HOMELAND SECURITY: What is C-SIGMA?

Using the Heavens to Patrol the Seas

NASA photo

Maritime security, space and satellite experts are gathering in Italy this week (June 21-23) for a conference on monitoring the seas from space.

The concept is called C-SIGMA, a phrase that stands for Collaboration in Space for International Global Maritime Awareness. The phrase was coined and the concept developed by Guy Thomas, a former Navy signals intelligence officer who is now Science and Technology Advisor for the U.S. Coast Guard.

Thomas will be one of the speakers at the conference in Frascati, Italy at ESRIN, the European Space Agency establishment there.

The idea is to use currently available non-military satellites to monitor the maritime environment at the global level.

Conference attendees from navies, coast guards, customs and border agencies, intelligence services and police forces will be discussing how to utilize data from a galaxy of satellites for maritime border surveillance, law enforcement, search and rescue, seagoing traffic safety and critical infrastructure protection. Current satellite capabilities as well as new developments in technology will also be discussed.