Small Companies Help NGA Make a Difference
INDUSTRY IS PROVIDING THE NATIONAL GEOSPATIALINTELLIGENCE AGENCY BIG RETURNS FROM ITS COMPANIES THAT DO WORK UNDER SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH PROGRAMS.
“Small technology companies have much to offer,” said Nancy Groves, NGA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program manager. NGA participates in the program to make sure their contributions are not overlooked. Intelligence agencies are not required to participate, and NGA is the only intelligence agency in the program.
“Studies and anecdotal evidence tell us that small firms have a number of advantages over large firms when it comes to innovation: greater flexibility, closer contact with customers and greater willingness to engage in high-risk research and development projects,” said Daniel O. Hill, assistant administrator for technology for the U.S. Small Business Administration. “These qualities have made small firms the leaders in industrial innovation, producing more innovations per employee and per dollar spent on research and development than larger firms.”
However, the risk and expense of conducting research and development is beyond the means of many small businesses. By funding the critical startup and development stages, SBIR enables small businesses to compete on the same level as larger businesses. At the same time, the SBIR program stimulates the U.S. economy by encouraging the commercialization of technology, products and services of small businesses.
HOW SBIR WORKS AT NGA
NGA recognizes the value offered from small innovative entrepreneurial companies and sets aside funds annually for two initial proposals that test the scientific, technical and commercial merit and feasibility of a particular concept, and two advanced proposals that build upon the success and merits of initial awards to develop commercially marketable prototypes.
The InnoVision Directorate, through its Basic and Applied Research Office, manages SBIR for NGA. The office solicits research topics representing agency interests, provides guidance for participants and monitors accepted proposals. The program is completely unclassified, allowing a wide range of vendors to compete for contracts. Outreach activities are designed to introduce the program to small businesses owned by women and minorities.
Following completion of an advanced proposal, small companies are expected to obtain funding from the private sector and/ or non-SBIR government sources to develop the concept into a product for sale in the private sector and/or military markets.
SBIR SUCCESSES
For the government as a whole, success in the SBIR program is measured by how many awards evolve into commercial products.
For NGA, success is also measured by the impact and effect of SBIR awards on the transformation of the defense and intelligence communities to meet current and future challenges.
The following SBIR awards illustrate how the program enables transformational research to meet tomorrow’s challenges:
• Full-Spectrum Sensors. Essex Corp. is using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) to investigate the creation of three-dimensional imagery that could be used to detect manmade objects like buildings. SAR provides detailed results, like those obtained with a large antenna by tracking the movement between airborne radar pulses. The investigation involves the use of tomography in a technique similar to medical CAT scans that combine a series of “slices” to produce a three-dimensional picture of the body. In one of many potential applications, users interactively retrieve information about three-dimensional models stored in a geographic information system.
• Vexcel Corp. is also using SAR tomography to penetrate forest canopies and characterize both the foliage and underlying terrain. In this project, multiple data collections of the same scene over a large range of radar wavelengths are being used to create true, three-dimensional, volumetric images.
• GEOINT Knowledge Base. Physical Optics Corp. has a project to inexpensively generate Digital Terrain Elevation Data (DTED) Level 2 above 60 degrees north latitude, filling a critical gap. (Level 2 provides elevation data at a resolution of 30 meters. NASA’s space shuttle in 2000 gathered data that NGA used to generate worldwide coverage of DTED Level 2 between 60 degrees north latitude and 56 degrees south latitude. DTED is a principal product of NGA.)
• Physical Optics has developed a software package that can generate DTED Level 2 from declassified Russian TK-350 and KVR-1000 satellite imagery. Users will be able to plug the data into commercial software packages. Although focused on using the declassified Russian source material, the project can also use other sources. Commercialization of this product allows NGA an alternative data source to populate its data holdings and provide data users with a potentially inexpensive source for terrain data.
• Information Extraction and Transport Inc. is helping users of geographic information systems to measure the reliability of elevation data from multiple sources, among several technological advances developed under an SBIR award from NGA. The technology has immediate application for rapid integration of terrain data to support crisis operations.
• Persistent Surveillance. The NAVSYS Corp. has developed a software platform, built on an existing Army-sponsored SBIR, that integrates Global Positioning System inertial and digital camera data. Called GI-Eye, the product can be used in both airborne and ground vehicles to locate and geo-register geographic features and collect attributes about them, among other applications. The company has commercialized the system and delivered it to NGA for rapid surveying, targeting, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance applications.
• Next-Generation Analytical Tools. Areté Associates is using advanced algorithms with modeling and simulation techniques to passively detect targets concealed by foliage, clouds or haze. The project uses an inertially stabilized skyball with multichannel visible and infrared sensors for remotely piloted long-range surveillance. This capability has geospatial applications in both ocean and terrestrial surveillance.
• Applied Signal and Imagery Technology Inc. has developed algorithms that automatically and accurately detect targets in hyperspectral imagery, while providing a cost-effective solution for high-volume processing. The company is developing software prototypes that are compatible with existing NGA tools and enhance detection capabilities for various types of signatures involving chemical and other targets of interest.
VISIT OUR WEB SITE
InnoVision encourages employees and organizations to take advantage of this inventive and energizing program. If you have ideas for a research topic, please contact NGA’s SBIR manager, Nancy Groves, at (703) 735-3097 or visit the NGA SBIR Web site at http://www.nga.mil/sbir.
In addition to NGA, 11 federal departments and agencies annually participate in the SBIR program by designating research and development topics, soliciting proposals and granting awards. Additional information regarding these agencies and research topics can be found at the following Web sites:
http://www.dodsbir.net (Department of Defense) and http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/SBIR (Small Business Administration). ♦
