Keep Your Troubles Outside the Fence

June 11, 2020
Next-generation technology offers deeper understanding of the security issues facing your airfield and how to protect it.

(Editor’s note: some interviews cited in this article were conducted in Spanish and have been translated for publication)

Oakland International Airport (OAK) opted to protect a vulnerable part of its airfield with a technology solution when a physical barrier wouldn’t get the job done.

The fence line at OAK terminates at the San Francisco Bay. Whenever the tide goes out, a large mudflat occurs, which creates an opportunity for someone to breach the airfield.

Douglas Mansel, aviation security manager for OAK, said they opted for the SpotterRF system to provide monitoring and protect the area.

“It’s a cost-effective way to use a ground-based radar to monitor large areas,” he said. “We can install fencing in some areas and others could be difficult.”

The SpotterRF system deploys antennas around the airport to monitor for intruders. The system integrates into the airport’s existing operating system and allows staff to couple it with other security monitoring systems.

You can deploy it in 15 minutes in the short term, but in the long term you need to understand how radar works and you have to design to its environment.

John Hunsucker, business development manager for the eastern U.S. for SpotterRF, said it also allows airports flexibility to meet new policy changes in security because it can be moved around quickly and still have accurate readings.

“We can rest it very quickly and accurately,” he said. “We don’t even have to be on site.”

OAK tested the system and found the value in the technology, so Mansel said they now utilize it across the south end of the airfield and even started monitoring parking areas as well to protect traveler’s cars.

The system has even helped distressed boaters in the bay. Mansel said there was an incident where  distressed boater was able to seek help when the radar detected him and a wind surfer who had also gotten stranded and wandered onto the airport area.

“I think it has really upgraded our overall security,” Mansel said. “Before we had this system, we were relying on our patrols to detect if they saw someone coming out of the water. We still do the patrols, but it’s another layer of security that helps us.”

Plate readers show you who’s at your airport

Airports need to understand who is on their property to properly protect it. License plate reader technology is a powerful tool to identify who is coming into the perimeter and how often.

Kathleen Chigos, president of Platesmart Technology, said airports want to keep track of who is entering and leaving to the facility. Knowing and tracking the cars can be a valuable tool in keeping things safe.

Readers identify the cars, plates and descriptions of the vehicle. The smart technology identifies the information and can alert authorities when someone dangerous or suspicious has entered the grounds.

Placing the technology at access point for contractors also allows the airports to know when and who are entering the airfield when a capital project is underway.

“If a police agency is looking for a known terrorist and they know the car that terrorist is driving in and they want to make sure this terrorist isn’t coming on their property, they can go into the system create their own hotlist of who they are looking for,” she said. “If that vehicle comes on the property, they’re immediately alert via text, message on the command center, or email and they can dispatch law enforcement and go out and start an investigation in real time.”

Webb Wang, chief technology officer of Platesmart Technology, said it’s important for airport to know the movement of vehicles into the property as it’s how everyone arrives at an airport. Having this information allows you to know who is on the property and the information about the vehicle.

Chigos said a terrorist cased an airport in Brussels for five days. They went through the airport and parking garage to understand the facility.

“That’s identified as a suspicious car with our system and it’s flagged,” she said. “We can alert them with the traffic flow, with the congestion of the vehicles as well.”

Wang said it’s important to pick a standard off-the-shelf program that integrates with cameras and operating systems. It should also allow you to keep your data and give you the opportunity to store information onsite or offsite.

Airports need to know their facilities, the capture points and the data that has to carry the most weight for weighing threats to configure the solution to the facility.

“It’s more than just having the raw data about the vehicles,” he said. “You have to be able to extract information from this massive amount of data.”

When picking a license plate reader technology, Wang said airports should ask for a proof of the solution to check how the vendor got the results they claim. It also needs to work with other solutions.

“It can’t be running from a silo,” he said. “It needs to coexist with other solutions.” 

A better set of eyes

Nicholas V. Carter, CEO of Pharovision, said airports remained concerned about intruders on the airfield. Whether it be accidental intrusion, nefarious actors or other persons, it’s a major challenge to secure the airside. Wildlife and UAV intrusion is also a growing concern.

There’s also a growing concerned about people trying to get out from the airfield into the community.

“Everybody’s security is focused outward, not inward,” Carter said. “That has been a big challenge for them.”

Many airports rely on traditional fences with touch sensors to protect the airfield. However, Carter said there are a lot of false alarms and staff can’t respond in time to see what the issue was.

