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INTELLIGENCE A 

WASHINGTON, D.C. ZOJ01 

2 6 JUt& 1974 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL RECONNAISSANCE OFFICE 

SUBJECT: SAC Imagery Panel Report 

l. The SAC Imagery Panel has completed its study or 

resolution improvement for satellite photographic systems. 

The final report is being drafted at this time and will be 

completed in the near future. 

2. A summary of the Panel's findings has been developed 

and ls hereby forNarded for inclusion in your report for 

the next EXCOM meeting. 

3. Although time did not allow a review of this swnmary 

by the entire ?anel it was read and fully approved by the 

Chairman, Dr. Eugene Fubini. 

FOR THE DIRECTOR: 

1 Enclosure 

Summary 

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A. llffllOOOC'rlON 

IA April 1973, the DIA Scientific Advisory Comalttee (SAC) 

••tablished a special panel to review •Y•t• option• and req,uireaenta 

for taproved quality eatellite imagery. the panel was chaired by 

Dr. Pubini. A di~cu••ion of the panel effort, includiq Coaclusion■ 

and lecomendatious, i• Ullllllrized as follOW11; 

I. UQy aDIENTS 

1 •. IU.gb. resolution requirements currently raaistared for collection 

vere rniewed and the value of iDcreaeina ra olution on theae taraeta, 

1A •t•P•• ~1----~~u considered. the Panel examined past report• 

and found little correlation (at the high end of the reaolution apectrua) 

between resolution on the one aide and mensuration accuracy and tbe 

Rational Imagery lnterpretability Rating Scale on the other. 

2. they were unable to find a •i1t1ificant nuabar of lmiquely important 

.. national trategic issues that could justify re•olution instead 

• of re olution. National ia ue■ considered were: Indication■ and 

vamtas, uni,abillty of our atrategic forcee, ability of our strategic 

force• to penetrate, effectiveness of our strategic fore••• and verifiability 

of SALT. In all cases, resolutioos of appear to be adequate or 

utelltte.pbotography cannot provide the most critical intelliaence. 

3. ·Tbe panel found that most, if not all, pre ently •alidated 

requireaent·s would be eati fied by existing or planned sy tems. On the . -

other band. an analysis of the process through v~ich require .. nts are 

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••tabliehed or validated revealed that some additional requirements could ,. 

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. be .Juati1'1ed ewn it not validated. 'lbe reasons are the fol.loving: 

a. ~nt system ~---------------~-_-_---::__-_-_-~-__J 

J!botograpb)r at better than l toot resolution. A system vitb ~--~ 

resolution could provide Qr its imagery at resolutions of' l toot or 

'better. 

b. S1p1t'icantl.y higher resolutioa may uncover important programs 

unlmovn to us because~ our resolution limitation. 

c. lilproved resolution may lead to the same assessments or strategic 

or tactical veapoos capability currently achieved, but at an earlier date, 

allowing greater lead time 1D the devclopnent or countermeasures. 

4. In a~ international confrontations it may be desirable to 

aake a public release of imagery·intormation or at least to make a 

cmT1nc1ng presentation to national leaders. Io such cases, the desired 

resolution vould bave to be much higher than that required by photo interpreters. 

e. Requirements far resolution may 1.i;crease 1n order to detect 

11114 possibly, read through, camoutlage. 

t. A ooavincing requirement exists tor resolutioo to 

pt detailed 1Df'ormation on a tev tactical veapoos but the intelligence 

ftlue ot this int'ormation is uncertain. 

a.. The conclwsi011 that mensuration accurac;y is weakl.7 correlated v1th 

re•olution, at the high reaolutioa end ot the spectrum, is due both to the 

t,i,e ot system.a ve tly and the methods used to make measurements. Improvements in mensuration are possible both by changes in collection and e::cploita• 

tlc:n. 

C. CAPABILITIES 

1. :e, 1976, GAMBIT imagery vill be available such tbat 1~ ot the 

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p1~tures vill have a GRD ot [ [ ac.d 5~ vill have 

a GRD otl I .KENNEN Block I imagery vill wovide ca.xi:!.~ 

2. Arter projected improvec.eots 1n GAMBIT are made, little itt:i;:rove• 

ment 1s possible .... 1th existing optics unless improvecents in smear rate .. 

and/or t'ilI:i are achieved. Th(; cost im::aec! iete 11::tproveroent r:is.y be obtained 

by the use of fik ..,.ith less noise or finer grain cbnrecteristics. The 

use ot free radical fi.JJ!l, if it ~ver beccr::es available, ~oald give a GR.I) 

3. It is possible to increase the di::m:eter of the optics in GAMBIT, 

(nov 44") to 70" vithout B canplete change 1.n_launch pad end vehicle. 

Tb.e changeo would require at least $200 million con-recurring costs ecd 

vould improve renolution up to a maximum of 6C!/, better than sv-48 GA?,::arr. 

D. . R!CCJ.1MElIDED R&D 

1. As stated above, after considering the c'l.:.rI'cntly validated bish 

resolution requirements and the additional antici~ted requireoents, the 

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. ~el concluded that there 1s not su.tfiaient reason at this time to justify 

• the initiation ot a major nev UBR system. The;r found hovever, that 

signiticnnt advances over currently programmed performance could and should 

be achieved by evolution:iry improvements of existing and planned systems. 

Conaequently, continued R&D 1s recommended in: 

a.. Pilll technology in the areas ot t'iner grain/lover aoise 

ccnventional !ilm and in non-conventional film technology such as F.RF. 

b. Mensuration technology utilizing all a priori information on 

the shape ot shadows and rescnrch in the area ot edge/point location. • 

c. Electronic image processing to improve resolution and increase 

mensuration accuracy. 

d. Investigation ot atmospheric limitations on increa1e4 resolution 

e. Improved processing, reproduction nn4 enlargement bardvarc, 

techniques and materials. 

t. ·Ett'ects ot various types or imae;er:, storage, retrieval, and 

41aaem.1nat1on especially including electronic transmission and rec011struction. 

B. CONCLUS!O?IS 

1. 'l'be Imagery Panel bas concluded that both t'ilm•besed •D4 electronic-

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based s:,atems can evolve 1n the direction ot UHR. in.e ultimate resolution 

- . vithin _the next 10 years, and without very radical changes ill technology 

or major changes 1n orbit altitudes, 1• likely to be about the same tor 

both S7Btems .. A given resolution hovever, vW 'te obtained soone:E! vith 

t~-based e7Stern.s and at a laver c\lllUlative coat. In a44ition, t.be 

r•qu:lred modit1cat1oos to equipnent involved in gt"oun4 handling the output • I 

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of improved tilm-be.sed systems are going to be less expensive than those 

required by el.ectroo.ic-based ~ystems. 

2. The Panel is3ued tbe caution that at VHR 6.Dd UBR the meaning ot the 

word resolution and its application to intelligence value is very uncertain 

(see B.l. above). Additiooal factors should also infiuence the canparison 

between systems: 

a. Timeliness of the information. 

b. ?hlnber of different target views. 

- c. Signal to noise ratio. 

1l'le superiority of KEifflEN, \then available, over GAMB:rr in these three 

factors is clear. 

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