Application Showcase Transportation

Closing the Gaps

Vertical market: airports
Challenge: improve perimeter / intrusion detection / System (PIDS)
Solution: OmniTrax - Senstar
Country deployed: USA
Date of award: 4Q09
Cost of airport: $ 300K USD (initial phase)
Senstar contact: Jim Quick, President, Senstar Inc.

Synopsis

Airport security managers would agree that while 100% security at their airports is not realistic, it is critical to close the gaps in the total security environment at their facility as much as possible. The following case study illustrates how a major US airport re-engineered perimeter security to avoid the issue of excessive false alarms while maintaining high levels of detection for intruders entering from the waterfront. This design will better integrate with existing fixed and Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras, while imposing a negligible effect on existing power and communications infrastructure. The system also directs all alert detections to an existing head-end system for better overall security awareness.

Background

Airport security's changing landscape:

The phrase "800 pound gorilla in the room" is a humorous way to describe the most obvious and sometimes the most overlooked issue, but when it comes to airport perimeter security, no one is laughing. There is nothing more detrimental to the confidence of the travelling American public than an "event" that impacts the safety and security of the transportation system. Airports pose the most spectacular mode of travel in which an event can occur.

 

The OmniTrax securitycable delivers detection, power, and communications in a single buried cable

In January 2009, people from around the world were glued to their television sets watching the account of US Airways flight 1549, and the masterful piloting of the powerless Airbus 320 into the Hudson River in New York by Captain "Sully" Sullenberger. On December 25th, 2009, a Delta flight from Amsterdam to Detroit narrowly escaped an attempted attack by an individual with ties to Al Qaeda, prompting calls and edicts by authorities for heightened passenger screening. But ask any security manager at a large, international U.S. airport, "What element of security at an airport is most important?" and you will likely hear "All of it".

Those same security managers would admit that while 100% security is not realistic, it is imperative that gaps in the total security environment be closed as much as possible. Physical perimeter security is an area undergoing renewed attention, as airports, the transportation security administration (TSA), engineering firms, integrators and perimeter security technology suppliers collaborate to tighten intrusion detection attempts at the airport perimeter.

The challenges were six-fold:

• Airport security management realised the risk that too many false and nuisance alarms by security technology was de-sensitising security teams to actual intrusions.
• Microwaves were detecting normal traffic flow at the perimeter road that surrounds the airport
• Debris and natural vegetation growth along the perimeter were causing numerous false alarms
• While fixed cameras were sufficient to establish trip-wire rules along the fenced areas between runways, they were not reliably detecting intrusions coming from the waterside, at the approach and departure ends of the runway
• Fixed cameras had limitations in some environmental conditions
• The airport needed a solution that would have minimal impact on the network and power structure

Senstar has deployed more successful buried cable installations than any other security company in the world

What the client was looking for:

The Authority wanted a technology that would not impose another layer of complexity on the operations staff and would make a distinct improvement in the accuracy of detecting intruders anywhere along the waterside perimeter. Furthermore, the technology would need to have a minimal impact on the network and power infrastructure of the airport, should be covert in operation, and should be of nominal cost to maintain.

The TSA reviewed multiple technologies for cost, accuracy, complexity and maintenance. These technologies included surface detection radar (existing aircraft surface radar system), millimetre wave radar, thermal imaging cameras, laser (break beam), and buried cable (guided RF) intrusion detection systems. In each case the technology was measured against the following minimum requirements.

Minimal requirements:

• High Probability of detection (Pd)
• Low False Alarm Rate (FAR)
• Low Vulnerability of defeat (Vd)
• Low impact on existing communications power infrastructure (requirement to add power or communication sources) and personnel (training)
• Covert installation
• Simple integration into existing head-end system
• Simple integration into existing camera surveillance network
• Proven technology, proven company track record in deployment

The solution: OmniTrax

The only technology that met all of the named requirements was Senstar's world-leading buried cable intrusion detection system, OmniTrax. OmniTrax provided the airport authority with a terrain following, all-weather, 24/7 covert detection system that pushes the detection boundary to nearly the water's edge. Once deployed, the airport would create a literal human "tripwire" around the perimeter that would give operators the time needed to quickly assess the intrusion and respond accordingly to deter it.

