Application of Earth Observation Satellite Products to Non‐Proliferation Studies

摘要

Satellite imagery has been used for some years for non‐proliferation studies. High resolutionoptical imagery (image pixel size of the order of one meter or smaller) has been thepreferred instrument for monitoring activities, as it is possible to visually relate and interpreta picture with a state’s nuclear fuel cycle facilities and activities. While these high spatialresolution sensors provide detailed information, they do not cover large areas and are thusmost appropriate to investigate specific targets at known locations. Earth Observation (EO)satellites, for their part, have acquired electro‐magnetic measurements globally and fordecades, albeit at much lower spatial resolutions, mostly to investigate climate change orenvironmental issues, or to support specific applications such as weather forecasting,oceanography, etc. This paper explores the potential of physical measurements acquiredfrom EO instruments to complement more traditional non‐proliferation studies. Four EOinstruments were used, though much of the effort concentrated on NASA's MultiangleImaging Spectro‐Radiometer (MISR) instrument, a state of the art multi‐spectral and multiangularsensor, which has been in operation for the last ten years. The paper describes thestudies made with EO data (primarily but not only from MISR) for a nuclear related siteduring the period 2000‐2008, including the relevant technical steps in processing andanalyzing the data. A preliminary conclusion of this research is the usefulness of mediumspatial resolution EO sensors to document issues or research questions that wouldtraditionally be addressed with much higher spatial resolution sensors.