Geophysical MASINT - Weather and Sea Intelligence MASINT

Weather and Sea Intelligence MASINT

The science and art of weather prediction used the ideas of measurement and signatures to predict phenomena, long before there were any electronic sensors. Masters of sailing ships might have no more sophisticated instrument than a wetted finger raised to the wind, and the flapping of sails.

Weather information, in the normal course of military operations, has a major effect on tactics. High winds and low pressures can change artillery trajectories. High and low temperatures cause both people and equipment to require special protection. Aspects of weather, however, also can be measured and compared with signatures, to confirm or reject the findings of other sensors.

The state of the art is to fuse meteorological, oceanographic, and acoustic data in a variety of display modes. Temperature, salinity and sound speed can be displayed horizontally, vertically, or in three-dimensional perspective.

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