Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

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WKSH 8533

GeospatialTools forNP Analysis

An introduction to the increasingly important role of overhead reconnaissance and imagery analysis in world affairs, and a basis for a greater appreciation of the potential role of the new, freely available, geospatial tools for nonproliferation applications, and how, together with commercial satellite imagery, they can be used to promote “all-source synergy.” Foremost among the geospatial tools are the “Digital Virtual Globes” (i.e., GoogleEarth, Bing Maps, SkylineGlobe, etc.) that can provide the basis for 3-D visualization of known and suspected facilities of interest. As additional “open sources,” these new geospatial tools have heralded a new era of “global transparency.” They can be used to substantially augment existing information gathering techniques, procedures, and analyses involving the remote detection of undeclared facilities, as well as support ongoing monitoring and verification of various international treaty (e.g., NPT, FMCT) relevant activities and programs. Additional information can be derived from “Crowdsourcing” in the form of labels and figures as provided by a “free” cadre of global browsers and/or by knowledgeable locals, hobbyists, and tourists of the surrounding locales useful in identifications, through BLOGS and WIKI virtual globe "layers" (e.g., Wikimapia). The workshop will be equally divided between instructional sessions using both the lecture and case methods and practical hands-on exercises to enable the student to conduct future independent research.
Subject:
Workshop
Department:
International Policy
Division:
Intl Policy & Management
Requirements Fulfilled:

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