Video Information Systems From Dallmeier Assist Airport Operations

Dallmeier offers comprehensive security solutions for all areas of application around airports. Specifically in the area of cameras, a wide range of systems allows customers to tackle all of their safety and security challenges and be able to comply fully with operational and regulatory requirements. Dallmeier also supplies video management solutions that not only give operators a comprehensive overview of security-relevant events but also allow the video data to be analyzed with a view to optimizing business processes, such as ground handling operations for example.

One of the paramount concerns for airports is perimeter protection, an issue that has been highlighted by a number of recent incidents involving unauthorized access onto airfields. It is important to be able to use a video system to track an intruder, but the ultimate goal is to prevent an intrusion in the first place. IR cameras are a key component of any video security system that has to provide around-the-clock monitoring capabilities, and the Dallmeier line of advanced IR cameras is ideally suited for that task. The latest addition to the company’s IR product line, the DF5400HD-DN/IR, is an Ultra HD camera with integrated IR illumination. It is designed specifically for applications requiring images with high resolution in real-time during daytime and in IR mode at night. Dimly lit areas on the apron or sections along the airport perimeter, which might only be lit when lighting systems are triggered by movement, are among the many possible applications.

Challenging Applications
Airports typically encompass wide areas and stretch over long distances, which poses particular challenges for a video monitoring system. In the past, in order to adequately monitor the entire area it was necessary to use many cameras installed at a large number of locations. Dallmeier’s Panomera multifocal sensor system, however, represents an entirely new technology and a fundamentally different approach to the issue of video security.
The patented Panomera multi-focal sensor technology is a video solution for both landside and airside safety and security. It was specially developed for the all-encompassing video surveillance of expansive areas. Huge expanses as well as areas at great distances can be displayed with a completely new resolution quality, in real time and at high frame rates of up to 30 fps. A huge area can be surveyed with a Panomera unit from a single location and, depending on the customer’s needs, the resolution can be scaled almost limitlessly. For example, one Panomera system equipped with eight sensors is sufficient to replace up to 35 standard megapixel cameras.

Optimizing Airport Operations
Combined with intelligently designed video management and analysis systems, Panomera offers opportunities for optimizing airport operations, such as aircraft turnaround time, as well as monitoring airfield traffic on both aprons and runways (e.g. ground support equipment on the way to restocking aircraft galleys). The fact that security personnel are provided with a comprehensive overview of the entire airport, regardless of where their individual focus may be at any given time, means that they can react quickly to any incidents. Video technology can therefore assist airports with the implementation of the Europe-wide optimization concept of Airport Collaborative Decision Making (A-CDM), which is supported by a number of organizations including the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation (Eurocontrol) and the Airport Council International Europe. The latter represents over 500 airports from 45 European countries. A-CDM specifically aims to enhance the operational efficiency of airports, which opens up various application areas for video technology. Proactive video monitoring instead of passive surveillance is the way forward across different industries - including airports.