FOLDOUT: A Through Foliage Surveillance System for Border Security

Improved methods for border surveillance are necessary to ensure an effective and efficient EU border management. In the border control context, as defined by the Schengen Border Code, border surveillance is defined as “the surveillance of borders between border crossing points and the surveillance of border crossing points outside the fixed opening hours, in order to prevent persons from circumventing border checks”. In this paper, an overview of an EU-funded program related to border security called FOLDOUT is described. FOLDOUT’s focus is on through foliage detection in the inner and outermost regions of the EU. The proposed FOLDOUT system will assist border guards by providing prompt detection of illegal activity at borders and trace the movement and routes prior to arrival in border areas. Different sensors will be developed to detect and locate people and vehicles operating under the coverage of trees and other foliage over large areas. In achieving this, a holistic system employing fused advanced ground, aerial and space-based sensors mounted on StratobusTM and satellite platforms is presented. The system will be demonstrated in different countries in order to test the performance under different weather conditions. Current results are related to FOLDOUT fusion demonstrator system which takes detections from three independent sensor types and unifies detections to eliminate inconsistencies and allow for a global view of activity in the border area.