US Government OKs Sale of Sharper Satellite Images

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US Government OKs Sale of Sharper Satellite Images

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday June 12, 2014 @05:13PM from the clear-skies dept.

itwbennett (1594911) writes The U.S. government has lifted a long-standing restriction that meant companies like Google and Microsoft didn't have access to the most accurate pictures taken by imaging satellites. Satellite operator DigitalGlobe said that it received approval from the U.S. Department of Commerce this week to sell sharper images to its clients. Until now, satellite operators like DigitalGlobe were prevented by law from selling images to foreign or commercial organizations in which features smaller than 50 centimeters were visible. The restriction was meant to ensure that foreign powers didn't get access to satellite images that were too good.

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People can use sharper images by tooslickvan · 2014-06-12 17:26 · Score: 5, Funny

I glad that US government has finally approved sharper images. Hopefully, this increase the availability of ionic breezes for everyone.
1. Re:People can use sharper images by philip.paradis · 2014-06-12 18:11 · Score: 2
  
  You beat me to the punch. Well played, sir. Discussion on this story is officially concluded.
  
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2. Re:People can use sharper images by TapeCutter · 2014-06-12 20:21 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  They had no choice but to use sharper images, Apple holds the patent on round corners.
  
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Oh...they have access to better imagery... by TheCaptain · 2014-06-12 17:29 · Score: 5, Interesting

but they can't share it with you. I'm not sure how much they can even disclose about the abilities of the satellites they have, but you need to bear in mind that companies like Google actually own imaging satellites of their own. They've been able to do much higher resolutions for a very very long time already...they just haven't been allowed share it with us.
The resolution limitations have been political in nature...most if not all of the hardware already up there has been able to provide higher resolution for years. I think some providers were getting around that by providing arial photography in some areas instead...the 50cm limitations are for satellites. Photography from airplanes doesn't have that limitation.
1. Re:Oh...they have access to better imagery... by s.petry · 2014-06-12 17:54 · Score: 2
  
  I think some providers were getting around that by providing arial photography in some areas instead...the 50cm limitations are for satellites. Photography from airplanes doesn't have that limitation.
  Airspace restrictions are a limitation on aircraft photography, but no such limit can be enforced on Satellites. You could not go get a high-resolution photos of Area 51 or Aberdeen proving grounds from your airplane. Well, you could, but you would not have them for long. Either your gear would be confiscated and you would be in jail, or you would become a debris field.
  I don't see much in this article that provides what restrictions are still in place, but I would guess that there are some restrictions still for areas the Government considers sensitive.
  
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2. Re:Oh...they have access to better imagery... by philip.paradis · 2014-06-12 18:25 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  GeoEye and DigitalGlobe merged in January of 2013. From launch to the present day, Google has maintained exclusive online mapping rights to the data produced by the GeoEye-1 satellite, often referred to as Google-1. The Google logo was on the Delta II rocket that put the satellite into orbit. While NGA and Google collaborated to provide funding in the amount of approximately USD $500M for the satellite and launch, it's a bit disingenuous to say Google shouldn't have been considered an owner.
  
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3. Re:Oh...they have access to better imagery... by MaskedSlacker · 2014-06-12 21:00 · Score: 2
  
  The next generation of satellites has a high enough resolution to use facial detection algorithms on the images
  No matter how good your resolution that's not gonna happen from a vertical angle.
4. Re:Oh...they have access to better imagery... by Hognoxious · 2014-06-12 22:00 · Score: 2
  
  I'd really be shocked if I could tell the difference between 50cm resolution and 41cm resolution.
  
  The critical value is 39cm. That's 11 clearer.
  
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5. Re:Oh...they have access to better imagery... by RabidReindeer · 2014-06-12 23:36 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  The next generation of satellites has a high enough resolution to use facial detection algorithms on the images
  No matter how good your resolution that's not gonna happen from a vertical angle.
  They'll just work back from reflections on automobile windshields.
6. Re:Oh...they have access to better imagery... by cdrudge · 2014-06-13 00:13 · Score: 2
  
  Reminds me of a scene from Enemy Of the State:
  [the NSA team is watching satellite footage of a conversation between Dean and Brill on a rooftop]
  Hicks: Can you get a feature scan and pattern matching on him?
  Van: No, he's smart, he never looks up.
  Jones: Why does he have to look up?
  Fiedler: The satellite is 155 miles above the Earth. It can only look straight down.
  Jones: That's a bit limited, isn't it?
  Van: [Sarcastically] Well, maybe you should design a better one.
  Jones: Maybe I will idiot.
7. Re:Oh...they have access to better imagery... by MooseTick · 2014-06-13 06:48 · Score: 2
  
  Exactly. They may have just realized they can't hide stuff in open view anymore. I'm sure someone has or is planning to buid a drone and fly it over area 51, the pentagon, and other "secret" and protected types of places. If they take those images with a decent camera and dump that via cellular as its taken, then shooting it down won't even do much good. If you are willing to lose $1000-5000 worth of gear, I suspect you could have extremely high resolution images of anywhere. And once you get those photos and post them on the web, there is no stopping their distribution.
  
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Good news by mendax · 2014-06-12 17:29 · Score: 2

For the voyeurs among us, it'll allow them to get a better look at those sunbathing nude in their backyards. But beyond that, what will it offer? Perhaps better looks at the Disneyland of North Korea, Pyongyang, the capital of that Tragic Kingdom? That's one of my favorite places to look at via Google Earth.

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Re:How good does it get? by Megane · 2014-06-13 00:23 · Score: 4, Informative

Those pictures are not from satellite. They are aerial photographs taken by planes. Go to the middle of nowhere and you will see the (current) limits of satellite resolution.

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FTA, looks like the max resolution is 12 inches by wiredog · 2014-06-13 01:02 · Score: 2

So nowhere near good enough to ID a person, or even a vehicle.

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Rectangle areas still measured in square units by tepples · 2014-06-13 03:33 · Score: 2

800 mm by 1250 mm is a rectangle with an area of 1 square metre, and six nearly-square pixels fit inside it.
Obligatory xkcd by biochozo · 2014-06-13 03:56 · Score: 2

http://xkcd.com/1204/ "Google defends the swiveling roof-mounted scanning electron microscopes on its Street View cars, saying they 'don't reveal anything that couldn't be seen by any pedestrian scanning your house with an electron microscope.'"