Homeland Protection

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More about the Homeland Protection mission

• Future outlook and focus for upcoming year

Principal Accomplishments

• Lincoln Laboratory is contributing to Rapid Area Sensitive-Site Reconnaissance by developing autonomous systems (such as the one pictured above) that link sensor measurements, such as chemical detection and imagery, and indoor mapping to enhance real-time situation awareness for first responders.

  The Next-Generation Incident Command System (NICS), initiated in partnership with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, was evaluated by first responders in multiple operational settings, including wildland fires and large-scale floods. NICS enables collaborative command and control by integrating technologies such as resource tracking, full-motion video, and robust data communication. The DHS Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) is leading research and development to integrate capabilities for the fire, law enforcement, emergency management, and National Guard communities.

• The Accelerated Nuclear DNA Equipment (ANDE) program, sponsored jointly by the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice, is developing common, core, automated DNA analysis instrument prototypes that can be used by minimally trained personnel to produce five human DNA profiles from reference samples within one hour. The Laboratory, as the integrator and system architect, is working to improve forensic DNA sampling techniques to complement the planned ANDE capability, to provide oversight to the subcontractor developing the analytical instrument, and to develop a secure privacy-preserving framework for data processing, analysis, and storage.

•  The Imaging System for Immersive Surveillance is being operationally tested with the Massachusetts Port Authority.

• The Laboratory is developing a video analytics software prototype that performs an attribute-based search (e.g., hat, black jacket, blue jeans) and then generates a track of a suspect across arrays of security cameras.

• The Laboratory continues to support the DHS in evaluating technologies for homeland air security. Key contributions include architectural development for high-fidelity modeling of emergent surveillance technologies that may be employed at border and interior locations.

• The Laboratory supported U.S. Coast Guard strategies during the Deep Water Horizon cleanup of the Gulf Coast oil spill. Oil-finding sensors were assessed for their resolution, coverage rate, and endurance to aid Coast Guard selection and deployment strategies.

• Under sponsorship of the DHS S&T, the Container Security Testbed (CSTB) for maritime cargo security was developed. The CSTB evaluates technologies for detecting trace chemical or biological signatures of hazardous materials.

• New biomedical initiatives emphasize medical diagnostics for the DoD and leverage Laboratory strengths in sensing, signal processing, algorithms, and data communications to develop technologies at molecular, cellular, and human system scales.

• For use in countering chemical threats, the Laboratory developed concepts of operation, conducted threat phenomenology measurements to assess military utility, performed tabletop exercises, and led development of a rapid fielding initiative.

The Accelerated Nuclear DNA Equipment (ANDE) project enables the automated processing of 15 human DNA samples in less than an hour. ANDE can be deployed to expeditionary laboratory facilities to enhance the timely processing of reference DNA samples. ANDE consists of DNA collection tools and methods, DNA processing hardware, and secure data communications to remote DNA databases.