Essay Sample on Geospatial Intelligence

Introduction

The power grid of the United States serves many people with electricity across the globe. It provides a solution to the problem of how people get power for different purposes. Washington, D.C is one of the states in the U.S with electrical power stations and metro stations, which support the provision of electricity. However, from the conversation that a U.S intelligence intercepted, it is evident that Al-Shabaab terrorists are targeting two power plants and Metrorail lines in Washington, D.C where the terrorists conducted surveillance. Consequently, the attack will affect power supply negatively and may even lead to loss of lives of those who work in the targeted areas. This paper will provide a proper assessment of the likely targeted areas. It will also provide information on the approaches that may be used by the terrorists to attack the power stations, the police district where the stations lie, as well as the type of sensors, which may be used to provide warning of the attacks.

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The Most Likely Approaches to The D.C. Power Stations and Why

Usually, terrorists use different approaches to access their target area of attack. In the case of Washington, D.C power stations, one of the approaches would be through communication with some individuals in the power stations. The terrorists may communicate with particular insiders who they try to radicalize to give them crucial information about the power stations. Some of the information would be on the work schedule, which will help in planning the attack. Cell phones can be used to conduct the surveillance. Another approach is by conducting reconnaissance. Through the pre-visit to the stations, the terrorists will be familiar with the area, understand all the operations going, as well as survey the positions of their enemies during attacks.

Points Along the D.C. Metro Track System Are Likely Targets and Why

The Washington, D.C Metrorail track system is a busy system used for transportation in the U.S. The system has an expansive network of tunnels, as well as above ground tracks that connect the D.C quadrants with the suburban Maryland and Virginia. Due to the convenience and affordability of the system, the terrorists will use it to get to their target areas of attack. The Metro system will enable them to find their way to the DC and get around different regions. The Metro points that would be targeted majorly by the terrorists are where the train stops as some people alight while new people board or the ones continuing with their journey. The popular stops that would be at the sight of the terrorists are Smithsonian, Woodley Park and Gallery Place. The terrorists will use these points to establish whether there might be some people who are aware of their intended plans to attack two power stations in the area. These points may also be targeted since they serve as stops for the Metro train hence a large number of people would be found in these places.

D.C. Police District Where the Power Stations and Likely Metro Stations Lie and the Implications

The Power and Metro lie in the First District. This police district is found in the lower central region of the District of Columbia. It is home to business activities undertaken in the city as the district also serves as a political center. As such, terrorist attacks in the region will affect the business activities since people will be fearful of the security in the area.

Additionally, the First District has cherished landmarks for the U.S. The neighborhoods are diverse and have sceneries like parks. With terrorist attacks in the region, the number of tourists who visit neighboring parks like Providence Park will reduce substantially. Consequently, the total revenue of the United States will reduce. In the western area of the district, the U.S Capitol and White House are evident. With the terrorist attack, the House and Senate, as well as the Executive will find it difficult to undertake their activities as required by the citizens of the country.

Type of Sensors, Of Any Type, Might Be Employed to Provide Warning of An Attack on The Metro Stations and Power Stations

Ideally, selection of the right sensor to detect and track terrorist attacks is not strict. As such, there is the need to eliminate the wrong choices based on the questions, which are brought forth aimed at eliminating the technologies that underly the sensor. The sensors will measure the physical quantity of attacks and convert it into some signal, which would be measured electrically. One of the types is proximity sensors that exist in several forms like the ultrasonic sensors, magnetic, as well as inductive sensors. In this type, accuracy is vital in the detection and tracking of objects. The sensors need to have accuracy values between the desired margins of measurements. With a high resolution, any small changes made will be detected easily.

Another type is the use of an image sensor. It combines the detection of a human face and the tracking of an object. However, image sensors require advanced programming skills. The use of an image sensor will be built on different applications. These include tracking and face detection, detecting the specific shapes of images, as well as detecting triangular corners from particular images. The image sensor would also acquire and prioritize targets. Laser sensor would also be crucial in the detection of the terrorist attacks. Through this type of sensors, it would be easy to track and detect the targeted location from a long distance. The distance between the sensor and the target would be measured through calculation of the speed of light and the time of emission of light until it is returned to the receiver. Sonar sensor can be used to detect objects notwithstanding how small they may be hence would be crucial for the provision of warning about the attack. These sensors will be emplaced in the targeted areas of the attack.

The Limitations of Remote Sensing in This Scenario

In the detection and tracking of the terrorism attacks in the North and South Power Stations in Washington, D.C, remote sensing may not be essential due to the various limitations that it would bring forth. One of these is that the area being analyzed is small hence it would be expensive to use remote sensing. The technique would only be efficient when analyzing large areas. The users of remote sensing technique will also require special training for them to analyze the images of suspected terrorists appropriately. Therefore, the method will be expensive in the long run as the users require extra training to equip them with the relevant skills.

Additionally, in remote sensing, the humans are tasked with the selection of the type of sensor that will be used in the data collection process, as well as specifying data resolution and sensor calibration. In this case, it would be easy to introduce human errors like detection of the wrong images of suspected terrorists. When the remote sensing instruments are not calibrated, the data obtained may also be un-calibrated. Considerately, in airborne remote sensing, the sensors will require mounting on aircraft to obtain images of the targeted areas for attacks. The limitation of this application is its low coverage area. The cost of each unit area covered would also be high. They would also be carried out just as one-time operations hence are not continuous when monitoring the region that would be attacked. In terrestrial remote sensing, the temporal resolution is insufficient for most of the applications. The acquisition of the initial image will also delay especially in cases where the sensors used for detection and tracking are non-pointable. Due to the large size of image files, the electronic use and dissemination would be difficult to realize. When the space-based application is used, in some cases, space would hide the ground features. Varying weather conditions may also make it difficult to collect data during critical times.

The Intelligence Requirements Can GEOINT Not Answer in This Scenario

The demands of intelligence require intelligence agencies to use highly advanced technologies like the Web-based geospatial information, as well as high-resolution imagery. Conversely, as most of the raw data tend to pour into the mobile systems, the users will find it difficult to squeeze sense out of the information obtained. Geospatial intelligence would not effectively handle the issue of information overload. In essence, due to the superabundance of data and the information, which is trapped in incompatible formats, crucial intelligence will be prevented from the individuals who require the data. Moreover, intelligence experts may not establish automated ways to identify and disseminate the critical intelligence data.

The GEOINT's Weaknesses

Geospatial intelligence has various weaknesses. One of these is that geospatial intelligence requires expensive software. Enormous amounts of data inputs would also be required to undertake a range of tasks such as the data that is put in. The layers of geospatial intelligence may lead to costly mistakes when the property agents are available for interpretation of the map or the design used by the experts. Additionally, failures would arise in the initiation of additional effort for full implementation of the geospatial intelligence.

Conclusion

Through geospatial intelligence, organizational integration would be improved substantially. The technique integrates software, hardware, and data for capturing, analyzing, managing and displaying the different forms of information by geographic referencing. Additionally, geospatial intelligence will provide help to answer questions and solve problems by looking at the data. In essence, it may be integrated into a framework of the enterprise information systems. Through the approach, the intelligence agencies and experts entitled to undertake geospatial intelligence will detect and track terrorism attacks like the one targeted in the case of Washington, D.C power and metro stations.

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