre-rendered graphics and text messages to “on-demand” tailored results, it will be necessary to greatly reduce access and processing times. Many vendors have developed tools for generalizing vector spatial data (to reduce file size or to improve the appearance (by reducing number of features specific information in the underlying vector-based data)); however, the times required for such processes do not support microwave transmission to personal hand-held devices. NOTE: The target computational platform is Windows NT. PHASE I: The contractor will accomplish the following research goals: a) develop techniques for reducing the time required to produce a typical TDA over an area comparable to the coverage of a 1:50,000-scale topographic line map; b) produce three specified TDAs over specified regions, in an agreed-upon computing environment (one which provides no hardware performance advantages); c) demonstrate reduced processing times by comparison with existing Government techniques. The contractor will provide the Government with a final report documenting the techniques and/or algorithms developed to achieve the improved performance, and deliver software to reproduce these results. The Government will provide sample data sets and examples of typical analysis algorithms. PHASE II: The contractor will develop/deliver an integrated software tool (with text- or GUI-based interface and reporting procedures) that is a callable service from either commercial database management systems or from commercial geographic information systems (depending upon the contractor's approach). The software must have the capability to import standard National Imagery and Mapping Agency Vector Product Format (VPF) (including VMAP 0 and 1, UVMAP, FFD, MSDS, and VITD), Shape, DXF, DLG and TIGER data, and to output results in Shape file format. The contractor will be required to demonstrate these capabilities. PHASE III: This SBIR would result in technology with broad application in military and civil communities for use by developers of services to information and knowledge based systems, as well as for land, resource, and emergency management (to include federal agencies, state and local governments, universities, and industry consortia). REFERENCES: 1) Shekhar, S, et. al., "Spatial Databases-Accomplishments and Research Needs", IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Eng., vol 11, no. 1, pp45-55, 1999. 2) N. Jing, et. al., "Hierarchical Encoded Path Views for Path Query Processing: An Optical Model and Its Performance Evaluation," IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Eng., vol. 10, no. 3, pp. 409-432, 1998. 3) Preparata, Franco P., et. al., "Computational Geometry: An Introduction" (Texts and Monographs in Computer Science). KEYWORDS: vector data; geospatial data processing; set operations; vector data formats; vector data structures A02-138 TITLE: Cognitive Battlespace Terrain and Intelligence Manager (CBTIM) TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Information Systems ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM, Combat Terrain Information Systems (CTIS) OBJECTIVE: Cognitive Battlespace Terrain and Intelligence Management (CBTIM) research seeks to improve geospatial knowledge of the battlespace held by individuals executing key roles in military operations. The effort will address the feasibility of monitoring battlefield situations that involve hundreds of military decision makers. The research seeks to improve the critical battle execution knowledge that the individual decision maker can extract from fresh geospatial data, information, imagery, and intelligence that become available during a mission’s execution (for example, see Bowden, 1999). The final product of the research will be CBTIM tools for use by the warfighter. There are no known capabilities that elicit geospatial knowledge of the battlefield situation to drive the distribution of current geospatial information and imagery. The CBTIM research objectives are: 1. Develop automated and semi-automated tools to elicit the geospatial understanding of the battlespace held by individual tactical military decision makers at all levels within the theater of operations. 2. Anticipate the individual military decision maker’s evolving geospatial knowledge and changing information requirements as military operations progress. 3. Optimize the distribution of geospatial information and imagery to individual decision makers.
PHASE I: The contractor establishes the feasibility of the approach for developing and integrating geospatial knowledge elicitation tools. The goal of this phase is to create a conceptual design for development of a geospatial knowledge elicitation toolset and a to develop a notional architecture that will enable the command to leverage the CBTIM capabilities throughout the course of military operations. PHASE II: The contractor develops the elicitation capability into a deployable prototype toolkit that functions within the notional architecture. The Phase II effort culminates in a proof of concept demonstration. PHASE III: Based on the needs of the military geospatial, intelligence, and operational communities, the contractor brings the prototype into situations that allow the government to evaluate its applicability in theater operations. The contractor tailors capabilities into standalone toolkits responsive to the needs of the gaining command. The contractor will support the transfer of designated successful results into other military and civil applications such as homeland defense, police, security, emergency operations, environmental hazards, and humanitarian missions. The contractor will seek to identify CBTIM elements suitable for commercial applications involving complex geospatial problems such as forest fire control, disaster relief, environmental protection, civil disturbances, and land management. REFERENCES: 1) Kitchin, R. and Freundschuh, S., ed., Cognitive Mapping: Past, Present, and Future, Routledge Press, 2000. 