PROJECT ARGO EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Document Type: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP80T01137A000200060044-5
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
T
Document Page Count: 
30
Document Creation Date: 
December 28, 2016
Document Release Date: 
March 26, 2010
Sequence Number: 
44
Case Number: 
Content Type: 
REPORT
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PDF icon CIA-RDP80T01137A000200060044-5.pdf3.72 MB
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Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80T01137A000200060044-5 Gf5 ~- 1) ASST TO DEP/DI 'L e--,) Y 6 & 72- c -,, "ji Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80T01137A000200060044-5 IMP)W kf._ 25X1 aer"ra , 't,~ a ~ 1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 25X1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 heir opinions with ;analyses of the possible costs of-,acquisition or.,ex_- iif ica' n'ce to' the operating ag,enc es:,, depending on what: ' these , costs turn, out, to 3 f ` t ~ o` 41 f 1''f .fj l~-,1 ~.+L, I I `' ~ L4l~WitJLL~~ Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80T01137A000200060044-5 LE OF CONTENTS' GRAPHIC,- MATERIAL IN SUPPORT OF, PHASE II EVALUATION. GRAPHIC,~MATERIAL IN SUPPORT ' OF"VHASE III EVALUATION Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80T01137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 n"response to this''developitg,need, the Special Assistant' to the President i Science. and Technology .took action in November 1966 to,begin a formal study 'classified photography: by the civilian. agencies. With' the approvalof the recto.r of Central Intelligence -and the cr;;,:)epartrteuts of Agriculture,; Interior f~ .opment and the Nationsi~ Aeronautics and Space Administration,,a plan etas r,tliat study. ):ojecti~es and Scope initiating, the project', the, participating agencies had three objectives, in evaluate the information content of the existing photography as ?it'.'woul develop within the civilian agencies a cadre of. people who would: nderstand; the photography-,and-,the-techniques of - exploitation, and who could then a-ssist their agency in: making , use: of the photography .and in planning for future the '',less developed, countries .'.of operational value to '.AID. e: study' was` performed by a .team of scientists and engineers nominated: ley' To. facilitate .the'. ev'a,luation, the. full-time participants organized thet-selves along these- disciplinary -.lines with or', I''n some cases, ,.-group reports Secretary of Defense,- and in concert.With, and Commerce, the:,Agency?,for International., '~ir. l 5t'li1 n ~ft'(,'J (~51 fi'S' ' I Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 I~Il i.ll C1`il' II rk.1l~". Jl1V ~.o era R Lnar'" L'T1C CVJLUU.-cca"1Vu3 ??'m.Z;' u vILcu,, ST'nri ?-n .oSr.T???vc nsc'c?n":: - -? ~rvrecoi naijsance satellite.,systems. Examples' of the photography, comparative v}'c und;' overage and camera chara'cteris'tics are shown in Figure. 2:; ?. As. the. graphic Ql.,tray i, chow , ?the:`DAf'I, and index cameras of the KIi-4? and M-7.systems? cover large. 25X1 ' 11e 'repor't, these index cameras are referred to as Index-4, Index-7 25X1:, panoramicJ1 :amera;.provides about 10 feet resolution and overlapping swaths o Wherever therphotograpus (Gemini and aircraft). were used by. the participants to compare,,chec nineer' Topographic' Labora'tories. acted ;iac't monitor to . the Advice and technical. the U. S. Azmy'Corps:ofEngineers and the Army, Map' cared office and.laboratory?'..facilities, technical?support',and consulting services Administrative ;orini tee comprisod of the senior: members.of:each'agency f cl ce or ,science` find 2zct ology.. f?" all the systems considered' 'but . photographs a rela-25X1 ' .?'