In a layered approach to security, the outermost layer increasingly might refer to an area outside a fence line. The sooner a facility is alerted to a possible threat, the better, and when a threat reaches inside a facility’s fence, it may be too late to mitigate it. Security directors need situational awareness that extends outside the facility and provides the ability to intercept intruders before they become a threat.
Zones of interest, or buffer zones, outside a facility’s fence line are particularly important for security professionals at facilities such as refineries, electrical stations, chemical plants and other elements of critical infrastructure. Ground-based radar systems are expanding the capabilities of buffer zone surveillance at economical prices and with low false alarm rates. Use of multiple radar streams and “behavior filters” to analyze moving targets has...