19 March 1997
Global source: http://cobar.cs.umass.edu/ciirdemo/Govbot/ (Query "national imagery")
More at: http://www.nima.mil/

Source: http://www.dtic.dla.mil/defenselink/news/Oct96/b100196_bt563-96.html

October 1, 1996

NATIONAL IMAGERY AND MAPPING AGENCY ESTABLISHED

The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) today joins the ranks of the Department of Defense as the newest combat support agency. Established by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency Act of 1996, NIMA has a global mission and unique responsibilities to manage and provide imagery and geospatial information to national policy makers and military forces. In recognition of its unique responsibilities and global mission, NIMA is also established as a part of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

NIMA brings together in a single organization the imagery tasking, exploitation, production and dissemination responsibilities and the mapping, charting and geodetic functions of eight separate organizations of the Defense and Intelligence communities. By providing comprehensive management of U.S. imaging and geospatial capabilities, NIMA will improve support to national and military customers alike.

NIMA's mission is to provide timely, relevant and accurate imagery, imagery intelligence and geospatial information in support of national security objectives. The agency's vision is to guarantee the information edge--ready access to the world's imagery, imagery intelligence and geospatial information.

NIMA incorporates the Defense Mapping Agency, the Central Imagery Office, and the Defense Dissemination Program Office in their entirety; and the mission and functions of CIA's National Photographic Interpretation Center. These organizations are disestablished effective today. Also included in NIMA are the imagery exploitation, dissemination and processing elements of the Defense Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office and the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office.

Navy Rear Admiral J.J. Dantone, Jr., formerly the director of the Defense Mapping Agency and the director of the NIMA Implementation Team, has been named acting director for the new agency. Named as deputy directors are Leo Hazlewood (Operations); Dr. Annette Krygiel (Systems and Technology) and W. Douglas Smith (Corporate Affairs).

First among NIMA's core values is commitment to the customer. NIMA consolidates activities and functions that will permit employees to work with some of the latest technological developments in computers, communications, digital imagery and geospatial information. A major early thrust of the agency will be to promote the use of commercial solutions within NIMA while maintaining continued high levels of support to our military forces and national policy makers.

Headquartered in Fairfax, Va., NIMA will operate major facilities in the Northern Virginia, Washington, D. C., Bethesda, Md. and St. Louis, Mo. areas with support and liaison offices worldwide.

For further information, contact the NIMA Public Liaison Office at 703-275-8409.

-END-

Source: http://www.dtic.mil/defenselink/pubs/ofg/of_nima.html

DoD Organization and Functions Guidebook

NATIONAL IMAGERY AND MAPPING AGENCY (NIMA)

The National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) is a Combat Support Agency of the Department of Defense under the authority, direction, and control of the Secretary of Defense and the overall supervision of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (ASD(C3I)). The mission of the NIMA is to provide timely, relevant, and accurate imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information in support of the national security objectives of the United States. The NIMA carries out this responsibility by advising the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, the ASD(C3I), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Combatant Commanders, and, for national intelligence purposes, the Director of Central Intelligence and other Federal Government officials, on imagery, imagery intelligence, and gospatial information; and by supporting the imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial requirements of the Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government, to the extent provided by law.

Source: http://www.dtic.dla.mil/npr/cio.html

CENTRAL IMAGERY OFFICE

• Exploitation Process Reengineering Study (ExPReS). The Central Imagery Office (CIO) received a 1995 Hammer Award for the National Reinvention Lab, ExPReS. CIO led an effort to improve the imagery exploitation process so that it meets the new threat environment, the downsizing of government, and the new technical capabilities. ExPReS provides a blueprint for implementing an improved imagery exploitation process that will satisfy customer needs for the United States Imagery System (USIS) by 2003. It defines the common baseline for the USIS exploitation process, identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and impediments, establishes a common vision, goals and objectives for the imagery community, and designs an "optimized" future exploitation process. In addition to process reengineering, ExPReS will provide decision support information on enabling technologies and migration systems associated with exploitation.

