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28-475: The SGAM is intended to advance the Geospatial Intelligence tradecraft by providing an approach not only to teach the analyst how forage and repackage data, but also how to analyze the data in a meaningful way. It has been long known that without specific prompting, people may be unaware of spatial patterns of an environment and, similar to other areas of intelligence analysis, the geospatial analyst has

56-446: A marketing strategy). Geospatial intelligence analysis has been light-heartedly defined as "seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought" or as "anticipating a target's mental map." However, these perspectives affirm that creating geospatial knowledge is an effortful cognitive process the analyst undertakes; it is an intellectual endeavor that arrives at a conclusion through reasoning. Geospatial reasoning creates

84-536: A geographic spatial context. Geospatial Intelligence can be derived entirely independent of any satellite or aerial imagery and can be clearly differentiated from IMINT (imagery intelligence). Confusion and dissension is caused by Title 10 U.S. Code §467's separation of "imagery" or "satellite information" from "geospatial information" as imagery is generally considered just one of the forms which geospatial information might take or be derived from. It has also been suggested that geospatial intelligence can be described as

112-548: A greater diversity of knowledge and reduces the risk of missing relevant information. This collaborative element is essential to the SGAM, as teaming is identified as one of the steps within the overall method. The Director of National Intelligence’s (DNI) vision for 2015 is one in which intelligence analysis increasingly becomes a collaborative enterprise with the focus of collaboration shifting “away from coordination of draft products toward regular discussion of data and hypotheses early in

140-459: A particular location on, above, or below the Earth's surface. The intelligence gathering method can include imagery, signals, measurements and signatures, and human sources, i.e., IMINT, SIGINT, MASINT, and HUMINT, as long as a geo-location can be associated with the intelligence. Thus, rather than being a peer to the other "INT", geospatial intelligence might better be viewed as the unifying structure of

168-431: A product occurring at the point of delivery, i.e., by the amount of analysis which occurs to resolve particular problems, not by the type of data used. For example, a database containing a list of measurements of bridges obtained from imagery is 'information' while the development of an output using analysis to determine those bridges that are able to be utilized for specific purposes could be termed 'intelligence'. Similarly,

196-400: Is a list of intelligence gathering disciplines . Human intelligence (HUMINT) are gathered from a person in the location in question. Sources can include the following: MI6 is often thought to use human intelligence to operate in different countries or Britain itself to protect the country from global affairs. However, this is usually confused with their brother agency MI5, which focuses on

224-483: Is growing recognition that human geography, socio-cultural intelligence, and other aspects of the human domain are a critical domain of GEOINT data due to the now pervasive geo-referencing of demographic, ethnographic, and political stability data. There is an emerging recognition that "this legal definition paints with a broad brushstroke an idea of the width and depth of GEOINT" and "GEOINT must evolve even further to integrate forms of intelligence and information beyond

252-431: Is inclusive, HYDROSPATIAL is preferably used to refer and to focus on the aquatic and coastal zones spatial elements. Here Geospatial Intelligence, or the frequently used term GEOINT , is an intelligence discipline comprising the exploitation and analysis of geospatial data and information to describe, assess, and visually depict physical features (both natural and constructed) and geographically reference activities on

280-512: Is just a new term used to identify a broad range of outputs from intelligence organizations that use a variety of existing spatial skills and disciplines including photogrammetry , cartography , imagery analysis , remote sensing , and terrain analysis . However, GEOINT is more than the sum of these parts. Spatial thinking as applied in Geospatial Intelligence can synthesize any intelligence or other data that can be conceptualized in

308-481: Is more reflective of the broad international nature of the discipline, is vastly different from the de jure definition expressed in U.S. Code. This de facto definition is: This has been suggested as an operational definition of Geospatial Intelligence which might use the moniker of GeoIntel so as to distinguish it from the more restrictive definition offered in U.S. Code Title 10, §467. @52.832005.2.3278 List of intelligence gathering disciplines This

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336-415: Is no longer confined to the U.S. government , or even the world's leading military powers. Additionally, countries such as India are holding GEOINT-specific conferences. While other countries may define geospatial intelligence somewhat differently than does the U.S., the use of GEOINT data and services is the same. Geospatial Intelligence can also be referred to as "Location Intelligence". Although GEOINT

364-530: Is split into six major disciplines: electro-optical, nuclear, radar, geophysical, materials, and radiofrequency. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) are gathered from open sources. OSINT can be further segmented by the source type: Internet/General, Scientific/Technical, and various HUMINT specialties, e.g. trade shows, association meetings, and interviews. Signals intelligence (SIGINT) are gathered from interception of signals. Technical intelligence (TECHINT) are gathered from analysis of weapons and equipment used by

392-415: The Earth's natural and constructed features (including elevations and depths)—whether as individual layers in a GIS or as composited into a map or chart, imagery representations of the Earth, AND, the presentation of the existence of data, information, and knowledge derived from analysis of IMINT , SIGINT , MASINT , HUMINT , and other intelligence sources and disciplines. It has been suggested that GEOINT

