Ronin 02072022 (FINAL).pdf

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At-a-Glance Overview The Pixia Imagery Suite is a group of cloud-based imagery exploitation applications that gives users easy and rapid access to large volumes of data in their required formats. The suite consists of HiPER LOOK® Foundation Service, HiPER CLOUDTM Imagery Service and HiPER STARE® Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) Service.

► Access to high-speed data in a web browser or third-party applications such as ESRI ArcMap, Quick Terrain Reader and QGIS

► Visualization of map data, high-resolution imagery and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) over disadvantaged networks and thin clients — all without having to download a single file

► Streamline and automate analytic workflows - Access data via Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) web services vs. downloading datasets

► Application Programming Interfaces (API) – Expose data for use in variety of workflows (i.e.

machine-learning algorithms, computer-vision tools and object-recognition workflows)

► Ability to save data in different formats for future uses

► Filtering and exportation of LiDAR data for analysis, including line-of-site assessments and helicopter landing zone evaluations

The Pixia Imagery Suite The following are descriptions of the three components of the Pixia Imagery Suite and the ways they can be used to rapidly access foundational and temporal GEOINT data from commercial or government platforms.

What Is GEOINT Services?

The GEOINT Services (GS) initiative is NGA’s delivery of geospatial content and analytics through commonly used, cloud-based geospatial tools. GEOINT services are web-based tools and data that allow customers to find, get, use, and contribute geospatial capabilities, data, and best practices.

GEOINT services are available to use across the enterprise.

What capabilities are available for mission users?

►Big-data processing and analytics

►Editable maps of the world

►Enhanced collaboration

►High-performance spatial analytics

►High-speed streaming of imagery

►Integrated geospatial content services from multiple sources

How can users access GEOINT services?

NIPRnet: https://home.gs.mil SIPRNet: https://home.gs.smil.mil JWICS: https://home.gs.ic.gov/HiPER LOOK® Foundation Service is a data-access solution used to catalog, organize and share large volumes of geospatial data and imagery via Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) services like Web Map Services (WMS), Web Map Tile Service (WMTS), Web Coverage Service (WCS), and Keyhole Markup Language (KML).

These tools provide operators quick access to enterprise scale geospatial data, through a variety of Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) tools, also available in disconnected or expeditionary environments.

Users access data via web services, eliminating the need to download large files in limited bandwidth environments. Millions of individual files are consolidated into a single layer displaying massive amounts of high-resolution imagery, LiDAR, and other types of data from government systems, commercial sensors and Five Eyes (FVEY) partners.

GEOINT Services | Pixia Imagery Suite Rapid Imagery Access and Exploitation

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At-a-Glance Overview The Pixia Imagery Suite is a group of cloud-based imagery exploitation applications that gives users easy and rapid access to large volumes of data in their required formats. The suite consists of HiPER LOOK® Foundation Service, HiPER CLOUDTM Imagery Service and HiPER STARE® Wide Area Motion Imagery (WAMI) Service.

► Access to high-speed data in a web browser or third-party applications such as ESRI ArcMap, Quick Terrain Reader and QGIS

► Visualization of map data, high-resolution imagery and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) over disadvantaged networks and thin clients — all without having to download a single file

► Streamline and automate analytic workflows - Access data via Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) web services vs. downloading datasets

► Application Programming Interfaces (API) – Expose data for use in variety of workflows (i.e.

machine-learning algorithms, computer-vision tools and object-recognition workflows)

► Ability to save data in different formats for future uses

► Filtering and exportation of LiDAR data for analysis, including line-of-site assessments and helicopter landing zone evaluations

The Pixia Imagery Suite The following are descriptions of the three components of the Pixia Imagery Suite and the ways they can be used to rapidly access foundational and temporal GEOINT data from commercial or government platforms.

What Is GEOINT Services?

The GEOINT Services (GS) initiative is NGA’s delivery of geospatial content and analytics through commonly used, cloud-based geospatial tools. GEOINT services are web-based tools and data that allow customers to find, get, use, and contribute geospatial capabilities, data, and best practices.

GEOINT services are available to use across the enterprise.

What capabilities are available for mission users?

►Big-data processing and analytics

►Editable maps of the world

►Enhanced collaboration

►High-performance spatial analytics

►High-speed streaming of imagery

►Integrated geospatial content services from multiple sources

How can users access GEOINT services?