. ;25X1 and areas in'the United States~where-good collateral-, reports,;; personal exper.ien'ce,,anc the .- CIA and. DoD through' NPIC; ?.tizc ~4.n,, Zeports that' follow are.the .p.ersona1 work and technical ;judgment; of ~ivi~ci ators In order to. view these report is n their proper :contc . Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 which provided fully,25X1.I fir:: auz Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 BREAKDOWN, 0F:-`SATELLITE PHOTOGRAPHY USED IN PROJECT ARGO APPROXIMATIIE 'FILM GROUND'RESOLUTION TYPE ..(IN. FEET) Figure 3 Top, tlnr~,.Gm Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 25X1 25X1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIAO-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 U L; -,INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE u cs .perfoxmad detailed, disciplinary studies on the using KII-4 panoramic'and KH-7 strip photography: oj;ect AR;GO was'.. conducted in... three -phases as follows: ~?.ae ,I: :bri^.~: anon 'An orientation period was: conducted to. acquaint the part ci- file photography, interpretation techniques, and`' L esults of. previous 'stud. e t-he, project. II - A r. %:udy'1' T the, photog abhy covering a a wide variety. of topography, vegetation and climatic conditions - A onal:Studj, dealing with surface drainage, engineering and structural geology, surficial; materials, surface configuration and land`-forms, and cliLatolog3,, aceompl shed by Autometric. (S.helkin, et al.) for the entire 1.2 million square ``aica. Figure 4 shows the area, studied. KH-5 (DAFF)-and index photography regional study. Concurrently.;..the ARGO investi- following. representative Area I-., consisted of about 30,000 square miles that. included parts of Chile, Peru aid Pdliviia.' Desert, high' plains and two mountain ranges :ere the mostprominent`features. The participants studied the geology, drainage, topography, hydrology, geography.-and agricultural conditions...' of the area. Area II consisted of'`about 20,000 square miles.of,'eastern Bolivia'-that included a - part of e. eastern foothills of the Andes, ' an extensive, area of, tropical .foresa ',; and some recent .land settlement and agricultural, . dcvt:lo p_ went' a J. cl ,wring ,and settlement, ~drainage and, hydrology. Studies in this area concentrated' on'fores try, agriculture Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 'S;ierra Nevada ..'1`ft .' .i ange? ' I:-'lat: 'dead: Lake, t~'aseo Cou?nty., U0- state of 'Rhode Island New i ii-i-dud G t. ~1 nc .Petrified'. Pores 1unt;;omer,y Co . Nd Lower I:io. G'rande Valley- Lake 14illu} jl,:: nlt.:plano i`;,chacnicala;. 'Cliuquia,quil.1o w. Peimsyluaiiia.: Palisa'd` Colrado; anta Gritz` ' 'SUMMARY.' O.F AREAS AND' SUBJECTS INVESTIGATED Iquique Chile;.: Territories -et Sea' G~ a 1 !-,'.cumil ':"I'slandBahamas .No- &',.ern Coast oi Spa3.n i'Ili tt Buy. Shot cline ' caetle'!'Area14asliistgton' Land use -trends-''hydro? studies, comparisons of. conventional. and satellite photos, land. use, planning: Snow studies',sea.sonal comparisons cloud. structure:', runoff estimates. Crop acreage.measu?reinent, conventional/U-2 comparisons. Geography. Land use, land ..patterns. agriculture use, urban-. dynamics ,,.;.water and ; land pollution,,..archeology,. ocean. surf features Ice and .current ? f lo'w'-,:direction phenomena -Current 'Hvdrographic'chartrevision' Sensor comparison ':1 25X1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 ~~~rICJ U eispacci.v of : t1ie~r and:`f.or, the who_. ewish: to p oint,'?o Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 sifted satellite. and aircraft photography from Although the ?investi''4iors._al c a l fret: z viewed."ttle .information 'content and the potential L-.