SOVIET EFFORTS TO IMPROVE GEODETIC POSITIONING IN THE SOUTHEAST PACIFIC, INCLUDING EASTER ISLAND

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84-00825R000100550001-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 3, 2002
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 1, 1968
• Content Type: IM

Approved For Release 2002/10/30 : CIA-RDP84-00825R000100550001-5
Secret
1 -1
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Intelligence Memorandum
Soviet Efforts to Improve Geodetic Positioning in the Southeast
Pacific, Including Easter Island
Secret
CIA/BGI GM 69-2
November 1968
25X1
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 Approved For Release 2002/10/30 : CIA-RDP84-00825R000100550001-5
WARNING
This document contains information affecting the national
defense of the United States, within the meaning of Title
18, sections 793 and 794, of the US Code, as amended.
Its transmission or revelation of its contents to or re-
ceipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
GROUP 1
Excluded from automatic
downgrading and declauification
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25X1
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
November 1968
Soviet Efforts to Improve Geodetic Positioning
in the Southeast Pacific, Including Easter Island
Summary
A survey underway in the South Pacific by the
Akademik Kurchatov, the latest class Soviet re-
search ship, will include coverage off mainland
Chile and Easter Island. This is the latest So-
viet show of interest -- not always scientific --
in Easter Island, which began in 1958 and was re-
peated on four other occasions. The newest sur-
vey track will be similar to one undertaken 10
years ago by the Soviet Antarctic flagship Ob' on
its return from the Antarctic; however, the use
of a modern ship with sophisticated instrumenta-
tion will significantly enhance the value of this
cruise. By improving geodetic positioning in the
area of coverage, the USSR can importantly advance
its development of a world geodetic system for
military as well as scientific purposes.
Note: This memorandum was produced by CIA. It
was prepared by the Office of Basic and Geograph-
ic Intelligence and coordinated with the Foreign
Missile and Space Analysis Center, the Office of
Scientific Intelligence, and the Office of Stra-
tegic Research,
SECRET
25X1
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 Approved For Release 2002/10/ eiR1tJO84-00825R000100550001-5
1. On 10 August 1968 the Soviet newspaper
Vodnyy Transport reported the departure 2 days
earlier of the Akademik Kurchatov on its fourth
cruise. Previously, the ship had (a) conducted
surveys in the Atlantic Ocean off Africa, as far
south as the Equator (early in 1967), (b) oper-
ated in the Arabian Sea and the northwest Indian
Ocean and landed geophysical, geological, and
biological parties on various islands (later in
1967), and (c) completed 30 latitudinal profiles
between 5?S and 23?S in the Atlantic, seaward
from the African coast (early this year),
2e Ostensibly, the main purpose of the pre-
sent cruise is to make a scientific study of the
southeast Pacific, particularly its biology, in
order to discover why this region has the high-
est concentration of anchovies per unit of area
and is the leading anchovy producer in the world.
The voyage program also includes the types of ob-
servations in hydrology, meteorology, ionospher-
ics, geology, hydrochemistry, biology, and sea-
bottom topography that are standard for this
class of Soviet research ships. The scientific
leadership of the cruise by the outstanding So-
viet biologist Lev Zenkevich and a staff of other
well-known biologists promises a survey of high
technical quality. The high caliber of the sci-
entists may be designed, in part, to make a fa-
vorable impression on foreign scientists and gov-
ernment officials, especially Chileans.
3. The ship is proceeding from Kaliningrad,
crossing the Atlantic Ocean, passing through the
Panama Canal, and following a triangular course
along the coast of Chile, to Easter Island; the
Galapagos Islands; and the Panama Canal, Unlike
the Ob? with its improvised gravity instrumentation
of 10 years ago, the Akademik Kurchatov includes
a gravimetry laboratory among its 2 dozen primary
laboratories, It probably has the newly devel-
oped Soviet automatic seaborne gravimeter using a
quartz system on a stabilized platform, which is
SECRET
Approved For Release 2002/10/30 : CIA-RDP84-00825R000100550001-5
 Approved For Release 2002/181UCR EDP84-00825R000100550001-5
claimed to produce accuracies of ?5 milligals
in moderate seas. When the ship is in port or
stationary at sea, this gravimeter will ;yield not
only substantially improved data but a larger num-
ber of observations as well. Additional advance-
ments in survey data are likely to result from the
use of improved automatic navigation equipment
(to locate the observation stations at sea), im-
proved depth recorders, and improved methods of
measuring ship speed.
4. The USSR, in a note to Chile dated 6 May
1968, described plans to conduct biological stud-
ies in and beyond the territorial waters of Chile
and Easter Island, but it did not mention the
Galapagos Islands, which are included in the sur-
vey plans. There is no indication that any ap-
proach has been made to Ecuador, which governs
the Galapagos Islands. The note's mention that
"at port stops the correction of gravimetric ob-
servations is planned" is probably designed to
avoid any future criticism of the collection of
scientific data with strategic application for
which prior clearance was not obtained.
