Watching Earth from Space: How Surveillance Helps Us -- and Harms Us (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)

- Are satellites a threat to individual privacy? - How bad is climate change and global warming? - Why can we not find Osama bin Laden? - Does the world have enough fresh water? Watching Earth from Space gives you the answers to these and many other burning questions of the day. This is the story of how our planet is being monitored by hundreds of space-borne instruments for both military and peaceful reasons. It highlights the technical challenges of those instruments and describes the agencies that gather useful information from them. But as well as all the essential monitoring performed by satellites - such as mapping natural or man-made disasters, agricultural performances, weather, and climate change to name a few - there is a growing swell of public opinion that they are being used by governments to erode personal privacy and freedom. This book looks at the possible conflict between public good and market forces, and the future development of new systems to deal with new needs. Cover 1 Watching Earth from Space 4 ISBN 9781441969378 5 Contents 6 Author's preface 10 Figures 12 Tables 16 Abbreviations and acronyms 18 1 The threat of satellite images 23 SATELLITE IMAGES HIT THE HEADLINES 23 WHAT CAN A SATELLITE SEE FROM SPACE? 24 THE MAKINGS OF A SATELLITE 29 MUMBAI ATTACKS, NOVEMBER 2008 34 VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY'S HOUSE, IRAQ AND THE DOMESTIC USE OFSPY SATELLITES 37 PRIVACY 39 COUNTER-MEASURES 43 2 Weather satellites 45 FORECASTING THE WEATHER 45 GROUND FACILITIES 65 HURRICANES, TYPHOONS AND TORNADOES 66 3 Climate change 67 HOW HUMANS CHANGE THE EARTH 67 SEA LEVEL 69 GLOBAL WARMING 72 ICE 75 OTHER CHANGES 87 THE SUN 88 THE ASTEROIDS 91 4 Commercial surveillance: mapping on a large scale 95 INTRODUCTION: FROM LANDSAT TO GEOEYE 95 3D MAPS 102 FARMING, FORESTRY AND LAND USE 107 OTHER TYPES OF INFRINGEMENT 121 MINERAL EXPLORATION 124 CONSTRUCTION 128 RECENT NEW FORMS OF SATELLITE IMAGING 128 5 Society and surviva 133 NATURAL DISASTERS 133 WATER 146 6 Where am I? Where are they? 153 THE SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY 153 WHY WE NEED SATNAV 154 HOW SATNA V WORKS 155 VARIOUS KINDS OF SATNAV 157 ACCURACY 162 IN-CAR NAVIGATION 163 PRIVACY AND SATNAV 164 GPS IS WATCHING YOU 165 7 Monitoring nuclear weapons 167 THE COLD WAR: CORONA AND ZENIT-2 167 THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERA nON TREATY 171 FACILITIES TO PRODUCE NUCLEAR MATERIALS 173 Production of uranium 173 Enrichment of uranium 174 Plutonium production and extraction 174 TYPES OF NUCLEAR FISSION WEAPONS 176 Gun-type uranium weapons 176 Plutonium and uranium implosion bombs 178 POLICING THE NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY: THE IAEA 179 COUNTRIES IN WHICH THE IAEA HAS BEEN PARTICULARLY ACTIVE 181 India 181 Pakistan 182 Libya 183 Iran 183 Syria 184 Israel 185 Taiwan 186 South Africa 187 Brazil and Argentina 187 Algeria 188 Egypt 188 THE IAEA AND IRAQ 189 The IAEA is drawn into the Gulf War of 1991 189 The Iraq War of 1991 and its aftermath 190 Resolution 687 Creates UNSCOM and the IAEA Action Team 191 US Government Imagery Support to UNSCOM and the IAEA 194 Destruction of facilities in Iraq 197 Using imagery in the field 199 Olive Branch imagery 200 UNSCOM Aerial Image Team 201 UNSCOM becomes UNMOVIC 201 IMAGERY IN SUPPORT OF VERIFICA nON IN NORTH KOREA 202 IMAGERY AND NUCLEAR VERIFICATION 204 Managing large imagery files 204 Thermal and multi-spectral imaging 204 The future of imagery in verification 207 8 Military imaging satellites: long-range intelligence 211 INTRODUCTION 211 TACTICAL SURVEILLANCE 212 KEYHOLE: US OPTICAL RECONNAISSANCE SATELLITES 214 COMMERCIAL IMAGING SATELLITES 219 RUSSIAN IMAGING SATELLITES 223 OTHER COUNTRIES 227 China 227 France and continental Europe 228 Great Britain 230 Israel 232 India 233 Japan 233 RADAR IMAGING 236 MISSILE EARLY WARNING 240 GETTING THE IMAGES BACK QUICKLY 250 UNMANNED AIRCRAFT 252 9 Military radio surveillance from space 255 INTRODUCTION 255 SATELLITES BEING LISTENED TO - AND LISTENING 256 MILITARY 262 MONITORING THE OCEANS 265 SPYING ON THE SPIES 266 MONEY NO OBJECT 268 THE SOVIETS/RUSSIANS: OCEAN SURVEILLANCE 270 THE SOVIETS/RUSSIANS: EAVESDROPPING 274 OTHER COUNTRIES 279 10 The future 283 References 285 Index 299 1441969373,9781441969378 Springer Praxis Our planet is constantly monitored by hundreds of space-borne instruments. This book describes the technology of those instruments and the sciences that provide useful information from them. It also discusses the political implications of space-borne monitoring. From the moment satellites were launched into orbit their ability to see what was happening on a global scale was appreciated -- and feared. This well researched book strives to answer such diverse questions as: Are satellites really a threat to individual privacy? How bad, really, is climate change and global warming? Why can't we find Osama bin Laden? Does the world have enough fresh water? The military side of the story is linked to the big security issues that we face, such as terrorism and civil wars. The civilian side of the story involves numerous successful collaborations in weather forecasting, navigation, communications, and other such "peaceful" uses of satellite surveillance. How the world handles the knowledge gained from these Earth watchers will be critical in the years to come, and Norris skillfully leads us through the issues and possible paths we can take. Front Matter....Pages i-xx The threat of satellite images....Pages 1-21 Weather satellites....Pages 23-44 Climate change....Pages 45-72 Commercial surveillance: mapping on a large scale....Pages 73-109 Society and survival....Pages 111-129 Where am I? Where are they?....Pages 131-144 Monitoring nuclear weapons 1 ....Pages 145-187 Military imaging satellites: long-range intelligence....Pages 189-232 Military radio surveillance from space....Pages 233-260 The future....Pages 261-262 Back Matter....Pages 263-284 But as well as all the essential monitoring performed by satellites - such as mapping natural or man-made disasters, agricultural performance, weather, and climate change to name but a few - there is a growing swell of public opinion that they are being used by governments to erode personal privacy and freedom. This book looks at the possible conflict between public good and market forces, and the future development of new systems to deal with new needs. --Book Jacket The Threat Of Satellite Images -- Weather Satellites -- Climate Change -- Commercial Surveillance: Mapping On A Large Scale -- Society And Survival -- Where Am I? Where Are They? -- Monitoring Nuclear Weapons -- Military Imaging Satellites: Long-range Intelligence -- Military Radio Surveillance From Space -- The Future. Pat Norris. Published In Association With Praxis Publishing. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 263-276) And Index.