2) Leachtgenaure, J. and Driggers, R., Surveillance and Reconnaissance Imaging Systems: Modeling and Performance Prediction, Artech House, 2001. 3) Bloom, P., Peterson, M., et al., ed., Language and Space, MIT Press, 1999. 4) Bowden, M., Black Hawk Down: a Story of Modern War, Atlantic Monthly Press, 1999. 5) Davenport, T., and Prusak, L., Working Knowledge, Harvard Business School Press, 1998. KEYWORDS: Knowledge Elicitation, Cognitive Mapping, Systems Analysis, Knowledge Management, Spatial Reasoning, and Terrain Reasoning. A02-139 TITLE: Synthesis of Laser Altimeter Waveforms TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Battlespace ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PM, Combat Terrain Information Systems (CTIS) OBJECTIVE: To develop improved methodologies and techniques to identify, classify and analyze the laser altimeter waveform return pulses for use in detecting canopy covered military assets, and for pattern recognition combined with detailed definition of texture and roughness characteristics. DESCRIPTION: The airborne laser altimeter is an emerging technology for capturing data on physical surfaces. An increasing number of applications are taking advantage of the dense sampling, the high accuracy, and the direct 3-D surface points. Laser altimeter systems are suitable for rapid modeling since surface points can be easily computed from the measured range and from the position and attitude measurements. The accuracy of the laser altimeter sensor is governed by the characteristics of the laser system and terrain surface, as well as the waveform processing. To date only limited research has been preformed to describe the shape of the return waveform. Range accuracy is affected by several factors such as the width of the transmitted pulse, the precision of the receiver digitizer and the shape of the waveform. This research effort will focus on the need to develop a more sophisticated set of algorithms for the information embedded in the laser altimeter waveform. PHASE I: The contractor shall evaluate the various laser altimeter waveform component technologies that need to be combined to accurately identify, delineate, and discriminate the terrain surface roughness that governs the pulse broadening and the overall shape of the returned waveform. The various investigative research tasks that need to be performed include: 1. Establishing tools to effectively analyze the laser altimeter pulse transmission and beam interaction with the terrain surfaces. 2. Conduct a series of benchmark tests to develop processing filters and utilities to effectively compute the waveform measured as photons vs. time, its conversion to electronic signal expressed as volts vs. time, and finally the digitization of the waveform. 3. Determine the usefulness of the full waveform to characterize vertical forested structures. 4. Evaluate processing methods for measuring and estimating tree height, density, percent cover, and sub canopy. 5. Explore the use of numerical simulation to better understand the effect of the surface topography and structure on the shape of the waveform to further enable the analysis of the range accuracy.
PHASE II: Will accumulate the processing capabilities that are defined in Phase I into a prototype system. The prototype system will further develop and apply these emerging processing capabilities to support a broad range of military and civil engineering applications. The utilization and analysis of the laser altimeter waveform data will further enhance the ability to discriminate the return pulses to detect canopy covered military assets and pattern recognition combined with texture and roughness variables. The waveform detection and enhancement techniques will provide the necessary information to enable the rapid search and identification of deployed military assets concealed with in forested regions. PHASE III: This SBIR would result in a dual use technology with broad applications in addressing the environmental issues associated with measuring and understanding the spatial organization of forested regions. The development and utilization of imbedded information within the waveform could further provide forestry managers with a very detailed picture of the forest canopy for natural resource monitoring and ecological studies. The ability to better visualize forested regions in 3-D space would also provide a significant improvement in battlespace awareness as well as providing assessments over time for locating concealed military assets. REFERENCES: 1) J. Bryan Blair and Michelle Hofton, “Modeling laser altimeter return waveforms over complex vegetation using high resolution elevation data”, Geophysical Research Letters, 26, 2509-2512, 1999. KEYWORDS: Laser Altimeter, Waveform Processing A02-140 TITLE: Development of Innovative Materials for Adsorption of Lead, Cadmium and Mercury Vapors from Flue Gases TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Materials/Processes OBJECTIVE: Develop and evaluate low cost innovative materials to adsorb various species of lead, cadmium and mercury vapors from flue gases emanated from military deactivation furnaces. The adsorbent or a composite adsorbent system shall be useful in developing a cost effective sorbent injection system before an electrostatic precipitator or a bag house in the flue gas treatment train. DESCRIPTION: The Army operates and maintains incinerators for demilitarization that are subjected to the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) for