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Multifocal sensor for Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt am Main is the largest passenger airport in Germany, and one of the most important air traffic hubs in the world. In order to be able to continue managing this enormous passenger volume effectively, another passenger terminal, Terminal 3, is to be completed by 2022.

The earthworking and excavation activities are already finished. Next, special civil engineering will begin in the autumn. But before the finished building with its check-in areas and many shopping opportunities is ready for use, it is most important to ensure that the building site is adequately secured for the next few years. Perimeter security is particularly essential here, to protect the premises against access by people who are not authorised to be there.

Using the existing infrastructure

The people responsible at the airport operating company, Fraport AG, became aware of Panomera multifocal sensor technology from Dallmeier in a test run involving many well-known camera manufacturers.

Multifocal sensor technology works with multiple sensors which have different focal lengths, so that an overview of even very great distances can be provided with a constant, defined resolution quality. This meant that only a few multifocal sensor systems were needed by Frankfurt Airport to provide the requisite protection for the entire expanse.

The network cameras were mounted on buildings that already existed. In this way, not only was it possible to save enormous costs, but also, as Dallmeier sales manager Dirk Lüders explains: “According to the specification from Fraport AG, it was an obligatory requirement to use the existing infrastructure and not to erect any additional masts or the like. This project would have been impossible to carry out using conventional camera technology, because the distances far exceed the capabilities of single sensor cameras.”

Installation was carried out by the company Dengel Telekommunikation. “The installation was simple and uncomplicated,” according to Maurice Dengel, divisional management Fraport & Rhein-Main.

Detailed imaging even in poor lighting

An important decision criterion for Fraport was also the light sensitivity of the cameras, since the building site is only partly lit at night. Most of the perimeter is only lit by the residual light from a street lighting system some distance away. Consequently, the decision was made in favour of the Panomera Nightline series, which delivers detailed image material even in darkness.

The requirements the video security equipment is expected to satisfy will also change over the course of the building phase, which will last several years, and the cameras will have to be redirected to cover different areas in response to changing circumstances while the building activities are ongoing. Multifocal sensor technology provides the flexibility for this eventuality, as Lüders emphasises: “The simple infrastructure yields advantages not only now, but also in the coming years. Frankfurt Airport will not have to reposition 20 or 30 single cameras. Instead, individual Panomera systems can easily be mounted at new locations to monitor a new construction zone.”

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