Alarm Systems: A Secure Take off at Sheremetyevo Airport

As part of a large-scale modernization initiative, Russia's largest airport Sheremetyevo in Moscow was equipped with a new and IP based video surveillance solution as well as with a new public address system from Bosch Security Systems. Sheremetyevo International Airport has experienced intense development and modernization of the infrastructure since 2005. The number of passenger terminals increased from two to six and the overall handling capacity from 12 to 35 million passengers per year. Covering an area of about 480,000 square meters, Sheremetyevo is now the largest Russian airport complex.

Over the last years, the strong growth and the ever more demanding safety regulations for airports have steadily increased the requirements on both operations and Sheremetyevo's safety and security systems. Next to fire detection and extinguishing systems, the airport needed to install new systems for evacuation and public address as well as for a comprehensive video surveillance. While the new public address system (PA) guarantees a fast, smooth and panic-free evacuation in case of fire or a bomb alarm, the video surveillance installation helps to identify a wide variety of threats such as unattended luggage, unexpected crowds or blocked emergency exits. Further, video can be used to verify or falsify alarms from the fire detection system to avoid costly false alarms.

Robust Plus Newest Technology
Sheremetyevo needed video surveillance and a public address system for its new terminal D, which is used by Aeroflot Russian Airlines and their partners in the SkyAlliance. The PA system should also cover terminals E and F. Both systems had to be very robust, including latest technology and allow integration with other systems. After having won the tender, Moscow based ZAO Titan Building Systems installed more than 500 IP cameras from Bosch in Terminal D, including standard and dome types as well as manageable PTZ Autodome cameras. Recording was implemented with 36 iSCSI disk arrays with a total capacity of more than 300 terabytes.

Video surveillance is operated and managed through the Bosch Video Management Software with more than 50 workplaces for operators supporting different airport services. Bosch Advanced Intelligent Video Analysis (IVA), which is integrated into the IP cameras, enables early detection of suspicious behavior and identification of abandoned luggage. Tracking cameras can help verify or disprove alarms, alerting the security operator as appropriate. A forensic search function permits fast retrieval of relevant video sequences.

Evacuation and Public Adress System
Next to video surveillance, ZAO also installed a digital audio system Bosch Praesideo the D, E and F terminals. It includes more than 100 amplifiers and 2,175 speakers and is being used for standard PA purposes as well as targeted messages for individual terminals or areas. The system is also equipped with a voice evacuation system in case of emergencies. The selection and location of the speakers was optimized and adapted to the individual terminal's architectures to guarantee best intelligibility.

As both the video surveillance and the public address system support the standard protocol IP, they could easily be integrated into the network and security architecture of Sheremetyevo. Further, they are highly scalable and can thus also support the airport's further growth.