Safeguards Information from Satellite Imagery

摘要

Today, images acquired from civil or commercial remote sensing satellites are a fundamental open source for the increasingly information-driven International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. The main applications of satellite imagery are to verify the correctness and completeness of the member states' declarations, and to provide preparatory information for inspections, complimentary access and other technical visits. The aim of this article is to show the possibilities and limits of gathering safeguards information from satellite imagery. The article starts with an overview on the state-of-the-art and future civil and commercial satellite sensors technologies with regard to NPT verification. Based on this, the variety of different safeguards information that can be extracted from satellite imagery will be presented.