Re: Diseases and IR

[tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Tom Benedict)]

I'm not sure where you'd go to get information about this, but I just
attended a lecture by Dr. Hans Mark a few weeks ago.  The lecture was
about the design, use, and further application of the Corona
reconnaisance satellites used by the US military.  Dr. Mark was Deputy
Director of the Air Force (the title given to the head of the National
Reconnaisance Office), and a number of neat stories in addition to the
lecture material itself.

One of the more interesting anecdotes revolved around the use of IR
film in the later satellites, and what that did to the world
agricultural market.  During the late sixties and early seventies, the
Soviet Union would import huge amounts of grains and other agri
staples from the US and other countries around the globe.  The big
question each year was what the USSR needed that year, and how to
tweak the market to get the most out of the deal.  Using color IR film
in the Corona satellites not only showed what crops the USSR was
growing, but the state of their health, what stage in the life cycle
they were at, how close to harvest they were (whether they had been
harvested), etc.  The US NRO literally knew more about the crops than
the people growing them.  As a result the US government knew what the
Soviets would be shopping for before they hit the world market, and
prices could be controlled accordingly.

So yes, color IR film HAS been used for aerial survey work, and has
been used a great deal for determining the health of the ecosystem.
The part that Dr. Mark was especially happy about was that the data
from the entire Corona project has been made public at the National
Archives.  Starting with the Corona data, and adding on the more
recent public data from Landsat, we've got visible and IR data from
about 1969 on up to the present day.  During the talk he showed
several examples of widespread deforestation, draining of inland seas,
the effects of damming rivers, etc.  Nice body of information.

Tom

P.S.  I'd bet that this is the reason Kodak has kept the E-4 process
around so long.  Let's see...  US Government contract for color IR
film, a requirement to keep it around for X number of years (standard
for a government contract), the Corona satellite data being made
public, rumors of an E-6 color IR film...  So when is Kodak going to
release their E-6 color IR film and shut down the E-4 line? ;)

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Topic No. 19