Paikkatietoylivoima digitaalisella taistelukentällä : sotilaallisten maastoanalyysien metamalli

Abstract

The way of conducting military operations in the future will rely heavily on computers and use of digital information. The new keyword is precise engagement, where geoinformatics has a decisive role. This dissertation deals with the use of geographical information in military terrain analysis as a backbone for new possibilities from the Finnish Defence Forces point of view.

This dissertation is divided into three parts. The first part introduces the battlefield and describes the background: technical basis, COTS and analysis opportunities, available GIS datasets in Finland and possibilities to gather specific military field data. The second part presents the decision-making process used in the FDF and the demands set from the viewpoint of new component architecture. The second part also forms the hierarchical metamodel to solve the stated problem. The third part is the empiria that is used to evaluate and describe the use of the model. Quality is dealt with as a holistic issue covering all parts of the model including basic datasets.

The dissertation claims that:

Military terrain analysis is done effectively by the guidance of the formed hierarchical metamodel on three levels (figure on the next page). Basis for the geospatial information superiority can be built with the Finnish geographical datasets, which are complemented by the military field data. Military terrain analysis can significantly support the decision making process. Tactical level constructive simulator as a decision support tool is a part of the highest level GIS analysis in order to support the decision making process. Fast way to implement the terrain analysis in C3-systems is to use COTS tools. The standards are becoming mature enough to ensure the adequate openness of the systems. GIS analysis can support military risk evaluation and decisions also in cooperation with the civil society to protect the people and the infrastructure.

The conceptual model to support data acquisition from the enemy by terrain analysis is also introduced. Used forms of data, information and knowledge are enemy (1-data), no enemy (0-data) and places where no data can be obtained by the used sensor (no-data).

The research was conducted with the hypothetic-deductive method and it was commenced in 1998. The relationships between the combat models and the constructive simulators were studied in theory and applied by inspecting 14 different systems.

This work relates to defining the GIS strategy as a part of the C3-architecture for the FDF.