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 Airports
face specific security challenges. The facilities cover immense areas, spanning
hundreds, sometimes thousands, of acres. Often located in urban areas, airports
also have become increasingly encroached by housing developments and
warehouses. These factors, and others, make it unsightly and cost prohibitive
to surround airport perimeters with 20-foot, razor-wire fences and other
similar security devices.
Before and since the September 11 terrorist attacks, airports focused the most effort
on internal security measures. This
disproportionate emphasis has left external airport security vulnerable, making
airport perimeters the system’s weakest point. The vulnerability of our
airports’ perimeters is exacerbated by heightened concerns over potential
terrorists gaining access to runways and airplanes using external, rather than internal, means. In response, the critical
has issued more stringent airport security requirements.
Given
this situation, the challenge then is to heighten both internal and external
security measures to help prevent and respond to real or perceived terrorist threats.
For external areas, this involves protecting perimeters, runways, airplanes and
adjacent/remote airport properties. For internal areas, this means elevating
existing protocols even further.
PureTech
System’s automated surveillance solution, PureActiv, arms airports with a
powerful ‘command and control’ system for detecting, identifying
and tracking security breaches within and among these expansive, complex
facilities. Integrating satellite imagery of the airport, internal and external
cameras, fence detection systems and other security variables, PureActiv
monitors internal and external locations, including perimeters, runways,
airplanes, freight facilities, security screening areas, and much more. Using PureActiv’s
interactive interface, operators can program PureActiv to account for certain
control parameters, such as speed, size and shape, and tag specific areas of
concern, such as an unauthorized aircraft or an unused security door. The
PureActiv system identifies when designated security parameters have been
violated, notifies security personnel with an alarm, tracks and records the
intrusion and provides operators with the information they need to orchestrate
an appropriate emergency response.
To
illustrate a few of PureActiv’s powerful capabilities, consider the
following scenarios.
| A
car bomber intends to drive into an airport’s departure lobby and
detonate a bomb. |
Car
bombers usually fit a certain vehicle and driving profile: they often drive
large trucks and accelerate more and more intensely as they approach their
target. With PureActiv, operators can set the software to detect vehicles with
certain size (e.g., 12’x8’) and speed (e.g., 35 mph) parameters.
If an approaching vehicle meets or exceeds the chosen parameters, the alarm
will sound, security personnel will be notified and an appropriate response
will be issued. |
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| A
group of terrorists has cut through an airport’s chain link perimeter
fence with the intention of sneaking onto an aircraft waiting for departure. |
Integrated
with fence detection sensors, PureActiv will detect a person(s) cutting
through or climbing over an airport’s perimeter fence. When this
happens, an alarm will notify security personnel and PureActiv will display a
map with the exact location of the intrusion while continuing to track,
identify and record the suspects. Further, PureActiv also allows operators to
control cameras using a point-and-click interface, allowing them to fully
understand the situation before implementing an emergency response. |
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| A
freight aircraft containing hazardous material departs in 12 hours. As a
security precaution, the airport has declared that the airplane cannot be
accessed by anyone until 1 hour prior to takeoff. |
Using
PureActiv’s innovative and intuitive visual interface, an operator can
draw a ‘virtual’ perimeter zone around that aircraft. If a person
or a large object (e.g., vehicle) crosses that region, the system will alarm,
notify security and track the offending person or object. |
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| There
is a construction project on a segment of the airport’s tarmac that
must be checked on routinely. |
PureActiv’s
manual point-and-click interface can control multiple cameras simultaneously,
allowing an operator to regularly check the construction project’s
status without having to access the area physically and thereby reducing
traffic on the tarmac. |
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| A
terrorist steals an airline employee’s access card, allowing them to
gain entry to the airport’s unauthorized zones including airplanes and
baggage areas. |
The
PureActiv system can be integrated with an airport’s card access
system, wherein every time an airport employee scans his/her access card,
PureActiv provides security personnel with a comparison of a live image of
the person against an archived still image. This prevents the effective use
of stolen employee access cards, thwarting this type of terrorist attempt. |
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