5. In highlighting biological research in
their press accounts and in the note to Chile,
the Soviets are pursuing a characteristic habit
of obscuring the full significance of their
oceanographic operations. Only two laboratories
on the Akademik Kurchatov are directly concerned
with biology. Although biology may be given
special emphasis because of the presence of top
scientists in the field, the collection of other
observations by the remaining laboratories will
further the Soviet program of building a world-
wide data bank on the total physical environment.
Such data, according to Soviet rati$nale, have
universal application to all problems -- scien-
tific, economic, and military. Thus, ocean-
bottom surveying and charting not only are im-
portant to the study of ocean dynamics and bio-
logical phenomena but, when combined with accu-
rate locational data (provided by the "radar,
SECRET
Approved For Release 2002/10/30 : CIA-RDP84-00825R000100550001-5
 Approved For Release 2002/10/39EQ 84-00825R000100550001-5
Decca, Loran, and other navigational aids" stated
to be on board), also can provide vital military
benefits such as reference points for the oper-
ational positioning of nuclear submarines, The
collection of gravity data, for example, is es-
sential for deriving the external gravity field
of the earth, improving intercontinental missile
target location, correcting the effect of gravity
anomalies along the flightpath of the ICBM, and
monitoring the inertial navigation system, If
doppler navigation receivers are carried on board,
the observations at port stops will yield accurate
geocentric positions that will contribute to the
development of a world geodetic system,
6e The geodetic positioning of Easter Island
could have other military or scientific appli-
cations, some of them highly speculative, In
1965 Easter Island was included in a Soviet-dis-
cussed worldwide net of 13 stations for passive
geodetic satellite observations, No further de-
velopments are known, but the Soviets may be con-
templating such a tracking station for their space
operations. They could request permission from
Chile to establish a station on Easter Island un-
der the terms of Article X of the Outer Space
Treaty to which both the USSR and Chile are signa-
tories. If such a station were established and
allowed to operate indefinitely, it could cov-
ertly incorporate a military-associated facility,
25X1
SECRET
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 Approved For Release 2002/19p JCLAIZDP84-00825R000100550001-5
9. Soviet interest in Easter Island has pre-
viously been evinced by several visits to the
island. Among those were visits earl in March
1961 by the nonmagnetic ship Zarya
In April 1967 the Soviets, as part of a proposal
for increased Soviet-Chilean exchanges, expressed
a desire for the Soviet Ambassador and some of
his staff to visit Easter Island and Chilean sta-
tions in Antarctica, but Chile did not extend the
invitation.
SECRET
25X1
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25X1
Approved For Release 2002/10/30 : CIA-RDP84-00825R000100550001-5
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 60) 61-2,
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D
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of~,;Intelligence
Novembet 1968
Soviet Efforts to Improve Geodetic Positioning
in the Southeast Pacific ,;Including Easter Island
Summary
A survey underway in.1the South Pacific by the
Akademik Kurchatov, the latest class Soviet re-
search ship, will include'.coverage off mainland
Chile and Easter Island. This is the latest So-
viet show of interest -- not always scientific --
in Easter Island, which began in 1958 and was re-
peated on four other occasions. The newest sur-
vey track will be similar.'to one undertaken 10
years ago by the Soviet Antarctic flagship Ob' on
its return from the Antarctic; however, the use
of a modern ship with sophisticated instrumenta-
tion will significantly enhance the value of this
cruise. By improving geodetic positioning in the
area of coverage, the USSR can importantly advance
its development of a world geodetic system for
military as well as scientific purposes.
Note: This memorandum was produced by CIA. It
was prepared by the Office of Basic and Geograph-
ic Intelligence and coordinated with the Foreign
Missile and Space Analysis Center, the Office of
Scientific Intelligence,,'';and the Office of Stra-
tegic Research.
SECRET
D
25X1
25X1
Approved For Release 2002/10/30 : CIAr.RDP84-00825R000100550001-5
 Approved For Release 2002/10/3(0P: 984-00825R000100550001-5
1. On 10 August 1968. the Soviet newspaper
Vodnyy Transport reported: the departure 2 days
earlier of the Akademik Kurchatov on its fourth
cruise. Previously, the,ship had (a) conducted
surveys in the Atlantic Ocean off AfricalI--as far
south as the Equator (early in 1967), (bl.oper-
ated in the Arabian Sea and the northwest. Indian
Ocean and landed geophysical, geological, and
biological parties on various islands (later in
1967), and (c) completed 3? latitudinal profiles
between 5?S and 23?S in the Atlantic, seaward
from the African coast (early this year).
2. Ostensibly, the'iiain purpose of the pre-
sent cruise is to make a scientific study of the
southeast Pacific, particularly its biology, in
order to discover why this region has the high-
est concentration of anchovies per unit of area
and is the leading anchovy producer in the world.