• Virtual Laboratory. The CIO has orchestrated a Virtual Laboratory (VL) for collaborative Research and Development (R&D) under common goals. This VL has been a success story in cutting red tape and empowering employees involved in R&D across organizational boundaries. The VL, similar to Internet, is focused around CIO's R&D Strategic Thrust Objectives, and fosters common imagery R&D, and produces a synergy derived from a collaborative effort. The VL has an encrypted state-of-the-art Wide Area Network infrastructure which uses the Asynchronous Transfer Mode protocol. The VL infrastructure allows laboratory experts to access assets (tools and expertise) in a joint effort to improve user's operational capabilities. The main vehicle into the VL is a commercial-off-the shelf (COTS) collaborative software package that allows researchers to have a four- or five-way video teleconference while manipulating imagery simultaneously on a whiteboard viewable at all sites. Other tools available at laboratories include COTS, government-off-the-shelf, and developed software applications such as imagery exploitation, video exploitation, derived product development, digital mapping, and data base manipulations. Government employees and contractors working for the Military Services, Defense Department, Energy Department, Department of the Interior, and Intelligence Community are participating in the VL. Stovepipes, redundant efforts, and secularism have changed into cost sharing and technology leveraging through the VL.

• Seal of Approval. The CIO's Seal of Approval Process and its correlated award recognizes excellence in quality achievements in the hundreds of imagery programs that fall within the domain of the USIS. Based on the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the Seal of Approval assesses the effectiveness and efficiency of imagery systems, their compatibility and future utility within the USIS. The criteria for being awarded the Seal of Approval focus on compliance with USIS, customer satisfaction, process improvements, and principles of good government. Since its inception in 1994, the Seal of Approval Processes facilitated organizational partnerships, created a better understanding of imagery community interactions, and accelerated technology sharing and imagery/product service improvement. Thus far, the CIO has awarded the Seal of Approval to the National Photographic Interpretation Center's Softcopy Program, the Defense Mapping Agency's Digital Production System, the National Reconnaissance Office's Enhanced Imagery System, and the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance Office's Common Imagery Ground/Surface System.

• CIO Help Desk. The CIO established a 24-hour Help Desk to provide "one-stop shopping" for imagery questions and requests, especially for those customers residing outside the Washington, D.C. area. CIO wanted to eliminate the confusion and frustration that might be felt by customers who needed to contact CIO personnel but were unsure of where to start. The Help Desk is integrating more technical customer support and eventually will evolve into a USIS Support Center providing assistance to all imagery-related matters. The CIO Help Desk can offer assistance on any of the following categories: imagery plans, policy, programs, standards, architecture, R&D, and operations. The 24-hour, 7 days a week toll free number is 1-800-CIO-8432.

• Pilot Accelerated Architecture Acquisition. The PA3I represents the initial and highly successful CIO effort to begin migration to the United States Imagery System (USIS). An integral CIO undertaking, the USIS sets forth the objective imagery architecture. As the inaugural A3I and CIO step toward USIS, PA3I focused on the infrastructure of the current imagery system as well as imagery to the warfighter. Collectively, the PA3I effort recorded numerous successes in terms of technical advancement, streamlined processes, and improving support to the imagery community.

First field during the pilot effort, the Image Product Archive (IPA), standardized library function based on commercially available hardware and software, significantly improved the ability of warfighters to directly access and receive high quality imagery. At a number of key locations in the U.S., IPA now successfully links clients in the Intelligence Community with producers of imagery who can direct the activities of imagery collection platforms across service boundaries. Consequently, deployed military users have ready access to an electronic inventory of imagery and imagery-derived products using commercial-off-the-shelf computer systems. Further benefits are expected with the introduction of IPA into the European and Pacific theaters of operations during 1996.

The IPA Client was installed on the USS George Washington (CVN 73) during the pilot effort. This marked the first time forces afloat have been able to fully participate in the USIS, and demonstrated IPA's ability to provide imagery to and from forces at sea. It is also the first installation of IPA on a service-unique intelligence workstation, further streamlining the activities of DoD imagery analysts. These military analysts now have increased, readily-available sources of imagery through PA3I. IPA has also been installed on an Army intelligence workstation testbed, and will be installed on the Air Force intelligence workstation during 1996. IPA will also become resident on the Global Command and Control System.

