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Command and Control/GIS Practice
Case Studies:
Decision Support Toolbox
_____________________________________Challenge
The U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) needed an application that allowed Marines to import, manipulate, and analyze terrain data relative to their operations. This application had to be integrated with the USMC's existing Command and Control PC (C2PC).
The application also had to support Marines in performing key terrain analysis functions for Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB), such as:
- finding the fastest path between two points and providing distance and time to traverse
- showing the elevation profile (side view) of terrain along a line
- categorizing and showing terrain within an area as Unrestricted,
- Restricted, and Severely Restricted
- determining mobility corridors within an area, displaying them according to the tactical echelon that the corridor will support
- showing elevation and slope relief maps of the terrain within an area, bands of elevation and slope, and the elevation of any point of terrain under the mouse cursor
- illustrating the visual or weapons line of sight from a designated point
- identifying all areas that can be reached in a given time from a designated point
- highlighting all restricted areas based on line of sight
Result
CHI Systems' Command & Control/GIS Team adapted C3Core Terrain Services components to address the USMC requirements. These new components underwent extensive testing and were integrated with an application called Decision Support Toolbox (DSTB).
The USMC began using the application in the field in 2001 and is now using version 2.0. DSTB is the first terrain analysis application fielded for general use in the USMC, and the first externally developed software component fielded in the C2PC system. Future versions are under development.