The voyage program also includes the types of ob-
servations in hydrology,` meteorology, ionospher-
ics, geology, hydrochemiStry, biology, and sea-
bottom topography that are standard for this
class of Soviet research ships. The scientific
leadership of the cruise?by the outstanding So-
viet biologist Lev Zenkevch and a staff of other
well-known biologists promises a survey of high
technical quality. The high caliber of the sci-
entists may be designed,; in part, to make a fa-
vorable impression on foreign scientists and gov-
ernment officials, especially Chileans.
3. The ship is proceeding from Kaliningrad,
crossing the Atlantic Ocean, passing through the
Panama Canal, and following a triangular course
along the coast of Chile,. to Easter Island, the
Galapagos Islands, and the Panama Canal. Unlike
the Ob' with its improvised gravity instrumentation
of 10 years ago, the Akademik Kurchatov includes
a gravimetry laboratory among its 2 dozen primary
laboratories. It probab.;y has the newly devel-
oped Soviet automatic seaborne gravimeter using a
quartz system on a stabilized. platform, which is
- 3.-
f.'
SECRET
Approved For Release 2002/10/30: CIA;,FkDP84-00825R000100550001-5
 Approved For Release 2002/10/30 : W 4100825R000100550001-5
claimed to produce accuracies of t5 milligals
in moderate seas. When',.the ship is in port or
stationary at sea, this, gravimeter will yield not
only substantially improved data but a larger num-
ber of observations as';well. Additional advance-
ments in survey data are likely to result from the
use of improved automatic navigation equipment
(to locate the observation stations at sea),?im-
proved depth recorders,,' and improved methods-of
measuring ship speed.
4. The USSR, in a,note to Chile dated 6 May
1968, described plans to conduct biological stud-
ies in and beyond the territorial waters of Chile
and Easter Island, but it did not mention the
Galapagos Islands, whieh are included in the sur-
vey plans. There is no~indication that any ap-
proach has been made to, Ecuador, which governs
the Galapagos Islands. ?'The note's mention that
"at port stops the correction of gravimetric_ab-_
'servations is plannedl"is probably_..-designed to
'avoid any future crit-i-edsm of the collection of
scientific data with strategic application for
which prior clearance was not obtained.
5. In highlighting biological research in
their press accounts and in the note to Chile,
the Soviets are pursuing a characteristic habit
of obscuring the full significance of their
oceanographic operations. Only two laboratories
on the Akademik Kurchatov are directly concerned
with biology. Although biology may be given
special emphasis because of the presence of top
scientists in the field, the collection of other
observations by the remaining laboratories will
further the Soviet program of building a world-
wide data bank on the total physical environment.
Such data, according to Soviet rationale, have
-universal application'' to all problems -- scien-
'tific, economic, and military. Thus, ocean-
bottom surveying and charting not only are im-
portant to the study of ocean dynamics and bio-
?logical phenomena but,:when combined with accu-
rate locational data ('provided by the "radar,
SECRET
Approved For Release 2002/1,0/30 : CIArRDP84-00825R000100550001-5
 Approved For Release 2002/WRDP84-00825R000100550001-5
Decca, Loran, and other navigational aids" stated
to be on board), also can provide vital military
benefits such as reference points for the oper-
ational positioning of nuclear submarines. The
collection of gravity data,'".for example, is es-
'sential for deriving the ext?r.nal gravity field
of the earth, improving intercontinental missile
target location, correcting,the effect of gravity
anomalies along the flightpa:th of the ICBM, and
monitoring the inertial" navigation system. If
doppler navigation receivers:are carried on board,
the observations at port: stops will yield accurate
geocentric positions that will contribute to the
development of a world geodetic system.
6. The geodetic positioning of Easter Island
could have other military or. scientific appli-
cations, some of them highly:speculative. In
1965 Easter Island was included in a Soviet-dis-
cussed worldwide net of 13 stations for passive
geodetic satellite observations. No further de-
velopments are known, but the Soviets may be con-
templating such a tracking station for their space
operations. They could request permission from
Chile to establish a station: on Easter Island un-
der the terms of Article X of the Outer Space
Treaty to which both the USSR and Chile are signa-
tories. If such a station were established and
allowed to operate indefinitely, it could cov-
ertly incorporate a military associated facility.
SECRET
Approved For Release 2002/10/30 : CIA-RDP84-00825R000100550001-5
25X:
 Approved For Release_ 2002/10/30 ftr9-00825R0001 00550001-5
_a- """t? in Easter island has p -
viously been evinced by several vyay-- --- ---
island. Among those wexe visits earl in March
1961 by the nonmagnetic ship Zar a
as par of a
s
,
n prl the ovie;
expressed
for increased Soviet-Chileanexchanges,
some exp of
a desire for the u iv-., .....~~_
r island and Chilean
E
his staff to visit
astChile did not extend the
tions in Antarctica*
invitati
25XI
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