Dealing a Blow to Science What’s next? That’s what scientists around the globe, including many remote sensing professionals focused on Earth science, are wondering after theOct. 22, 2012, manslaughter convictions of six Italian scientists who had the unenviable...
Industry Overview
When a Picture Is Worth a Thousand Lives Fifty years ago, in October 1962, Soviet Union Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko sat in John F. Kennedy’s office, assuring the young American president that the buildup of Soviet-made missiles on the island nation of...
Industry Overview
Earth Observation Faces Dire Straits The capacity to observe and study our planet from space faces serious challenges during the coming years. A host of aging satellites, along with several mainstay platforms that recently have failed, plus insufficient funding for...
Looming Budget Cuts
Litigation is the basic legal right that guarantees every corporation its decade in court. —David Porter, American Naval Officer, 1813-1891 The future of U.S. government agreements to purchase commercial optical satellite imagery is in limbo, and the natives...
Geospatial Technologies Key Components of Homeland Security
I n his book “Winning Modern Wars,†retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark writes, “Defeating terrorism is more difficult and far-reaching than we have assumed. ... We may be advancing the ball down the field at will, running over our opponent’s defenses, but...
What to Watch in 2012
We’re pleased to present our annual State of the Industry report. Once again, our Editorial Advisory Board members have done a great job of identifying the most significant forces impacting the remote sensing industry, as well as key challenges and potential...
Intriguing Images Spawned By an Intriguing Industry
We wind down 2011 with our annual look at notable events as seen through the eyes of Earth observation sensors, beginning on page 12. With new sensors and systems being introduced all over the globe, observing the planet is becoming more thorough each year. In...
Modern Warfare's Battle Cry: I, Robot
The quest for geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) began with the first skirmishes between rival tribes centuries ago. Today’s warfighter seeks the same edge by having better GEOINT about the enemy than the enemy has about him or her—that hasn’t changed. But the way...
Industry Overview
Military Takes Cues from Consumers Call it technology transfer in reverse. The phenomenal growth in the number of smart phones, along with a host of mobile applications and social media’s skyrocketing success, have become too much for the Pentagon to ignore in...
Data Fusion Expands Intelligence Options
By James. S. Blundell, vice president, Geospatial Products and Solutions, Overwatch Systems (http://www.overwatch.com/), Sterling, Va. Remote sensing, in all its varied forms and functions, has continually evolved, from the Civil War-era fixed balloons with spotters...