“It’s a bird sitting on the fence or a dog that touched it, or the wind or a tree knocking against it,” he said. “The other aspect is being able to see at night. Even if you have those types of sensors or regular video cameras looking for intruders it doesn’t work at night, especially in obscure parts of the airport.”

Dallas Love Field (DAL) brought in Pharovision to address a bird and wildlife issue along with UAV concerns. The airport was undergoing a large construction project where a sizeable amount of outer perimeter fence was removed, so Carter said they were able to use the Pharovision equipment to scan for intruders as well.

"In one case it’s a coyote, in another it’s a person. Either way it doesn’t matter to the system. It’s an intrusion,” he said.

Pharovision uses long-range infrared scanning systems to detect intrusions. It can scan for miles to detect a UAV before entering the airfield, so any potential intrusion is seen before it’s too late.

Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) uses one system on top of the control tower to scan the sky and one pointed to the ground mounted to a radio tower. The high location allows for a better line of sight.

“You’re optimizing your location for the specific target you’re looking for,” Carter said. “If you’re looking for intruders, you want to put the system pretty high up to get a good view of the perimeter fence. If you don’t have full line of sight, then you probably want one or more systems to get complete coverage.”

TLV originally got the Pharovision system to monitor wildlife, but a few months ago, Carter said a flight from Europe came in and did a hardstand. As soon as the door opened a passenger ran off into the darkness. They set up a scan and it detect the intruder instantly and he was arrested.

“Even though they had these powerful infrared cameras, it’s difficult when you hear someone has jumped off an aircraft and run off into the airfield in the middle of the night because where do you look,” he said. “If you sit there and manually look for this person, they probably would’ve missed him.”

Albrook “Marcos A. Gelabert" International Airport (PAC) near Panama City, Panama, brought in the Pharovision system for a test. The first night it was in operation, Carter said they found a man who jumped the fence and was stealing parts off of airplanes.

“We got the control tower to call out the security forces and they directed them because it’s pitch black,” he said. “The guy who was stealing stuff saw security before they saw him. He skirted underneath an aircraft and we communicated via radio to where he was."

Arleene Fábrega Conte, environmental and fauna management specialist in Panama, said Panamanian airports have challenges with wildlife, so they need to embrace technology to build a proactive approach to management. 

“Captain Gustavo Pérez, director general of the Civil Aeronautical Authority, was initially interested in seeing how the team operated and what type of wildlife incursions existed at the aerodrome at night,” Fábrega Conte said. “However, the big surprise was when we captured an intruder the first night and shortly after the equipment was installed, so it was obvious that we had more problems than simply the presence of wildlife during the night. After that, we started using the system to scan the perimeter for intruders.”

She said automated tracking mode allows the user to track specific targets across the environment because it tracks what the eye can’t see.

“It can cover the runway and taxiway; In addition to covering the incursion and detection of fauna in the air or on the ground,” she said. “It also serves as a uniformed security to detect human intruders throughout the area.”

PAC has also benefitted from placing the Pharovision system high up. Fábrega Conte said they need to be able to scan the perimeter fence of the airfield as well as the interior of the airport. We can also see the sky from these places to see the birds, so having them close to the ground does not help.

Fábrega Conte said the aviation authority was finalizing the purchase contracts for the systems throughout Panama when the coronavirus pandemic broke out. As soon as things calm down they will finish the acquisition.

Carter said airports should consider how they’re going to use a particular security device before investing. Understand what you want to monitor, how you plan to address threats and who will run the system.

“I’m giving you basically a huge pair of binoculars that can see for miles and miles that can detect things and see in the middle of the night,” he said. “But what are you going to do with that once you get that information. It’s not just about monitoring it, it’s about taking actionable responses in some way.”

Fábrega Conte recommends airports consider adequate systems that can accomplish multiple things to solve various problems. She also recommends you make sure you take the systems to your own airports to see how they work in the field, what they can do, and how they can operate, before continuing.

“They must see what technology can achieve in their own environment, not compare it to other places or the vague promises made by technology companies,” she said. “In general terms, perimeter security is defined as those elements and systems that allow the protection of perimeters in sensitive installations from being attacked or invaded by intruders. So, you have to analyze what they want to protect to be more efficient.”

“If you’re going to put a smoke alarm in a house, that’s great, but if it goes off, what are you going to do,” Carter said. “Are you going to take the battery out and ignore it, or are you going to respond to it, how are you going to respond to it.”