The main airport in Sicily and the first in Southern Italy with high domestic traffic and several connections to mid-range European and extra-European destinations had an outdated video surveillance system that could no longer ensure ideal control of apron surveillance. The low-definition analog system it used did not offer sufficient image quality and left some of the airport's areas uncovered.
The main airport in Sicily and the first in Southern Italy with high domestic traffic and several connections to mid-range European and extra-European destinations had an outdated video surveillance system that could no longer ensure ideal control of apron surveillance. The low-definition analog system it used did not offer sufficient image quality and left some of the airport's areas uncovered.
To salvage the former investment, management decided to resort to employing Axis video encoders to transfer the infrastructure to IP and integrate Axis HDTV digital cameras in strategic points that could cover all the airport's aprons. To provide enhanced efficiency and share information with other public safety institutions, the infrastructure of the network designed for the apron was separated from the local network.
With a low-budget investment compared to the cost of installing a new system from scratch, a larger area can be monitored and video quality is considerably improved. The greater reliability of the system has led to the substantial reduction of false alarms. Video information is shared with public safety institutions.
Work to adapt the former system followed two lines for development: first of all, the use of seven Axis video encodersin Axis 291 1U rack configuration made it possible to preserve the analog system in use and to make the most of all the advantages of digital technology, allowing also other agencies based at the airport to simultaneously switch on live play of the images captured by the cameras. Thanks to the resourceful advice of Axis experts and the work of Free Sat Telecomunicazioni srl technicians, it also proved possible to configure the analog domes for tilting and use both video transmission and telemetric data. Second, the installation of three Axis dome PTZ network cameras has contributed a number of zoomed details, like the reading of serial numbers of approaching aircraft, thanks to the optical zoom 18x combined with a digital 12x and high-resolution images of extensive areas, with HDTV and the visual field in 16:9 format.
The infrastructure dedicated to the video surveillance of the airport's aprons has been separated from the rest of the local network, so as not to interfere with the service information and to provide more safety and video streaming speed.
With the Axis video encoders, the analog cameras have returned to work properly, thanks to the reliability of digital systems. They will however, as soon as possible, be replaced with new Axis PTZ dome which, besides featuring WDR, like those already installed, to provide enhanced object visibility in the brightest and darkest areas of a scene, will make it possible to configure automatic patrol runs.