More than 300,000 satellite photographs collected by the U.S.
intelligence community between 1960 and 1972 are now available from the U.S.
Geological Survey (USGS). You can use the Internet to browse the entire
collection on the World Wide Web (URL:
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/dclass/dclass.html),
or stop by a USGS Earth Science Information Center to get a first-hand view.
This collection adds more than a decade worth of records to the Landsat
collection that has been available for civilian use since July 1972. Compare
these images from the 1960's with today's images to see how our built
environment and our natural systems such as lakes, rivers and streams, forests,
grasslands, and other land cover have changed. Look at not only the United
States but also much of the world.
Declassification of these photo reconnaissance missions was authorized by an
Executive Order, signed by President Clinton
on February 23, 1995. The entire collection of more than 800,000 declassified
photos is slated to incrementally reach USGS
archives by the end of the summer of 1996.
For example, center-pivot irrigation systems (identifiable by the large
circles) have more than tripled in the region near Hastings, Nebraska, since
November 1968. The expanded use of irrigation is of interest to resource
managers concerned with increased draws on the underlying Ogallala aquifer.
For example, in the Cape Canaveral, Florida, image pair, the Landsat MSS
image (acquired March 1992) shows how agricultural use of a marshy region near
Cape Canaveral has expanded since the declassified image was acquired (Mission
9059A, October 30, 1963). In the older declassified image the region is
dissected by ponds and small stream channels. In the Landsat image, acquired
more than 28 years later, many of the small streams have been modified by dams
and reservoirs, a network of roads has been constructed in the area, and
agricultural development has increased.
An online catalog and image browse capability for the photo collection is
accessible, at no charge, on the Internet through the U.S. Geological Survey's
Global Land Information System (GLIS). For more information about Declassified
Intelligence Satellite Photographs (DISP) and how to use the online GLIS catalog
for data searching, refer to the World Wide Web DISP user guide at: URL:
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/glis/hyper/guide/disp
For information on ordering Declassified Intelligence Satellite Photographs,
contact any Earth Science Information Center or call 1-800-USA-MAPS. The cost
of each photograph typically ranges from $12 to $24 plus $3.50 handling on each
order.
For Technical information on Declassified Intelligence Satellite Photographs
contact:
