National Security - Expertise
Weather Forecasting, Climate Monitoring, and the Detection of Natural Hazards and Environmental Changes
IMSG’s expertise in these areas can assist in creating the stability necessary to preclude U.S. humanitarian or military response to beleaguered nations, or any other current hot spots. This ultimately increases the useful life of the components of our military arsenal and decreases strain upon our military personnel when used in a non-traditional role such as humanitarian response.
Weather and Climate Modeling—Planning for Climate Change Adaptation
IMSG’s expertise in collecting and integrating weather and climate data for assimilation, modeling, and analysis into operational systems helps minimize any social destabilization created by catastrophic weather or climate-related effects. By planning for weather-related events, we can minimize the effects of weather related catastrophe.
Modernization of Hydro-Meteorological Services
IMSG’s expertise with hydro-meteorological services can help improve forecasts of weather and hydro-met hazards. Climate-driven changes such as droughts, violent weather, and the destruction of existing agricultural regimes, can eventually lead to changes in society and cause increases in poverty, forced migration, higher unemployment, and less national productivity.
Through adequate preparation, the impact of events that can lead to economic disruption, forced migration, and increased poverty—all of which fuel anti-incumbent forces, can be better anticipated and mitigated.
Coastal Zone Management
Future environmental pressures will present a range of emerging natural resource issues and increasingly drive internal conflict within vulnerable states, regions, and nations. Projected future trends suggest pressure from increased population growth, coastal urbanization, and globalization will gradually increase and drive external conflicts.
Fishery Habitat Conservation
While the United States will most likely remain the single most powerful country on the globe, we will be less dominant. Our continued growth, along with the rest of the world, coupled with an estimated increase of 1 billion people by 2025, will put enormous pressure on energy, food and water resources. The World Bank estimates that demand for food will rise 50% by the year 2030. As a viable component of our national security policy, IMSG’s experience in Fisheries Habitat Conservation helps to provide a sustainable fisheries economy.
Coral Reef Conservation
Coral bleaching, caused by various types of environmental stress, is the most commonly reported impact of climate change on marine resources and is a measurable indicator of the health of an ecosystem. While not a direct threat to our national security, dwindling marine life, based on destruction of habitat, is an indirect security concern.
Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning
Coastal military facilities in the U.S. frequently feel the effects of rising sea levels, hurricanes, and tornadoes. Presently, there are nearly 60 U.S. coastal military facilities (and several nuclear reactors) in danger of flooding from storm surges.
In many other countries around the world, food production will decline because of unexpected environmental or climatic changes that threaten coastal food production and water integrity. Rising sea levels will force the relocation of millions living in coastal communities and islands, and more people will die from thermal stress, malaria, dengue fever, and other diseases.
Coastal Hazards Management
Coastal Hazards Management is an integral part of our national security program and needs consistent and continued attention. By updating and improving our knowledge of integrated coastal zone planning and management, we help to ensure the sustainable use and future protection of some of our strategic natural resources. This helps to minimize, or in some cases, eliminate, negative effects of natural and manmade hazards.
Mapping and Visualization
IMSG’s capabilities in the fields of Mapping and Visualization directly benefit our national security. Geospatial information is the basis for many aspects of our homeland security program and is best realized in terms of emergency/disaster preparedness, airport operations, border security, and military operations. In many ways, this information can assess our critical infrastructure protection and improve upon our situational awareness of any number of threats to our homeland security.
Geospatial Database and Systems Integration
Over the past few years, the number of deployed remote sensing collectors has increased to a point where managing the volume of collected data has become a daunting task. IMSG’s contribution to merging and sharing of national environmental geospatial information provides opportunity for improved effectiveness, leading to better results and efficiency in the form of reduced costs.
Information Assurance
IMSG’s expertise in the field of Information Assurance lies in the protection of our country’s information systems. Applying layered security and using an integrated life-cycle approach provides the capability to protect proprietary, or governmental, information systems worldwide. IMSG is capable of protecting and defending information by ensuring the availability, authentication, confidentiality, integrity, and non-repudiation, of your information systems.