Airport Network-Based Video Surveillance Solutions

The international airport at Naples, Napoli Capodichino Airport, is used by 6 million travellers every year. With the introduction of the Panomera® multifocal sensor system from Dallmeier, security in both the apron and the airport forecourt areas is enhanced further still by the very latest in camera technology.

Napoli Capodichino offers direct connections to 50 domestic and international destinations. It is managed by GESAC SPA, a member of the F2I Airports Group, an airport management company known for the excellent quality of its services and for its culture of continuous improvement. GESAC works constantly to find efficient solutions and satisfy the requirements of its passengers and field operators, particularly with regard to personal safety and environmental protection.

Innovative multifocal sensor technology
GESAC‘s security engineers saw the Panomera® multifocal sensor system from Dallmeier for the first time at the “Sicurezza” trade fair in Milan in 2010, and were very impressed by the performance capabilities of this ground-breaking video technology. Unlike conventional cameras, which have a single focal lens, multifocal sensor technology is based on a multi-sensor platform with several lenses, each with different focal lengths, creating the unrivalled Panomera® effect. This innovative system provides surveillance of large areas with extremely high resolution, all from a single installation site.

The contact at the trade fair was followed by an intensive planning and design phase, during which the staff at Dallmeier Italy worked closely with the “Infrastructure Development & Flight Operations” department of GESAC, under the direction of Alessandro Fidato. Representatives of Dallmeier Italy visited the site several times so that they could adapt the new video system precisely to the requirements of the airport management company.

Safety for apron, runways and forecourt
For GESAC, two major zones of the airport site were of paramount importance: the area in front of the airport buildings (“Panomera® Forecourt” project), and the apron and runways (“Panomera® Airfield” project).

In the airport forecourt and concourse, Panomera® monitors traffic and pedestrian flows between the multi-storey car park, Terminal 1 and the network of feeder roads and paths by which people arrive at and leave the airport, either in motor vehicles or on foot.

The customer also wanted to obtain complete coverage of the movements of all vehicles and aircraft anywhere on the entire airfield, including the ramps and aprons, taxiways, and takeoff and landing runways, so that incidents could be reconstructed if necessary, wherever they occurred on the site.

The cameras of the Panomera® system for this airfield project were installed at a considerable height, close to the roof of the APRON tower at about 13 metres; three Panomera® systems installed in a semicircle provide a panoramic view through 228°. The Panomera® Viewer workstation was located inside the APRON Tower to provide security staff with a unique and full panoramic view of the entire airfield.

“With Panomera® technology, distant objects can be captured with the same quality as those in the foreground. The extremely high resolution over the entire area of interest and intuitive operation of the system led us to choose Dallmeier”, says Giuseppe Musto, Head of Innovation & Automation Development for GESAC.

Another important difference between Panomera® and conventional PTZ cameras is that the whole area to be monitored with Panomera®, is recorded continuously, so the high resolution images enable important, single details to be examined even after the event. With PTZ cameras, the general overview image is lost while the camera is recording a detailed area.

Reliable recording
Recording is based on the Dallmeier DIS-2/M NSU blade technology – this ensures maximum availability and reliability of the recording. Each blade unit is equipped with a redundant hard disk. The units are powered via a rack for 19" slide-in modules with redundant power supply units. The rack system can accommodate up to 10 single modules, so that even relatively large systems can be installed in compact and cost-efficient manner. The modular structure of the system guarantees high availability of the overall solution.

Complete success
Alessandro Fidato, Director of the Infrastructure Development & Flight Operations department, describes the video system as a resounding success: “With these two projects, GESAC confirms its orientation towards innovative solutions that ensure high standards of security and simplify management arrangements. We are very satisfied with this cooperation.”

Pierpaolo Piracci of Dallmeier Italy responds: “I am very proud to have been personally involved in these highly innovative projects, and I would like to thank Alessandro Fidato and Giuseppe Musto of GESAC SPA for the confidence they have shown in our technology and professionalism.”