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Title: Commercial Observation Satellites: At the Leading Edge of Global Transparency by John Baker, John C. Baker, Kevin M. O'Connell, Ray A. Williamson ISBN: 0-8330-2951-7 Publisher: RAND Corporation Pub. Date: 01 August, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $80.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Fantastic High-Quality Book on Policies and Capabilities
Comment:
This may well be the best book RAND has ever produced--certainly the best I have ever seen or reviewed. An edited work, it brings together thirty-one authorities and integrates very high-quality editing, photography, and references. It even has an index.
As one who regards the collection of imagery as a supporting event, in support of the creation of geospatially-based all-source databases and integrated analysis, I would observe that this book must be regarded as skewed toward policies and capabilities related to commercial imagery collection. It does not address the many vital topics having to do with geospatial databases, the integration of diverse sources of geospatial imagery including Russian military maps and classified digital terrain elevation data, or the integrating of imagery into the all-source analysis process.
Commercial imagery is running roughly twelve years behind the early projections on both its adoption and its gross revenue potential. This is in large part because of a consistent prejudice against commercial sourcing by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Defense Mapping Agency (now the National Imagery and Mapping Agency). There are implications to this on-going negativity for the business marketplace--the cost of commercial imagery is still much higher than it need be, simply because the government is as yet unwilling to recognize that it should spend billions on acquiring commercial source imagery, not on building even more useless secret imagery satellites.
I recommend this book strongly, both for commanders who would like to exercise some control over national imagery collection policies and investments; and for business leaders who might wish to contemplate how the taxpayer dollar could be better spent in support of generic commercial imagery capabilities whose fruits can be easily shared with the private sector and especially non-governmental organization.
The editors and the authors of this book have excelled. I can find nothing to criticize--indeed, I expect the editors to get to work immediately on a follow-on book that brings together different authorities and focuses on the database and analysis side of the matter.
Rating: 4
Summary: Thumbs up from SpatialNews.com!
Comment: Review provided by Glenn Lethm, Managing Editor SpatialNews.com & WirelessDevnet.com -- This joint publication of RAND and the ASPRS takes a technological and political view in an effort to help readers better understand the political, security, and market implications of today's commercial satellites. The book will satisfy readers from government, industry, NGO's, and academia looking for answers that explain both the benefits and risks associated with using remotely sensed data acquired from a number of commercial observation systems.
It is apparent that the publication was put together with a great deal of support from the commerical agencies responsible for maintaining the observation systems mentioned in the book, as well as from government agencies around the world. The book kicks off with a detailed examination of policies and issues associated with the development of commercial remote sensing programs. A number of detailed examples of remote sensing applications to international problems are presented along with a section dedicated to emerging International political issues faced by policy makers.
Readers should take away a good overview of who the traditional and new users of remotely sensed data are as well as an understanding of uses and applications of the data.
If any chapter is not to be skipped over, it's section 2 dealing with National remote sensing policies. An excellent historical account of national policies since the Cold War years covers the military and civilian policies of the US, Canadian, Russian, Japanese, French, Middle East, and India governments. Excellent examples of applications are offered up, as are detailed technical specifications of each nation's observation systems.
Appendices included with the title are not too lengthy and provide a list of abbreviations, bibliography, sample images, and not to be missed, a very interesting time line detailing the past, present, and future of the medium and high-resolution satellite world. About the only thing I could have asked for in this publication would be more example images included in the text. Students of geo-spatial and remote sensing courses, academics, researchers, government, and commercial agencies needing a primer on commerical observation systems and Satellite imagery will find this a very useful resource - this one will be a valued resource on your bookshelf for years to come.
Table of Contents: Section 1 - The Policy Making Context Section 2 - National Remote Sensing Programs & Policies Section 3 - Remote Sensing Applications to International Problems Section 4 - Emerging International Policy Issues
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Title: "A Problem from Hell" : America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power ISBN: 0060541644 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror by DAVID FRUM, RICHARD PERLE ISBN: 1400061946 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 30 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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