The PA3I also achieved considerable success in adapting, enhancing and incorporating communications and intelligence systems toward pilot objectives. Notably, the PA3I delivered improvements for both the imagery analyst and imagery consumer via increased communications capability at numerous sites. Pilot also witnessed establishment of IPA to INTELINK access for both SCI and SECRET COLLATERAL users. As a result, INTELINK users are able to access IPA/INTELINK central servers for IPA holdings--once again aiding the customer base through increased access via streamlined processes. IPA was also integrated onto the Joint Deployable Intelligence Support System (JDISS), the widely-distributed workstation standard, thereby allowing global JDISS users access to imagery and imagery products on IPA servers.

The success of PA3I resonates into the future, as other imagery archives will migrate to the IPA. IPA has also been selected as the imagery file server for the defense-wide airborne reconnaissance development program. The PA3I constitutes a major success story for the Department of Defense.

Source: http://www.dtic.dlA.mil/ieb_cctwg/conf-96/NEL.html

Unclassified

Bridging Exploitation, Research
and Development in service
to the Imagery Community

What is the NEL?

A central focus for imagery exploitation

• Issues
• Systems
• Methodologies
• Technologies
• Standards

by conducting

• Experiments
• Studies
• Analyses
• Technical Assessments
• Prototyping

for our customers:

• Intelligence Community
• Exploitation Centers
• Program Offices
• Military Commands

NEL Skills

• Imagery Analysis
• Imagery Science
• Image Processing
• Experimental Design
• Statistical Analysis
• Computer Science
• Systems Analysis
• Human Factors
• Systems Engineering
• Strategic Planning
• Information Science
• Project Management

---

NEL Contractor Base

• Consulting
• Engineering
• Hardware
• Software
• Imagery
• Defense
• Scientific
• FFRDCs

---

Unique Resources

• Exploitation system evaluation lab
• Image quality and utility labs
• Resident staff with extensive base of collection and exploitation knowledge
• Proximity to large cadre of Washington area imagery analysts
• Experiment Resources Working Group
• National Image Resource Library
• Statistical Techniques, Analysis and Reporting Support

---

NEL Business Areas

• Softcopy
• Exploitation Planning and Concepts
• Exploitation Tools and Methodologies
• Information Technology
• Emerging Programs

---

Challenges

• Adjust to resource uncertainties
• Prepare for a different environment
• Capitalize on technology explosion
• Ease the transition to softcopy
• Maximize support to NPIC and the Community

For additional information, contact Paul DelGaudio, (Acting) Executive Officer, NEL, 202-863-3201.
15 April 1996

Source: http://tuvok.au.af.mil/au/2025/volume1/chap07/v1c7-6.htm

This appendix lists and briefly describes current and near-term systems used for intelligence gathering, processing, and dissemination. This list is not all inclusive.

CURRENT SYSTEMS ¹

1. Contingency Theater Automated Planning System (CTAPS) for Air Tasking Order (ATO) preparation and dissemination

2. Constant Source -- an automatic associator receiving threat data from national and theater systems via the Tactics and Related Applications (TRAP) broadcast and providing an Electronic Order of Battle

3. Department of Defense Intelligence Information System -- supporting "timely" preparation and presentation of intelligence information to military commanders and national-level decision makers

4. Joint Deployable Intelligence Support System (JDISS) -- supporting imagery dissemination and providing a backbone for secondary imagery

5. Regional Operations Control Center/Airborne Warning and Control System (ROCC/AWACS) Digital Information Link (TADIL) -- providing real-time surveillance and battle management information

6. Joint Situational Awareness System (JSAS) -- providing some multi-source fusion products for a limited set of users

FUTURE SYSTEMS ²

1. Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS) -- providing secure, high-speed multimedia network connectivity between and among all levels from National Agencies and Commands to deployed forces

2. Joint Service Imagery Processing System (JSIPS) -- a modular, deployable imagery exploitation system with the capability to receive, process, and exploit near real-time inputs from national and tactical assets and then disseminate imagery and message products to commanders at all levels

Notes

1

HQ ACC/SCX, C⁴I Systems Guide, Langley AFB, Va., 1994.

