The needle in the haystack: Space-Based Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (SB-ISR) imagery for decision making
Competitive Projects
Up to $1.2M in phased development funding to propel technology forward
The Challenge
The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces (DND/CAF) are seeking innovative solutions for locating adversaries outside of commonly monitored areas of interest in order to enhance military foresight for decision-making.
What IDEaS Provides
Funding of up to $200,000 will be provided for innovative solutions to help advance this challenge over a performance period of up to 6 months. There is a potential opportunity for further funding of up to $1 million for a performance period of up to a year should the solution be found successful and promising by DND/CAF.
What Innovators Bring
Solutions that demonstrate the ability to enhance the SB-ISR monitoring in order to improve detection of human activities. Solutions must include monitoring large swaths of land for changes such as the construction of underground facilities, means to trigger high-resolution space-based assets towards new features in areas not regularly covered, and means to trigger cueing of other high-resolution assets for detection of additional changes after the data is automatically downloaded and reviewed.
Results
| Project title | Innovator | Amount | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHADisr: Coordinated Space-Asset Tasking & Multimodal Data Processing for Robust Large-Area Concealed Human Activity Det | TrackGen Solutions Inc. | $229,917.20 | 1a |
| APSIS™ Analytical Monitoring and Exploitation Capability for detecting and monitoring underground activities in low coherence environments across large areas of remote, inaccessible and varied terrain. | Space Strategies Consulting Ltd | $225,641.50 | 1a |
| Fast and Light CONvolutional neural network (FaLCON): Sensor agnostic change detection from space using edge compute capable | GALAXIA Mission Systems Inc. | $210,507.50 | 1a |
| AI based SB-ISR technology to monitor a large swath of land to detect concealed human activities using EO & SAR data | SceneSharp Technologies Inc. | $229,901.56 | 1a |
| FEWTCHA - Multi-channel representation learning and fine-tuning based change detection from satellite-based imageries | Thales Digital Solutions | $229,519.88 | 1a |
| Detection and Classification of Anomalous Features (DeCAF) | ASL Environmental Sciences Inc. | $230,000.00 | 1a |
| Perception and Exploration of Topography and Sub-surfaces (PETS) | Mission Control Space Services | $229,979.88 | 1a |
| Artificial Intelligence for Mission Planning and Change Detection from Space | ADGA Group Consultants Inc. | $229,980.26 | 1a |
| Magnetic North | Sparkgeo Consulting Inc. | $230,000.00 | 1a |
| Earth Data Store Enhanced Monitoring, Triggering, and Exploitation (EDS EMOTE) | EarthDaily Analytics Corp. | $230,000.00 | 1a |
Challenge
Background and Context
The CAF has access to large sets of military high-resolution satellite imagery and unclassified imagery sparked by the proliferation of commercial satellites, and the ability to use such high-resolution Space-Based Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (SB-ISR) imagery to monitor current, high priority areas of interest. However, existing capability does not usually include detecting concealed human activities via topographical changes (e.g. human-made features such as soiled piles, airstrips, underground facilities, etc.), particularly outside of developed urban environments. Countries are well aware of the Five Eyes Intelligence Partnership imagery sharing amongst the partner nations, satellite reconnaissance activities and the many open source imagery products readily available. Knowing so, adversaries are taking steps to evade Western intelligence, commercial satellites and aerial reconnaissance sensors. Some are applying detection evasion techniques using camouflage and deception when building underground facilities.
To enhance military strategic planning and decision-making, the CAF needs means by which it can anticipate emerging threats/challenges to improve its ability to provide timely information to decision-makers. This will allow the planners to identify and understand crises and emerging events for provision of an appropriate response when requested.
Essential Outcomes
Proposed solutions must demonstrate:
- The ability to enhance the SB-ISR monitoring in order to improve detection of human activities. This outcome must include:
- Monitoring large swaths of land for changes such as the construction of underground facilities.
- Means to trigger high-resolution space-based assets towards new features in areas not regularly covered.
- Means to trigger cueing of other high-resolution assets for detection of additional changes after the data is automatically downloaded and reviewed.
Desired Outcomes
Proposed solutions should include capabilities such as, but not limited to, the following:
- An array of sensors types, spanning electro-optical to synthetic aperture radar (SAR);
- Ability to reprogram the algorithms to minimize false-positives;
- Automation to enable the tasking of high-resolution sensors to look for new features detected instead of requiring a new tasking mission;
- Reducing/removing the analysts’ cognitive burden of data processing.
Supplemental Information
DND/CAF are not looking for a solution with the following aspects:
- Exploitation of high-resolution imagery regularly collected (i.e. imagery that already exists);
- Detection, recognition, and identification of persons or objects (e.g. cars, trucks, etc.);
- Information in complex, human-developed environments, such as urban settings.
Canada will not provide government furnished property (GFP), including but not limited to materiel, equipment, access, information, and personnel to enable the Contractor to conduct the work during Component 1a.
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