Re: Diseases and IR

[synvis@xxxxxx (Steve Traudt)]

Tom Benedict wrote:
> 
> 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? ;)

-- 



Steve Traudt - Synergistic Visions Photography
412 Main St, Grand Junction, CO 81501
(970) 245-6700 - email: synvis@xxxxxx
http://www.apogeephoto.com/synvis.html

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End of INFRARED-PHOTOGRAPHY Digest 82
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