2

Ibid.

Back to 2025 Home Page

Source: http://jitc-emh.army.mil/nitf/refs.htm

NITFS Reference Documents*

MIL-STD-188-196...................Bi-level Image Compression for the NITFS

MIL-STD-188-197A................Adaptive Recursive Interpolated Differential Pulse Code Modulation (ARIDPCM) Image Compression for the NITFS

MIL-STD-188-198A................Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) Image Compression for the NITFS

MIL-STD-188-199...................Vector Quantization Decompression for the NITFS

MIL-STD-2301........................Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM) Implementation Standard for the NITFS

MIL-STD-2500A.......................National Imagery Transmission Format (Version 2.0)

MIL-STD-2545-44500.............Tactical Communications Protocol 2 (TACO2) for the NITFS

ISO IS 10918-1/CCITT T.81...Digital Compression and Coding of Continuous-tone Draft Recommendation, Still Images. Part I: Requirements and Guidelines

ISO CD 10918-II......................Digital Compression and Coding of Continuous-tone Still images, Part II: Compliance Testing

JIEO Circular 9008..................NITFS Certification Test & Evaluation Program Plan (with latest errata sheets)

JIEO Plan 9000, Sup 1.............Imagery Information Technology Standards Management Plan, Supplement 1, DoD National Imagery Transmission Format Standards (NITFS) Configuration Management Plan (to be published)

JIEO TIS** 9137.....................NITFS TACO2 to KY-57/58 Cryptographic Devices

JIEO TIS 9138.........................NITFS TACO2 to KG-84A & C Cryptographic Devices

JIEO TIS 9139.........................NITFS TACO2 to KY-68 Cryptographic Devices

JIEO TIS 9140.........................NITFS TACO2 to STU-III Cryptographic Devices

FIPS PUB 10-3.........................Countries, Dependencies, Areas of Special Sovereignty, and Their Principle Administrative Divisions

FIPS PUB 128..........................Computer Graphics Metafile

NITF Ver 1.1............................National Imagery Transmission Format, Version 1.1

NITF Ver 1.1, Vol I..................National Certification Policy

NITF Ver 1.1, Vol II................NITF Certification Plan, Processes, and Procedures

* Contact the Information Technology Standards Integrated Bulletin Board System (ITSI BBS) helpdesk at (703) 487-8338/ DSN 364-8338 for the latest information regarding these publications or assistance in establishing a BBS user account.

** Technical Interface Specification

NITFS "Navigator"

go to one of the following pages...

• HomePage
• Interoperability Testing
• Conformance Testing
• Sample Files
• NITFS References
• NITFS Registers
• NITFS Tagged Record Extensions Register (Demo!)

Current as of: 20 January 1997
JITC NITFS CTE Facility, Bldg. 57305, Fort Huachuca, AZ, 85613
Web page comments or problems? Please forward to: JITCN@fhu.disa.mil

Source: http://cbdnet.access.gpo.gov/index.html

[Commerce Business Daily: Posted March 6, 1997]
From the Commerce Business Daily Online via GPO Access
[cbdnet.access.gpo.gov]

PART: CONTRACT AWARDS
SUBPART: SERVICES
CLASSCOD: C--Architect and Engineering Services - Construction
OFFADD: National Imagery and Mapping Agency, 4600 Sangamore Road,
  MS PCC-E/D-6, Bethesda, MD 20816-5003
SUBJECT: C--ARCHITECT/ENGINEERING SERVICES
POC Contact Point: Mr. Howard Pierce, Contract Specialist, (301)
  227-5130
CNT NMA401-97-D-2732
AMT $825,000
LINE 0001-0003
DTD 030497
TO Stanmyre & Noel Architects, 11495 Sunset Hills Road, Suite
  200, Reston, VA 20190
CITE: (I-065 SN039054)