420-399: The Earth. Geospatial Intelligence data sources include imagery and mapping data, whether collected by commercial satellite, government satellite, aircraft (such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles [UAV] or reconnaissance aircraft), or by other means, such as maps and commercial databases, census information, GPS waypoints, utility schematics, or any discrete data that have locations on earth. There

448-602: The United States, geospatial intelligence ( GEOINT ) is intelligence about the human activity on Earth derived from the exploitation and analysis of imagery, signals, or signatures with geospatial information . GEOINT describes, assesses, and visually depicts physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth. GEOINT, as defined in US Code, consists of imagery, imagery intelligence (IMINT) and geospatial information. GEOINT knowledge and related tradecraft

476-447: The analyst fulfills. Sensemaking is the ability to create situational awareness and understanding in situations of high complexity or uncertainty in order to make decisions. It is “a motivated, continuous effort to understand connections (which can be among people, places, and events) in order to anticipate their trajectories and act effectively”. Pirolli discusses the importance of using a cooperative approach to sensemaking as it yields

504-440: The human tendency to: Spatial thinking that goes beyond a simple identification of locations is key to applying the SGAM. This thinking involves comparing locations, considering the influence of nearby features, grouping regions and hierarchies, and identifying distant places that have similar conditions. It is also the consideration of change, movement, and diffusion through time and place. Spatial thinking then proceeds to examine

532-459: The ilk of IMINT, SIGINT, MASINT, HUMINT. The question as to how GEOINT is different from other geospatial analytic activities is occasionally asked. Bacastow suggested the following First Principles as markers that define the professional domain in terms of uniqueness and value. These are: The definitions and usage of the terms geospatial data, geospatial information, and geospatial knowledge are not consistent or unambiguous, further exacerbating

560-551: The objective connection between a geospatial problem representation and geospatial evidence. Here one set of activities, information foraging , focuses around finding information while another set of activities, sensemaking , focuses on giving meaning to the information. The activities of foraging and sensemaking in geospatial analysis have been incorporated in the Structured Geospatial Analytic Method . A de facto definition of geospatial intelligence, which

588-433: The places and compare places in the context of space and time. The method is organized into two major loops: The foraging loop recognizes that analysts tend to search for data by beginning with a broad set of data and then proceeding to narrow that set down into successfully smaller, higher-precision sets of data, before analyzing the information. The three foraging actions including exploring for new information; narrowing

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616-577: The research phase”. This is a major change from the traditional concept of geospatial analysis as largely an individual activity, and requires the geospatial analyst to be skilled in building, leading, resourcing, and managing teams for effective outcomes. The data flow represents the converting of raw information into a form where expertise can be applied and then out to another form suited for communication. Information processing can be driven by bottom-up processes (from data to theory) or top-down (from theory to data). The below Table provides more detail about

644-545: The security of Britain. Financial intelligence (FININT) are gathered from analysis of monetary transactions. Geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) are gathered from satellite and aerial photography, or mapping/terrain data. Measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) are gathered from an array of signatures (distinctive characteristics) of fixed or dynamic target sources. According to the Air Force Institute of Technology 's Center for MASINT Studies and Research, MASINT

672-407: The set of items that has been collected; and exploiting items in the narrow set; trade off against one another under deadline or data overload constraints. It is important to note that much geospatial intelligence work may never depart from the foraging loop and can simply consist of extracting information and repackaging it without much actual analysis since the production of maps is oft the role that

700-452: The simple measurement of beach profiles is a classical geographic information-gathering activity, while the process of selecting a beach that matches a certain profile for a specific purpose is an analytical activity, and the output could be termed an intelligence product. In this form it is considered to be generally used by agencies requiring definitions of their outputs for descriptive and capability development purposes (or, more cynically, as

728-671: The situation. Geospatial data can (usually) be applied to the output of a collector or collection system before it is processed, i.e., data that was sensed. Geospatial Information is geospatial data that has been processed or had value added to it by a human or machine process. Geospatial knowledge is a structuring of geospatial information, accompanied by an interpretation or analysis. The terms Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom ( DIKW pyramid ) are difficult to define, but cannot be used interchangeably. Generally, geospatial intelligence can be more readily defined as, data, information, and knowledge gathered about entities that can be referenced to

756-439: The steps. It is often difficult for an analyst to determine the next step in an analytic process or to conceptualize how various techniques and tools fit together. The SGAM provides the means to relate the analytical step to the appropriate Structured Analytic Technique (SAT) and then to the appropriate geospatial operation. The below table summarizes this mapping: There are several benefits: Geospatial Intelligence In

784-583: The traditional sources of geospatial information and imagery, and must move from an emphasis on data and analysis to an emphasis on knowledge." Key terms, such as GEOINT and NGA, were developed for public policy purposes. The NIMA Act of 1996 establishing the National Imagery and Mapping Agency. This resulted in the integration of multiple sources of information, intelligence and trade crafts into NIMA, which subsequently became NGA. Then Director James Clapper (2001–2006) designated this discipline as GEOINT, in

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