Sleuthing with Images in Google Earth

Frank Pabian, LANL
 

We all have heard about the big, top secret—and very expensive!—spy satellites that some claim can read a license plate in Red Square. But it turns out that a lot of very useful information about what our potential adversaries are up to can be obtained from a source that is freely available to the public: Google Earth, a product created by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This Cafe Scientifique presentation is about how we can use “geospatial” tools like Google Earth for sleuthing for important information-gathering applications, such as national security, treaty verification, law enforcement, homeland security, environmental monitoring, emergency response, disaster relief or even sightseeing anywhere on Earth.
 
“Virtual globes” like Google Earth make it possible to zoom in on any suspected facilities and activities, particularly once there is independent information from ground level that something unusual is going on that might be of interest. Such information might appear on the Internet in blogs or wikis. It might come in through social networking sites like Twitter. It might take the form of input from knowledgeable local citizens, such as ground photos and maps taken by locals, hobbyists, and tourists of the surrounding locales. These can be useful in identifying facilities and their infrastructures, and understanding their purpose. This information then makes it possible to develop a much more detailed ground-view picture of the facilities through the use of software like Google’s Street ViewTM and Micorosoft’s Bing Maps 3D, Bird’s Eye, and PhotsynthTM in conjunction with the basic Google Earth capability.
 
The virtual globes also provide highly accurate mapping of the topography of an area, and allow detailed 3-D perspective views of all sites of interest. 3-D modeling software (i.e., Google’s SketchUp6), when used in conjunction with these virtual globes, can significantly enhance individual building details and even visualize interiors. This allows one to virtually “fly around” a facility, observing it in great three-dimensional detail. One can then make assessments to better inform decision-making. The new geospatial tools provide vastly more information than previously-used 2-dimensional maps and line drawings.
 
The down-side of this increasing global transparency is that those who want to keep clandestine facilities and associated activities from being detected, identified, or monitored are becoming more adept in their use of camouflage, concealment, and deception. Moreover, these tools can also be a “double-edged sword.” They have already been used for nefarious purposes, including terrorist planning and attack. Finally, we must always keep in mind the expression “all that glitters is not gold” when using these tools, as there is the ever-present threat from erroneous data and/or deliberate spoofing.
 
Nonetheless, these new geospatial visualization aids are ideal for a variety of reconnaissance assessment purposes including: detection, identification, site characterization, navigation, monitoring, and verification. Amazingly, these new geospatial tools also now make it possible for anyone to conduct his or her own remote satellite-based reconnaissance (aka: “armchair sleuthing”) for any application from the comfort of home, or from a WI-FI enabled coffee shop, or even while on the beach at some tropical island resort.
 
In this Cafe, participants will have the hands-on opportunity to test their imagery analysis skills using the new geospatial tools, with some fun quizzes created by the Australian Government’s Defence Imagery and Geospatial Organization (DIGO, http://www.defence.gov.au/digo/) and here in Los Alamos. Cafe participants can try their hand at “sleuthing” with Google Earth by examining a mysterious facility under construction near Shiraz, Iran. Is it a facility for developing nuclear weapons...or not?

For more information on geospatial intelligence and the associated science and careers, please see https://www1.nga.mil/kids/Pages/default.aspx.
 

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