DIAZO TECHNIQUE FOR DETECTING CHANGE ON IMAGERY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78B04560A007400010038-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2000
• Sequence Number: 38
• Content Type: REPORT

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Secret
NEW APPLICATIONS
OF
IMAGERY REPORT
NATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHIC
INTERPRETATION CENTER
Diazo Technique
for
Detecting Change
on
Imagery
Secret
NPIC R-03/75
Copy 2 9
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NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION
Unauthorized Disclosure Subject to Criminal Sanctions
Classified by 009907
Exempt from General Declassification Schedule
of E.O. 11652, exemption category: 5B(2)
Automatically declassified on:
date impossible to determine
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Diazo Technique
for
Detecting Change
on
Imagery
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No Foreign Dissem
Warning Notice: Sensitive Intelligence Sources and Methods Involved
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1. This New Applications Branch report describes a photo analysis
technique that can be used as an aid to quickly determine growth in urban
areas, and capsulizes the results of a pilot study using this technique.
The study results from an earlier Office of Basic and Geographic
Intelligence proposal to do a survey of some 1,000 Soviet cities to deter-
mine and compare quality of life conditions in those cities. The city of
Armavir. USSR, was chosen for the pilot study because it is in an area
and is a major
railroad and agricultural center. It is on the Kuban River between the
Black and the Caspian Seas in the northern Caucasus, about 100 miles east
of Krasnodar.
2. To determine city growth for a period, a com arison
was made between satellite photography of the city taken i nd
satellite photography (Figure 1). First a conventional comparison
techni ue was used (method A, Table 1). Photographic prints from the
satellite missions were enlarged to similar scales and a
tedious and time-consuming process of back and forth comparisons was
followed to identify which buildings had been razed and to locate all new
buildings. These were in turn outlined on an overlay. Where there were
questions not answerable by an analysis of the prints themselves, film
positives were compared in greater detail using a microstereoscope.
3. A second technique (method B) was then employed -- this one
involving a diazo color process. For this procedure a film negative from
each mission was enlarged to exactly the same scale. Then a different
color copy of each enlargement was created b means of a diazo process
(exhibits A and B). Blue was used for the hotography and red for
the=photography. When the two are overlaid, new items immediately
show up as red. Where there are no changes the blue and red blend into
purple. The reader may demonstrate this technique by overlaying exhibit
A on exhibit B.* Film negatives were used instead of film positives
because the areas of interest (buildings) are primarily light in tone,
and dark tones are required for this technique to be effective. The
reason is that in this technique the imagery is overlaid onto colored
diazo acetate, and where light penetrates through light areas on the film
it burns out or removes the color on the underlying diazo paper. At the
same time, light is blocked out by the darker areas, permitting color to
remain in those areas on the diazo paper. When different colors are used
to represent different time periods, changes between the two are readily
detectable. For best results, when using the diazo process the sets of
imagery should have similar obliquity, and if possible similar sun angles.
*Exhibits A and B are contained in folder at the end of this report.
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Table 1. Techniques Used in Change Detection
1. Choose the two sets
of imagery. Similar obliquity
is desirable. Have enlarge-
ment prints made to about the
same scale.
Time required: 2 hours
2. Attach overlay and do
a back and forth comparison,
city block by city block, for
changes.
Interpretation time: 12 hours
1. Choose two sets of
imagery with special attention
to obliquity and scan angle.
Have enlarged film negatives
made to the same scale.
Time required: 2.5 hours
2. Make a diazo acetate
copy of each negative using a
different color for each.
Overlay the two diazo copies
on a light table and changes
show instantly.
Processing and interpretation
time: 2 hours
4. The results of this photo comparison study showed that in the
city of Armavir 40 new apartment buildings, and four houses containing
apartments, were constructed in the residential areas betwee 25X1D
The number of apartments in each new building was determined by overa
size, number of stories, and roof venting, and then comparing with known
Soviet structures. Assuming one family per apartment a total of 3,784
additional families were ascertained to be living in apartments in the
25X1D city in _ as opposed to _ During the same five-year period 160 25X1D
new single-family homes were built. However, 100 older homes had also
been razed, making the net increase 60. The total increase in families
25X1D living in Armavir between based on the above, was 3,844.
According to 1970 census figures the typical family unit in that area of
the USSR consisted of 3.3 persons, on the average. This, therefore,
reflects an increase in the city's population of some 12,500 people
between Also, according to the Soviet census, Armavir had
a population o 1 5.000 in 1970, so this reflects more than an 8.5 percent
25X1D growth during the period.
5. Other growth in the city was shown by the addition of 12 new
school buildings, a hospital, and two heating plants in the residential
areas of the city. Five of the new school buildings (two dormitories and
three classroom buildings) were at an educational complex at the edge of
town. Sixteen new buildings were constructed within the military areas
of the city.
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6. In the industrial areas 51 new buildings were constructed during
25X1D the period. This included 14 fabrication buildings, three
agricu tura storage buildings, three buildings at a meat packing plant,
and a new bus depot.
7. To establish some indicators that might be used to make city
quality of life comparisons generally throughout the USSR, the following
items were studied at Armavir: housing quality, industry, public
facilities, and environment.
Housing
8. Although there has been a trend over the past to
build new apartments, a large percentage of the population still lives
in single-family homes. The dwellings appear to be in generally good
condition and of adequate size and each has a large garden plot adjoining.
There are also large areas of individual garden plots on the perimeter of
the city, apparently for the use of the apartment house dwellers.
9. Most of the new apartment buildings are prefabricated and are
generally low-quality structures. This conclusion is based on a comparison
with known examples of Soviet apartment buildings.
Industries
10. In addition to a large agricultural storage and shipping
facility the city has a vegetable oil plant, meat packing plant, wood-
working plants, and several fabrication plants.
11. One woodworking plant includes a labor camp that was used for
World War II prisoners and which may still be in use as a prison. Most
of the industries are on the edge of the city and are generally separated
from residential areas.
Public Facilities
12. Schools, hospitals, shopping, and recreation facilities are
located throughout the residential areas. An increase of 12 school
buildings and a hospital in the last appears to be adequate 25X1D
for the number of new families in the city. The downtown area has wide
tree-lined shopping streets, several parks, and an entertainment center.
A large bus network services the city. There are also two airfields and
a railroad.
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Environment
13. There is a large amount of sawdust visible on buildings near
the woodworking plants. And the location of the meat packing plant
adjacent to family dwellings would indicate unpleasant living conditions
for some residents in that immediate area. However, because of the types
of industries generally present (no heavy stack emissions or effluent)
there is little likelihood of a real air or water pollution problem in
or around Armavir. There also appear to be adequate sewage disposal
measures provided by a sewage treatment plant outside the city.
14. Two photo interpretation techniques were used in this initial
effort to look at city growth over a period. One of these 25X1D
techniques, using the diazo process, was found to be very effective for
quickly determining changes on imagery. Although this technique would
seem to have the most application for determining construction changes in
an urban environment, as in this study, the same method could probably
be adapted to other uses, such as detecting new buildings and construction
at large industrial and strategic facilities; new roads, rail lines and
pipelines; and agricultural activity.
Project 730287A
Comments and queries regarding this report are welcome. They may be
directed to ew Applications Branch, Imagery Exploitation
Group, NPIC, code 143, extension 3301, or gray extension 3826.
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