Current Applications
Besides the traditional tactical and strategic use by civilian and military intelligence, other entities have made extensive use of this discipline. Law enforcement has made use of imagery in forensic crime scene documentation in order to determine how crimes were committed to include how the assailant approached and left the crime scene. Also, bullet trajectories can be detected in order to determine the location of a sharpshooter.
The United States Border Patrol have the use of imaging technology, determining transit routes and the detection of illegal aliens trying to escape into the interior, beyond the reach of the agents. Their only real problem is that there are far too many routes to cover with the manning and technology only able to do so much.
Highway departments make use of stereo and terrain analysis techniques to determine potential highway routes. As in the case of currently available programs, imagery is included with other types of information to create detailed maps useful for commerce, taxation, city planning, and infrastructure.
The most important application has been for medical and research purposes. Many advances in diagnostics and monitoring have contributed to the ever-increasing body of knowledge and treatment options. The only problem is that with the increase in diagnostic capability, the aspect of accountability and malpractice has made necessary the costly regimen of multiple-discipline testing. This is not about to change. The positive side of developing new imaging technologies is that enhanced observation and understanding will result in better diagnostics and treatments.
The introduction of LandSat in the mid '70s made possible new applications in the fields of agriculture, geology, mining, and the environment. The actual resolution would not be great, but sufficient for these types of applications. The raw data would include the grey scale, and information from a variety of sensors. The designers would find it necessary to assign colors for each type of return, creating a multicolored map.
Meteorological imagery since the '60s has made it possible to detect and monitor severe weather well in advance of its arrival, saving numerous lives.
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Famous quotes containing the word current:
“The current of our thoughts made as sudden bends as the river, which was continually opening new prospects to the east or south, but we are aware that rivers flow most rapidly and shallowest at these points.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)