SAGE urban operations tool suite methodology

Abstract

As the US Army transitions to a regionally aligned architecture, analysts are seeking new and innovative geospatial applications to inform the operations planning process for unfamiliar terrain. In this paper, we outline our systems approach used to develop a suite of geospatial analysis tools used to plan military operations in the urban environment as part of a larger research effort to develop tactical geospatial tools for the US Army (Situational Awareness Geospatially Enabled (SAGE)). This paper describes the iterative stakeholder analysis used to accurately identify operational needs, requirements, capability gaps and associated importance, and the comprehensive methodology used to generate the suite of tools. This research was unique in that we simultaneously developed a recommended suite of tools in addition to a formalized geospatial tool development methodology for the clients' later use. This paper describes the development and application of this methodology which categorically decomposed military operations, aligned stakeholder requirements with existing capabilities, and architected new geospatial capabilities consistent with the existing geospatial program architecture. Key to the developed methodology is that it produced geospatial tools which capitalized upon previously developed technologies, maintained the program's operational theme, and logically developed capabilities which directly satisfied requirements.