Hazardous Waste Combustors (HWC) published by EPA in September 1999. The HWC NESHAP includes reductions in lead and mercury emissions among various other volatile and semi-volatile metals and toxic organic compounds (HAPs and VOCs). For existing incinerators and Chemical Demilitarization Furnaces (CDFs), the proposed lead and cadmium emissions are not to exceed 240-micrograms/dry standard cubic meter (mg/dscm) and for new incinerators the compliance standard is set at 24 mg/dscm. Similarly, the emission standard for mercury is set at 130 mg/dscm for the existing facilities while for new incinerators it is set at 45 mg/dscm. US EPA is considering promulgation of Hazardous Waste Combustors Maximum Achievable Control Technology (HWC MACT) standards (“Permanent Replacement Standards Rule”) by June 14, 2005. The air emission standards in this new rule are likely to be more stringent than the existing standards. The incinerators will then be operating under potentially non-compliant manner and are in need of cost effective alternative control technologies for lead, cadmium and mercury in vapor phase. The Army’s conventional ammunition demilitarization and chemical demilitarization incinerators must meet the proposed stringent standards when implemented. The proposed new lower limits are difficult to achieve without adding new control equipment or developing/modifying the existing treatment trains. The metals are often present in the form of vapors and aerosol particulate materials (Particulate Material, PM2.5) and are difficult to capture with the conventionally effective technologies such as electrostatic precipitators or bag filters. Currently, a limited developmental work is being carried out with activated carbons and modified carbons to capture mercury emissions from electric power utilities. However, sorption studies with cadmium, lead and other semi-volatile metals in their vapor phase are lacking. Injection of activated carbon or other sorbents upstream of a particulate control device is one of the most promising methods for controlling vapor phase emissions. Typically, these activated carbons are impregnated with various chemicals and injected into the flue gas. The modified activated carbon adsorbs these metals. The metals adsorbed carbon is then separated from the flue gas in the bag filter. However, the capacity of such adsorbents is relatively low at 500-2000mg Hg/g. In order to reduce the overall cost, Army demilitarization and power generation facilities are looking for better adsorbents for sorption of cadmium, lead and mercury from emissions. The sorbent system is expected to achieve lower emissions due to adsorption of the vapor phase components of the metals, reduce the overall cost of operating the electrostatic precipitators and extend the life of bag-houses. This solicitation, therefore, is focused to develop and evaluate innovative materials to adsorb lead, cadmium and mercury vapors from flue gases. PHASE I: Synthesize a new low cost adsorbent with high capacity of lead, cadmium and mercury. Evaluate the adsorbent in the laboratory with synthetic flue gas streams with lead, cadmium and mercury species. PHASE II: Demonstrate the use of the new high capacity adsorbent on a pilot scale with a side stream taken from an Army Deactivation Furnace. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: Demonstrate economic feasibility of using the adsorbent at an Army deactivation furnace. The adsorbent material developed here will have broad applications. The materials and technology developed can be used by commercial and industrial boilers, fossil fuel based power generation facilities, and medical waste, municipal waste, and other commercial incinerators. OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST (OSCR) REDUCTION: Proposed research avoids costly shutdowns due to non-compliance, estimated at $300,000 per day at a conventional demilitarization facility. REFERENCES: 1) Beauregard, D., EPA Work Assignment Manager, “ Locating and Estimating Air Emissions from Sources of Lead and Lead Compounds”, EPA Report EPA-454/R-98-006, May 1998. 2) Krishnan, S. V.; Gullett, B. K., Jozewicz, W., Environmental Progress, 1997, 16, Spring, 47-53. 3) Li, H. Y.; Serre, S. D., Lee, C. W.; Gullett, B. K., “ Elemental Mercury Adsorption by Activated Carbon Treated with Sulfuric Acid”, Presented at the 2001 EPA/DOE/EPRI Air Pollutant Control Symposium, The A&WMA Mega Symposium, Chicago, IL, August 20-23, 2001. 4) Meserole, F. B.; Richardson, F. F.; Machalek, T.; Richardson, M.; Chang, R., “ Predicted Costs of Mercury Control at Electric Utilities Using Sorbent Injection”, Presented at the 2001 EPA/DOE/EPRI Air Pollutant Control Symposium, The A&WMA Mega Symposium, Chicago, IL, August 20-23, 2001. 5) Rostam-Abadi, M.; Chen, S.; Lizzio, A. A.; His, H-C.; Lehmann, M. B.; Rood, M. J.; Chang, R.; Richardson, F. F.; Machalek, T.; Richardson, M., “Development of Low-Cost Sorbents for Mercury Removal from Utility Flue Gas”, Presented at the 2001 EPA/DOE/EPRI Air Pollutant Control Symposium, The Mega A&WMA Symposium, Chicago, IL, August 20-23, 2001. KEYWORDS: lead, cadmium, mercury, sorbent injection, emissions control, deactivation furnace. A02-141 TITLE: Protection From Terrorist Threat to Water Based Utility Systems TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Chemical/Bio Defense OBJECTIVE: To develop an economically and technologically feasible advanced oxidation process for the destruction of chemical and biological compounds that threaten water based utility systems such as a potable water supply. The theoretical basis for the advanced oxidation system could be a beam of high-energy electrons or equivalent. Key considerations are that the developed prototype process must: (1) create strong oxidizing species in water, (2) destroy chemical and biological compounds in water to non-detectable concentrations, (3) complete the reaction in milliseconds, (4) not generate residue, sludge, or spent media that require further processing or disposal, (5) be computer controlled, and (6) avoid the formation of unwanted chemical byproducts. The advanced oxidation system will also include prototype sensors that will also serve as an early warning system and be compatible with available Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Systems (SCADA). DESCRIPTION: Existing DoD installation utility systems typically lack consideration for counter-terrorism. Most facilities do not have CBR contamination sensors, or adequate supervisory control and data acquisition systems commonly found in commercial sector. In the event that a waterborne contaminant is detected in the system, many existing installations lack the technology needed to combat the attack, or simply do not have updated CBR emergency response plans in place. What is needed is an advanced, technically feasible process that can destroy both chemical and biological agents introduced into a water based utility system. Various advanced oxidation processes such as a high energy beam of electrons offer a good starting point for a possible solution because during irradiation reactive species are formed in the water such as hydrogen free radicals and hydroxyl radicals which react strongly with any molecules within a short length scale. These transient reactive species react further in the water to produce highly reactive oxidation compounds such as hydrogen peroxide that can destroy organic chemicals as well as biological agents. The entire chain of reactions could be completed in milliseconds. This type of advanced oxidation technology does not generate any residue, sludge, or spent media that requires further processing. The reactive species must react with the contaminants to produce chemical species that would be ultimately oxidized to harmless compounds such as carbon dioxide, water, and salts. The advanced oxidation process must be computer controlled and interfaced with advanced sensors that can detect chemical and biological threats in a water based utility system and initiate treatment operation. Some of the basic problems that must be overcome are identification of types of organic, chemical and biological agents that can be destroyed using advanced oxidation processes, method of creating or injecting the oxidizing species into a feed water delivery system, determining theoretical treatment flow rates and destruction efficiency changes over time, and determining the effects of other inorganic chemicals in the water supply on the oxidation process. Advanced oxidation processes have not yet been proven technically feasible for removal of chemical and biological agents in water based utility systems, but there has been some work done applying this technology for destruction of hydrocarbon contaminated groundwater which indicates this technology could be developed for application to a water based utility system. PHASE I: Develop the most appropriate theoretical advanced oxidation process for destruction of chemical and biological agents in water based utility systems. This would include theoretical models to predict agent destruction, reaction times, and removal efficiency and its change over time. Small and large scale laboratory testing would complement the theoretical model. The preliminary prototype design for a field-test of the advanced oxidation and advanced sensor concepts would be completed in Phase I. The Phase I design would also include any prefiltering requirements or post chlorination for a continuously treated water supply. PHASE II: The design, construction and testing of the prototype advanced oxidation chemical and biological threat reduction system would be completed based on the results of Phase I. The testing of the prototype system will be on a closed loop model of a typical DoD or Army water based utility system containing controlled amounts of chemical or biological agents, most probably at one of the Army laboratories that are designed to handle chemical and biological agents. The testing of this prototype, including use of any Army facilities, would be performed at no cost to the SBIR awardee. After system testing, guidelines would be developed for applicable sites, operating procedures, monitoring, installation methodology, reliability monitoring and removal efficiency. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: CBR Sensor and response technologies developed in this topic area have the potential application to local municipal systems, universities, and industrial complexes interested in increased levels of monitoring. Such technology is closely related to the market of smart water systems which are capable of autonomously maintaining water chemistry. OPERATING AND SUPPORT COST (OSCR) REDUCTION: A proven and economic protection system for water based utility systems will decrease the expenses of new construction and add additional insurance in the form of a reliable, on line, 100% effective defense against a chemical, biological or radiological threat. For existing water based utility systems, this easily retrofitable system could decrease treatment cost by as much as $1M per installation. REFERENCES: 1) “Natural and Terrorist Threats to Drinking Water Supplies” by W. Dickinson Burrows, J. A. Valcik and Alan Seitzinger. Proceedings From 23rd Environmental Symposium and Exhibition. April 7-10, 1997. Presented by ADPA/NSIA. KEYWORDS: chemical weapons, biological threat, utilities systems, force protection, sensors, SCADA. 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