ECU video surveillance cameras 911 record unreleased images of Antarctica

Experts from this Ecuadorian security service have installed two cameras (fixed and thermal), to which a PTZ device will be added shortly, as part of a scientific initiative to analyze and test its connectivity and operations in this place and, at another stage, capture images in real time.

Equipped with special video surveillance devices, an Integrated Security Service technical group Ecu 911 Ecuador has been for, Approximately, a month at the pedro Vicente Maldonado Science Station facility (Pevima, on greenwich Island) Antarctica to record unreleased images of this part of the planet.

Ecu experts 911 arrived at Pevima station on the Spanish Navy's Hesperides ship, being part of the XXIV Ecuadorian Antarctic Expedition carried out annually by the Ecuadorian Antarctic Institute (INAE). The journey began in December 2019 and ended in this month January because of the 10,462 Km away between Ecuador and Antarctic territory.

Specialists worked on installing two video surveillance cameras (one of them infrared) to offer more security to staff who will stay for three months at this location, in addition to testing the operation of these devices at extreme temperatures, in order to complete the coverage of the entire Ecuadorian territory, including Antarctica.

To do this, the technical team that moved to Antarctica was responsible for reconnaissance of the terrain, mounting antennas from the base station, testing of electrical connections and coverage of radio equipment.

In addition, the location of the Control and Monitoring Center was defined to locate the rapid deployment equipment of the eLTE point-to-point data transmission system.

These activities, that have been executed in the Greenwich Islands, Barrientos and Torre, have allowed recording with the still camera and thermal unique images (the site's own fauna was recorded) and unrepeatable landscapes via mobile device.

To carry out these tests, staff from the Navy Oceanographic Institute have been supported (Inocar); the Polytechnic High School of the Littoral (Espol); the Military Geophysical Institute (Igm); INAE, and San Francisco University of Quito (Usfq), among other institutions that were part of this journey.

Radiocommunication equipment coverage tests have also been carried out, and the team has visited Chile's Arturo Prat Station to manage Internet connectivity to plan the transmission of videos in real time to the ECU 911, in order to improve communication processes from that part of the planet with the scientific stations of the Americas.

According to the data provided, a technician will travel in the coming days to Antarctica for other tests with a PTZ camera, which will be added to the two installed. It is expected that in two years it will be possible to view images of Antarctica live in the ECU video wall 911 installed in Quito, through satellite links and software specially designed for this purpose.

This pilot expedition is part of the ECU project 911 Called Video surveillance and communication system at Pedro Vicente Maldonado Science Station in Antarctica through an eLTE network; a two-stage scientific initiative: the former analyzed and tested the connectivity and behavior of video surveillance devices, and the second will consider real-time connectivity to the matrix in Quito.

Subsequently, another part of this project will be to analyze participation in these expeditions of personnel who attend emergencies and monitor video surveillance cameras.

As its leaders point out, "with this activity, the ECU 911 marks a milestone in its trajectory after recording with its camera system a place on the planet far away, contributes to scientific research and strengthens its quality as a continental benchmark in emergency care, pioneering such technological innovations".

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