Toward unified query processing for ISR information needs and collection management

Abstract

The advance in sensing technologies, the acquisition of new sensors, and use of mobile devices result in the production of an overwhelming amount of sensed data, that augment the challenges for analysts to retrieve relevant information among heterogeneous collected data, and to process and analyze them adequately in a timely manner to better support decision makers. At the same time, the limited quantity and capabilities of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) resources for the amount of requests for information collection requires to maximize their utilization in order to increase the accuracy of information gain and timely delivery of information. Considering the challenges for ISR intelligence requirements and collection management, as well as for information management and exploitation, the paper describes a unified approach for querying available information sources for enhanced ISR information collection and retrieval. The approach leverages and extends semantic models in the ISR domain. Enhanced ISR assets integration, optimized information collection and management should result in more relevant collected data and improve subsequent analysis.