NIPRnet: https://home.gs.mil SIPRNet: https://home.gs.smil.mil JWICS: https://home.gs.ic.gov/HiPER LOOK® Foundation Service is a data-access solution used to catalog, organize and share large volumes of geospatial data and imagery via Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) services like Web Map Services (WMS), Web Map Tile Service (WMTS), Web Coverage Service (WCS), and Keyhole Markup Language (KML).

These tools provide operators quick access to enterprise scale geospatial data, through a variety of Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) tools, also available in disconnected or expeditionary environments.

Users access data via web services, eliminating the need to download large files in limited bandwidth environments. Millions of individual files are consolidated into a single layer displaying massive amounts of high-resolution imagery, LiDAR, and other types of data from government systems, commercial sensors and Five Eyes (FVEY) partners.

GEOINT Services | Pixia Imagery Suite Rapid Imagery Access and Exploitation

What is Ronin?

Ronin is an NGA-developed platform that puts customized automated imagery workflows into the hands of analysts by harnessing commercial, open source, and NGA-built algorithms in a scalable, cloud-native architecture. It gives NGA analysts better access to innovative technology like automated anomalous change detection and commercially developed image-based analytics. With Ronin’s intuitive user interface, analysts do not need to be machine learning or artificial intelligence experts;

Ronin does not require specialized knowledge to use and is source-and resolution-independent.

GEOINT Services | Ronin Modular Automated Imagery-Processing Platform

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Ronin homepage. Source: NGA GEOINT Services

An example workflow entry.

Source: NGA GEOINT Services

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Benefits of Ronin

► Image Preprocessing: Perform ortho-rectification, co-registration, DRA

► Automated Anomaly Detection: Apply machine learning across a set of images to detect anomalies or changes between those images

► Batch Anomaly Detection: Execute image change detection once with a default metric and execute image change detection multiple times using different metrics on each pass

► Modularity: Run each of Ronin’s functions as independent services or combined into new workflows and as new functions are built into Ronin; those newly created services will be added to the function library to be used by others saving development time and funds

► GeoPackage: Generate a downloadable GeoPackage that contains the images and anomaly heat map(s); these can then be viewed in the user’s choice of geographic information system (GIS) tool or Electronic Light Table (ELT)

How can users access Ronin?

Ronin is currently available by request only. To request an NIPRNet or JWICS account, please visit the Ronin RocketChat ask an expert page: https://rocketchat.gs.mil/channel/ronin_askanexpert

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Impact to Mission

► Creates mission efficiencies; for example, locating construction and infrastructure changes and monitoring for unusual changes to order of battle or patterns of life

► Connects containerized image preparation, preprocessing functions, and commercial algorithms to create timesaving, end-to-end, easy-to-use, automated workflows; users spend more time analyzing - less time processing

► In the future, will provide additional preprocessing functions and commercial algorithms, to plug-and-play with NTM data; will be combined into unique, mission-specific workflows to generate tailored outputs

An example workflow showing the original basemap area of interest (AOI) in Ronin (top left), compared with the processed imagery highlighting in red recent areas of most change to the airfield runway and apron. Source: NGA GEOINT Services.

A Ronin anomaly detection output from August, 2021 which identified passenger terminal operations at Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan Source: NGA GEOINT Services.

A Ronin anomaly detection output from August 2021 which detected an oil spill at Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan. Source: NGA GEOINT Services.

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How does Ronin work?

Ronin is an NGA developed capability, designed to allow users to run a variety of automated, imagery-based workflows, such as automated anomalous change detection, coregistration, and orthorectification. GEOINT Services designed Ronin to be a modular platform that allows NGA to quickly bring in, scale up, and reuse a variety of imagery-based algorithms, regardless of the source. Ronin can be interoperable with government off-the-shelf (GOTS), commercial off-the-shelf (COTS), or open-source algorithms allowing NGA to use the most expedient solution to deliver results to the users and mission.

One of Ronin’s most popular workflows leverages Simularity’s Automated Image Anomaly Detection (AIADS), an advanced anomalous change detection algorithm that allows analysts to focus on just the unusual change at their sites rather than be distracted by normal deviations in day-to-day activity. The AIADS algorithm analyzes a series of historical images to “learn” what is typical behavior for an area of interest (AOI) and builds a real-time model based on this computer learning. The real-time model then highlights the most dramatic changes at the pixel level immediately alerting the analyst of unusual change. AIADS technology creates an AOI anomaly heatmap to rapidly focus users on further analysis, both saving time and increasing the amount of imagery analysts can process. Ronin automates the entire process of running this change detection workflow, from ordering and coregistering the imagery, to running the change detection algorithm, to exporting outputs and reference images in an easy-to-use GeoPackage.