Assessing Common Application of Surveillance Tools

at EU Level

Dr. Alexandros K. Kolovos

As. Professor, Hellenic Air Force Academy

Brigadier-General, Hellenic Air Force (rtd)

Assessing Common Application of Surveillance Tools at EU Level

• The European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR) • Focusing on the EU Surveillance Tools• State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement• Epilogue

Assessing Common Application of Surveillance Tools

at EU Level

I. The European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR)

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The European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR)

• The EUROSUR :• Has been adopted by the EU Council as one of the key

initiatives under the EU’s Internal Security Strategy (ISS, 2010).

• Is designed to reinforce the control of the EU external borders

The EUROSUR as a main initiative of the ISS protecting EU’s internal area of freedom (Schengen Area)

The European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR)

• The EUROSUR, using modern surveillance technologies (e.g. satellites, Unmanned Aerial Systems etc.) will improve the :

• Situational awareness, by providing daily national and European operational picture plus pre-frontier intelligence picture and the

• Management of the reaction capability.

The European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR)

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EUROSUR: A System of Systems

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The European Border Surveillance System (EUROSUR)

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Security through border management and Terrorism are two of the five challenges of the EU’s Internal Security Strategy

Assessing Common Application of Surveillance Tools

at EU Level

II. Focusing on the EU Surveillance Tools

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II. Focusing on the EU Surveillance Tools

• The application of surveillance tools to Border Surveillance, according to its 'Concept of Operations‘, (2011) consist of:• Ship reporting systems

• Imagery from Earth Observation satellites

• Sensors mounted on any kind of platforms (including Unmanned Aerial Systems)

Ship reporting systems (AIS, SAIS,VMS,LRIT)

Imagery from Earth Observation satellites

Copernicus will support environmental and security policymaking by providing free of charge to everyone operational information

on the land surfaces, oceans and atmosphere

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Copernicus Space Component (2015 - ) is affected by user’s requirements

Sentinel 1 – RADAR imaging

All weather, day/night applications

Sentinel 2 – Superspectral imaging

Continuity of Landsat, SPOT & Vegetation-type data

Sentinel 3 – Ocean monitoring

Wide-swath ocean color and surface temperature sensors, altimeter

Sentinel 4 – Geostationary atmospheric

Atmospheric composition monitoring, trans-boundary pollution

Sentinel 5 – Low-orbit atmospheric

Atmospheric composition monitoring

Schedule of Copernicus’ Sentinels until 2030

Sentinel-2 captured smoke and fires raging in Canada’s Alberta province

Sentinel-1 map of flood extent: Sri-Lanka

Border Surveillance Component of the Copernicus Security Service will use all kinds of EO satellites (like the US DigitalGlobe’s very high

resolution satellite family)

The Copernicus Security Service will use all kinds of EO satellites

Sensors mounted on any kind of platforms (including Unmanned Aerial Systems)

II. Focusing on the EU Surveillance Tools

• FRONTEX and EU has extensively used UAS in research projects for border surveillance, but there are concerns of safety to the aviation.

• EU mandates the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to regulate Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) with an operating mass of 150 Kg or more. Below 150 Kg UAS are regulated by individual Member States of the EU.

• EASA is in progress of setting a regulatory framework for unmanned aircraft.

• As such UAS still are not officially used in the EUROSUR framework

The EU Surveillance Tools combined can support the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance needs for border

control

II. Focusing on the EU Surveillance Tools

II. Focusing on the EU Surveillance Tools

Criteria UAS Piloted Satellites

Resolution Very High Very High Very High-High

Coverage Limited Limited Wide

Revisit Time Best Best Limited

Agility Best Best Good

Political Sensitivity Vulnerable Vulnerable Non Vulnerable

Countermeasures Fragile Fragile Non Fragile

Cost High High Small

Geometric Accuracy High High Very High

Assessing Common Application of Surveillance Tools

at EU Level

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

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III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

• In November 2015 the EC-Frontex Delegation Agreement on the implementation of the Border Surveillance component of the Copernicus Security Service has been signed.

• Under this Agreement, which will become operational in 2017, Frontex will get 47mil euros until 2020 to provide services derived from fused sensor data coming from:

• Ship reporting systems• Imagery from satellites

• A portfolio of 8 services designed by FRONTEX with end users, focuses on:• Land services, based on satellite imagery which will include analysis of ports, coasts, beaches

and border crossing points, and require work by imagery analysts. • Maritime service are based on ship reporting systems and ship detection in satellite imagery

and are assumed to be semiautomatic.

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

• The public has limited access to this Agreement since Commission withholds some information which might raise concerns of public security and defence nature.• “Due to the fact that the Appendix contains sensitive data as to the exact

technical specifications of the data products to be delivered by Frontex in the context of the Copernicus security service, and the disclosure of that information might potentially prejudice the effectiveness of the law enforcement activities assisted by the Copernicus Security Service, the Commission has found justified and necessary to withhold that information as the only way to guarantee the efficiency of that service”.

HELLENIC AIR FORCE ACADEMY

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

HELLENIC AIR FORCE ACADEMY

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

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LAND SERVICES S1 – COASTAL MONITORING

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

HELLENIC AIR FORCE ACADEMY

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

MARITIME SERVICE

• According to the Report from the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council Sixth bi-annual report on the functioning of the Schengen area 1 May - 31 October 2014 /* COM/2014/0711 final• ”for the very first time the satellite images obtained in the framework of Eurosur

cooperation enabled to save the lives of migrants. On 16-17 September, the satellite imagery obtained through Eurosur framework with support of an FP7 project, enabled to locate and rescue a migrant rubber boat in the Mediterranean with 38 people on board, including eight women and three children that has spent three days in an open sea and was drifting outside the area where search and rescue activity for the boat was ongoing originally.”

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

HELLENIC AIR FORCE ACADEMY

III. State of Play: The EU-FRONTEX Delegation Agreement

• The EU-Frontex Delegation Agreement (DA) implements the Border Surveillance component of the Copernicus Security Service, currently using multi sensor data fusion derived from ship reporting systems and satellite imagery.

• No UAS are used yet due to aviation safety reasons.• Copernicus will support environmental and security policymaking by providing

free of charge to everyone operational information. But other data from enabled EO satellites have cost.

• Enabling satellite in a tactical manner seeking high time-critical targets in the maritime domain is a challenging task.

• Copernicus is a user driven programme. Its users are at the centre of its implementation, so borderguards feedback will affect future programme's design.

• Key players in the DA such as EC, Frontex, SatCen and EMSA enable the further integration and development of a common culture of all main European and local actors in the surveillance of the EU external borders.

Epilogue