-,u,inc:,s from Lae'ti Loam member considered in`detail the information content of the satellite photogrwtby ac applied to ,his background. In general, as a first step in his evalua each .author selected= categories' of information. which, his, experience - indicatcd,.c special, interest- to his .agency's operations..' or' to his li discipline, evaluated the. ability of the current photography to-provide I special. interests and experience;' Their results axe. therefore aid any: attempt to' summarize them p;:esents sc..r difficultie ... some. -rather explicit points-.-about the us;aand limiter reader who will Inot be. able. to read more than 'just _tportant to. bring these to his attention. For the r ader t;;io paper #oilow' s . tli-_ follow and understand the analyses in detail;`the provide informatiori at some required t that' the satellite' materials should' not. .'be ?c pec,t~ t need for alternate, sourc.es.of.iniormatio:i';?Now their judgments '?ab,qut. the. contributions tc. d0 s' i;ct1 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Uvu"' U',J u.: iriaividual paper;.,, fo a complete discussion. ' However?, `the following abstracts c 1aresen4ative of tic informaioil capabilities and limitations . of the TIZ pha f oUraphy. ibcl by the:.LRGQ,.'in. . t, tors can .6- ai.idin3 'crops %and bare ctn.: 'distinguish windro.as tica rectification.. makes it measurement in to be useful for?determinin ; plant disease=or evaluated photography: shows vegetative,pattetns KlI-'4 and '.101-7 can. show , detailed'. patterns such as difference;, crop yield predictions. :No-conclusions about standing e oo''i'c?ci~ti fi Gat~on ~or differentiation between standing crops were drawn from the. Ludy,of-:tine-TK photography: since. timely coverage -was not fields. In regard to,',crop yield:, he finds' that harvested' crops and, believes` that parameters like r c? i`lu~ Crai ve:if iC3:tio?i1 ; of species However, oui: that other, experiments have shown that o;tau3...ag c'ro.ps ,of. dif,ierent.species: in his agriculture. summary, concludes that distinguishing commercial 'ores t-laPA, non-co:::1ericdforest land-1 s. generally beyond the capabilities of all bu"t '2hc p:.iJLcgraphy, but that ?,the separation of vegetative; areas' from a7o. rc, ^'jr :ccorapiished: even . zii h the index photography. 'orests can available which 'would permit 25X1, passible to differentiate finds `that the use of mathe-, :.25X1'; Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80T01137A000200060044-5 co: cjnjional ph.otot; anhy.for. much more .,coverage., Because of this coni,i- e coils- ders::4i.-- : riore:'.u uful, to geologists.'thanrthe* other TK system:, road caa?tc-r,r.esource., _p, anning, for cartographic delineation of' flood pla rs, su-pplemented ;with- KH'-7, for detailed water resource' development and conscr.;;: - hlaing TI y :;point ost; ,however, that. . space, photography cannot in all cases u; ial photography if; . ailabl.e and cannot replic,e' the'.,need for .field investi :ons for. detailed-,water resourc~e'development.and conservation. They conclude for sea ice reconnais.sance.and that.a combination of - r 'snow. . coverage mea?urements flood prediction and iceconditi'o:is`ai.;:. J J` UllLaU Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80TO1137A000200060044-5 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/03/26: CIA-RDP80T01137A000200060044-5 u:L. point ;out that the l0.7 xcsolution of current wcathcr :;arc! .~Lcs t'~G,. / cloud struacture and. small st.orl.- cc~~Ls7 , Lie ..daL !"Pa'lent-l cyholc,pnotography could open up wide vist s in tl__~c' d.eve16=61-11~ G.ountries an canna ~ be ob t~'tiied in any other manner in soon-as possible. pil biography for..' provisional and states'.-that such,"geodesic control acceptable time. frame. "" imagery'rcould,'find' practical of the U.. S. Coast' and Geodetic onclude's -that .1G1-4,panoramic supplemented by..'KH-7. strip coverage sd.a,u;,cl . be LCcful for:. urban an'alysis , land use rtnalysis and transportation studies.. c_ `;Lo1;.- l