by Engineer Guy » Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:40 pm
I started geeking around w/Sat images after a Plane Flight. We flew a 'Puddle Jumper' from Islay, an Island off the West Scottish Mainland, back to Glascow. Some poor Gal didn't like the small Plane turbulence. She was tossing her cookies in back of me, but hit the Sack, fortunately. SOOOO, I was looking around for things to keep my Mind [and Nose] occupied. For a former Single Malt fan, going to Islay was like a Catholic finally making it to the Vatican.
As we approached Glascow, I could look down and see old Paths like the Nose on your Face. Old Celtic Footpaths, it turns out, where Vegetation never came back quite the same. Same w/ancient Building Foundations.
So, I hopped onto MSN Terraserver back then, pre-Google Earth, and have never turned back. 'Tis amazing what you can see from 'up there'. I'm hooked on Sat pix for Trip recon. The Grand Canyon flyover from above is amazing.
A pal works at Digital Globe in Longmont, major Supplier of the Sat pix. The early images were Russian Spy Plane flyovers, and other Recon Sat pix 'cobbled' together. Today, some pix are USDA flyovers, or even Oil & Gas recon pix. I'm not claiming that's the entire image supply story; just the wee bit I've learned about. Way back when, the Glascow pix were Military recon, limited to the Scottish West Coast. It was yet another population center of interest for possible attack. That's how first pic locations were prioritized and taken. That trivia is from a pal who works on Military Sats and can't even talk about his Job to me.
The 'long Pole' joke is spot on for our Household. My Avatar Wife's Kin are from Warsaw. Given her surname ending letters, she and her Polack pals are self-proclaimed members of The 'Ski' Patrol.
~Reality proceeds with or without your consensus~