Message posted by Peter Merlin on May 20, 2010 at 11:06:43 PST:
Thee NASA WB-57F aircraft have been occasionally deployed to Southwest Asia over the past several years for "airborne hyperspectral surveys of mineral resources" but, oddly, the NASA markings are stripped off prior to deployment and the registration numbers are significantly reduced in size. Significantly, "the geophysical and remote sensing data will be used to characterize the surface and subsurface rock composition, properties, and structure." I imagine that would include any natural or manmade subterranean caves. The Office of the Director of Defense Research and Engineering is prototyping the use of such new capabilities as hyper-spectral imagers to determine unique attributes of terrain. Some of these prototypes are being used to deliver products supporting the Global War on Terrorism. For example, this year, we organized a mission for the US State Department to map the natural resources of Afghanistan. This mission (referred to as HALO Falcon) was undertaken at the request of the Afghanistan Government, and used a prototype DoD Hyperspectral Sensor on the NASA owned WB-57 high altitude and are important to the future economic well being of Afghanistan. These products are in the process of being delivered to the Afghanistan Government by the State Department. http://www.dod.gov/dodgc/olc/docs/testShaffer080313.pdf After securing high-level USGS, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), and NASA support to fulfill the host nation’s request, OSD and NASA principals contacted USCENTCOM and its air component, Air Forces Central (AFCENT), in an effort to coordinate support, including aircraft beddown, logistics, and NASA flight operations in an environment heavily populated by military aircraft. During this process, several general officers from USCENTCOM and AFCENT were briefed on the mission and the corresponding request from the government of Afghanistan. While briefing the deputy combined forces air component commander, it became clear that AFCENT was seeking additional opportunities to demonstrate how airpower could support strategic objectives in the region. http://intelros.ru/pdf/jfq_51/29.pdf The USGS received funds in 2005 from the government of Afghanistan to support the acquisition of new airborne geophysical (gravity and magnetics) and hyperspectral remote sensing datasets. These datasets were judged to be critical to assessment activities supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). These assessments include coal, water, minerals, and earthquake hazards, as well as southern Afghanistan oil and gas basins in Katawaz and Helmand provinces. The geophysical and remote sensing data will be used to characterize the surface and subsurface rock composition, properties, and structure. http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1235/downloads/OF08-1235_508.pdf
Testimony of Alan R. Shaffer, Principal Deputy, Defense Research and Engineering, before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, March 13, 2008:
Information-driven Interagency Operations in Afghanistan
Shannon O’Harren, Trude V.V. King, Tushar Suthar, and Kenneth W. Cockrell, 2008
Airborne Hyperspectral Survey of Afgahnistan 2007: Flight Line Planning and HyMap Data Collection
Raymond F. Kokaly, Trude V.V. King, and K. Eric Livo, 2008
In Reply to: Whats with this guy??? posted by wheresjanet on May 20, 2010 at 0:07:50 PST:
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