The airport security team wanted to create a state-of-the-art perimeter detection capability that fit into their scheme of multi-layer, no single point of failure as a means to close the gaps around the perimeter. OmniTrax is upgradeable, meaning that as the airport expands its coverage requirements (new runways, taxiways, other additions, etc.) OmniTrax can be expanded without disrupting the original installation.

The system requires nominal routine maintenance. Most maintenance operations are visual
inspection of the protected above ground processor pedestal, and monitoring of the system console which will identify power faults, battery condition (fail-safe battery back-up is on board), and cable integrity. Being an underground technology, the cable system is naturally protected from lightning strikes, ultraviolet radiation, precipitation, and other environmental factors that naturally degrade exposed components.

With the OmniTrax system in place, airport authorities will move closer to the goal of achieving "no gaps" in their security

Once installed and the trenched area smoothed out, no evidence of the security cable exists to personnel

profile, while providing security personnel a means to "see more", "do more" and provide the travelling public with greater peace of mind.

"At Senstar, we refer to the state of security at some airports as the movie set syndrome. Large investments into the front of the "set" for the audience (travelling public) to see and appreciate (airport building), but
often the back of the "set" (the perimeter that nobody sees) is not as secure as it could be," Rob Welton, Director of Homeland Security, Senstar Inc.

Welton adds that airport security management is challenged with limited budgets and that most issues concerning airports are focussed on passenger traffic, not perimeter security breaches. This customer is committed to a thoughtful, proactive approach in closing the security gaps, taking what happens "behind the set" very seriously.

OmniTrax measures up

Airport requirement	OmniTrax delivers
High Pd (Probability of detection)	OmniTrax uses advanced algorithms to detect individuals within 1 metre (3.3 ft.) of crossing. The RF field can be calibrated for each metre to ensure the highest performance possible along the entire cable span.
Low FAR / NAR (False/Nuisance Alarm Rate)	OmniTrax ignores seismic activity from large trucks and / or landing aircraft as well as blowing debris. OmniTrax detects masses of 34 kg (75 lbs.) or more, eliminating most small animals.
Low Vd (Vulnerability of defeat)	OmniTrax uses spread spectrum technology to ensure the frequencies cannot be intercepted or jammed. There is no single point of failure. Cut the cable (if you can find it) in one location and the remainder of the system will continue to operate.
Low impact on power/comms/user training/ maintenance	The OmniTrax cable delivers detection, power, and communications in a single buried cable. Diverse paths are used to ensure non-stop communications in the event of a cable break. Low voltage DC power is required approximately every 5.6 km (3.5 miles). Once installed and calibrated, the system operates without the need for supervision.
Covert installation	Only the processor pedestal is above ground, all other components to the cable system are buried approximately 0.03 metres (1 ft.) underground. GPS transmitters are used to calibrate each metre of cable (for ID at the command console). Once installed and the trenched area smoothed out, no evidence of the cable exists to personnel. Processors can be easily camouflaged.
Simple system	OmniTrax features a well-documented API for integration into existing head-end systems. Integration is available using relay outputs along with a robust IP integration.
Simple integration into existing video surveillance network	With the precise 1 metre (3.3 ft.) detection threshold of OmniTrax, it becomes more practical to use the PTZ cameras around the perimeter in a "cue to slew" fashion, automating the assessment of intrusions at the perimeter. Camera integration can be done at the OmniTrax processor to simplify management.
Proven technology, proven company track record in deployment	Senstar has deployed more successful buried cable installations than any other company in the world. The product has been certified for use in the nation's most secure locations, and is used in some of the most severe topological sites around the world. First systems were deployed in the 1970s and the majority are still in service, others have been upgraded to the next generation.