Government Technology

Providence, R.I., Builds on Port Security With Chemical Sensors



Marine lt. Col. Peter Gaynor and Providence RI Mayor Cicilline

August 19, 2010 By

"You can actually see a ship moving and then click on that ship and see what the name of it is, where it came from, where it's going [and] what it's carrying," -- PEMA Director Peter Gaynor (pictured on left with Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline)

Three new chemical sensors were installed at the Port of Providence in Rhode Island on Aug. 16. The sensors will be integrated with the city's existing Port Area Waterside Surveillance System (PAWSS), providing chemical sensor data to the state's common operating picture. The Providence Emergency Management Agency (PEMA) is funding the $593,000 project with a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

The surveillance project began in 2006 when the state's Department of Environmental Management used a port security grant to place cameras and maritime radar on the lower part of Narragansett Bay. Providence later received another grant to complete video coverage of the bay and install additional radar. Now PAWSS covers an area from the southern entrance of the bay 25 miles north to the port

PAWSS is built on Raytheon's Athena information collection and analysis suite, providing access to the cameras, radar, sensors (Smiths Detection Centurion II) and the port's Automatic Identification System in one place. "You can actually see a ship moving and then click on that ship and see what the name of it is, where it came from, where it's going [and] what it's carrying," said PEMA Director Peter Gaynor.

The sensors detect industrial chemicals and common chemical warfare agents, and are equipped with video cameras. "Part of determining whether it's a false hit is a camera turns on the potential plume to see if it was, say a truck driving by," Gaynor said.


View Full Story

You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.govtech.com/public-safety/Providence-RI-Builds-on-Port-Security.html


| More

Comments


Add Your Comment

You are solely responsible for the content of your comments. We reserve the right to remove comments that are considered profane, vulgar, obscene, factually inaccurate, off-topic, or considered a personal attack.

GovTech Papers and Case Studies View Library


Sponsored Links



Phone RSS

Government Best Practices

» A New Model for Human Resources
» Abandoning the High Cost of Enterprise Content Management



Government Technology
Public CIO
Emergency Management
Digital Communities