Army Geospatial Center
Encyclopedia
The Army Geospatial Center (AGC) (formerly Topographic Engineering Center (TEC)) is a Major Subordinate Command of the United States Army Corps of Engineers
. It is located in Alexandria, Virginia, within the Humphreys Engineering Center adjacent to the Fort Belvoir military reservation. The current Director of the AGC is Dr. Joseph Fontanella, who also serves as the Geospatial Information Officer of the US Army.
The AGC coordinates, integrates, and synchronizes geospatial information and standards across the Army, develops and fields geospatial enterprise-enabled systems and capabilities to the Army and the Department of Defense, and provides direct geospatial support and products to Warfighters. Its Geospatial Research and Engineering Division, an Engineer Research and Development Center asset, conducts research and development into geospatial data collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination in support of both civilian missions and missions of U.S. ground forces.
data to the battlefield, enabling the rapid characterization of complex and urban terrain at a human scale. Typically, the Buckeye program collects 1m post spacing terrain data (derived from LiDAR) coincidentally collected with 10 cm color imagery. All Buckeye data products are Unclassified and can be shared with all Coalition and host nation forces.
Buckeye was first deployed operationally in Iraq
in 2004, under Operation Iraqi Freedom, on rotary-wing aircraft. Buckeye ultimately was flown fixed-wing over all of Iraq’s urban areas and transportation corridors, constituting some 11% of the Iraqi landmass. Buckeye was first deployed operationally in Afghanistan
in 2006, under Operation Enduring Freedom, on rotary-wing aircraft. By 2008, Buckeye was being consistently flown fixed-wing over Afghanistan. With the surge in forces beginning in 2009, multiple Buckeye fixed-wing and UAS platforms have been deployed in Afghanistan to gather human-scale terrain data for use by Coalition commanders and host nation forces.
The Buckeye program was recognized as a 2006 Army "Greatest Invention of the Year."
, a precursor Army agency in the 1800s that was merged with the Corps of Engineers in 1863
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
. It is located in Alexandria, Virginia, within the Humphreys Engineering Center adjacent to the Fort Belvoir military reservation. The current Director of the AGC is Dr. Joseph Fontanella, who also serves as the Geospatial Information Officer of the US Army.
The AGC coordinates, integrates, and synchronizes geospatial information and standards across the Army, develops and fields geospatial enterprise-enabled systems and capabilities to the Army and the Department of Defense, and provides direct geospatial support and products to Warfighters. Its Geospatial Research and Engineering Division, an Engineer Research and Development Center asset, conducts research and development into geospatial data collection, processing, exploitation, and dissemination in support of both civilian missions and missions of U.S. ground forces.
Terrain Data
The AGC has subject matter expertise in rapidly characterizing complex and urban terrain in support of Full Spectrum Operations. The AGC has played a leadership role in multiple Department of Defense R&D activities focused on such terrain challenges, including the Rapid Terrain Visualization (RTV) and Urban Recon (UR) Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations (ACTDs). The AGC’s Buckeye program grew out of these efforts, bringing the collection of high resolution color imagery and coincidentally collected Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)LIDAR
LIDAR is an optical remote sensing technology that can measure the distance to, or other properties of a target by illuminating the target with light, often using pulses from a laser...
data to the battlefield, enabling the rapid characterization of complex and urban terrain at a human scale. Typically, the Buckeye program collects 1m post spacing terrain data (derived from LiDAR) coincidentally collected with 10 cm color imagery. All Buckeye data products are Unclassified and can be shared with all Coalition and host nation forces.
Buckeye was first deployed operationally in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
in 2004, under Operation Iraqi Freedom, on rotary-wing aircraft. Buckeye ultimately was flown fixed-wing over all of Iraq’s urban areas and transportation corridors, constituting some 11% of the Iraqi landmass. Buckeye was first deployed operationally in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
in 2006, under Operation Enduring Freedom, on rotary-wing aircraft. By 2008, Buckeye was being consistently flown fixed-wing over Afghanistan. With the surge in forces beginning in 2009, multiple Buckeye fixed-wing and UAS platforms have been deployed in Afghanistan to gather human-scale terrain data for use by Coalition commanders and host nation forces.
The Buckeye program was recognized as a 2006 Army "Greatest Invention of the Year."
See also
Corps of Topographical EngineersCorps of Topographical Engineers
The U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers, was separately authorized on 4 July 1838, consisted only of officers, and was used for mapping and the design and construction of federal civil works such as lighthouses and other coastal fortifications and navigational routes. It included such...
, a precursor Army agency in the 1800s that was merged with the Corps of Engineers in 1863