NEWS : TECH (NFPC)

Satellite Pics Reveal Heavy Guns in Syria

Satellite imagery, GPS, and Google Maps are all high-tech ways to find your way around, and now they are revealing military moves by the Syrian government.

Satellite images of Aleppo, Syria, show that the Assad regime has deployed its heavy artillery in civilian neighborhoods. The American Association for the Advancement of Science's Geospatial and Human Rights Project has been monitoring the situation over the past several months.Their full report is here.

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The pictures underscore the hardening of positions in Syria's most populous city. As it is, the war has resulted in suicide bombings and a war of snipers.

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The AAAS analysis covered 182 square kilometers of Aleppo and surrounding areas. It was based on satellite images captured on Aug. 9 by DigitalGlobe’s Quickbird-2 satellite and on Aug. 23 by GeoEye’s IKONOS, as well as information provided by AIUSA and media reports. A Google Earth image taken on Oct. 5 of last year was also used to investigate changes in the features of a military base.

The QuickBird satellite, launched in 2001, can see objects down to 24 inches across, from an orbit 279 miles up. IKONOS orbits higher, at about 430 miles and can see objects as small as three feet.

It's part of a longstanding AAAS project to use image analysis and satellite data such as GPS to monitor humanitarian crises in troubled regions such as Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Ossetia, Afghanistan and Myanmar.

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The AAAS said its image analysis wasn't perfect -– the high population density in Aleppo means that tall buildings can cast shadows.  But a lot of detail can still be picked up. In a neighborhood called Salaheddine, for example, smoke is visible above an urban area too tightly packed to reveal street-level changes.

Getting information about Syrian troop movements has been difficult at best; few news organizations operate inside the country and those that do have to navigate between areas controlled by the opposition.

Top photo: Recently-constructed "revetments" -- barriers to protect from artillery and probably mortar positions -- are visible near Aleppo airport on Aug. 9. 

Image: AAAS / DigitalGlobe

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Hackers Want To Launch Their Own Satellites

In nations that censor the Internet -- or have tried to -- citizens came up with creative ways to get around restrictions. At the Chaos Communications Congress, a gathering of hackers in Berlin, Germany, a call went out to take it one step further and build a satellite network that would provide secure communications outside the control of various governments and corporations.

The idea was presented by Nick Farr, a longtime hacker activist, and outlined further by fellow technology enthusiast Armin Bauer. They proposed building small, cheap ground stations that would link to small, amateur-operated satellites to produce a private communications network. Such a network, they said, could not be censored or easily blocked. 

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Bauer presented some of the preliminary work in building such ground stations with off-the-shelf parts and open-source software. He said he would like to get the cost down to below $130 per ground station.

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But getting small satellites into orbit can cost at a minimum $250,000 to $1 million per launch. There are some proposals out there to get very small satellites into orbit cheaply, and the N-Prize is being offered to anyone who can get a nano-satellite into orbit for under $1,565. Some amateurs (such as the California Near Space Project) have launched satellites on balloons, though none have sent one into orbit that way yet.

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There are still bugs to work out, and right now the project, part of the Hackerspace Global Grid, is focusing on receiving data and pinpointing locations. That’s going to be essential for any satellite to communicate with a ground station, as microsatellites tend to operate in low earth orbit and the stations can only track them while they're above the horizon.

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Of course there are also questions about such a network’s legality. While space itself isn’t owned or controlled by any one nation, local radio communications are regulated. In addition, a country that really wanted to block such a network might just try shooting the satellites down or jamming the signal.

But all of that is in the future. For the moment, the focus is on getting the network up and running and providing a secure, reliable communications connection.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

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New GPS Satellites Accurate to Within Three Feet

Lockheed-Martin is testing a new-and-improved Global Positioning System satellite as part of a $5.5 billion upgrade. The satellites should be in orbit in 2014, with the first launches in 2013.

The new generation of satellite will be more accurate than the old one, able to track positions within three feet, whereas the current satellites can manage 10 feet. They will also be able to get a better fix on people who are indoors or under forest canopies.

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Lockheed-Martin won’t say much about exactly how it has improved the system, though it has published a fact sheet. A company spokesperson told Discovery News that the technology is “sensitive.”

That said, there are a few technical advances that can be noted.

-- Reflectors. The new satellites will have reflectors that will be used by ground crew, who will fire a laser beam at the craft to determine how far off the satellite is from its position. The laser reflectors reduce the need to depend on the satellite's radio signals. The checks will also reveal whether the satellite’s clock is off; and if so, corrected to make global positioning more accurate.

-- M Code. The satellites will emit a new military signal, called M-code, which is more difficult to jam and offers better security. The signal will be sent from a high-gain antenna that also provides a spot beam designed to boost the signal strength.

-- Civilian Signal. Along with the military signal, each satellite will send a civilian signal. Sending two signals (military and civilian) to GPS devices will allow for better error correction.

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Stronger, more accurate signals will benefit everyone. Google will be better able to move its mapping function indoors, and hikers with GPS devices will have an easier time not getting lost.

Via Associated Press

Image: Wikimedia Commons / NASA

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Fabric Antenna Could Aid Rescuers at Sea

Rescue at sea has always had a huge challenge: finding the person to be rescued. If your boat's radio is out, and there's nothing to reflect radar, then the sailor has to hope someone sees him. A person in a lifejacket, floating in the ocean, has even less chance of being found if search parties have only their eyes to guide them.

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Now here's a radio that can be sewn into clothing and is water-resistant, which means that it is much easier to track down people in trouble. Wearable antennas have been floated for some time, but they were usually focused on military uses.

It's a simple beacon that transmits a distress call to the Cospas-Sarsat network, a combination of satellites, aircraft and ships. The signal is beamed to the satellite network, which then sends helps to narrow down the search area because the satellites that pick it up can notify planes and ships in the area. The ESA says it has been able to pinpoint locations of the wearer within a few minutes in tests. Usually, antennas have to be larger because the Cospas-Sarsat system uses low frequencies, but this design manages to pack it into something the size of a beanbag.

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The beacon was developed by the European Space Agency in partnership with a Finnish company called Patria and the Tempere University of Technology, also in Finland. It's designed to be integrated into life vests and diving vests, which will be made by a Danish company called Viking.

Via: ESA, gizmag

Image: European Space Agency

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Satellite Phone Provides Global Wi-Fi Hotspots

Iridium Extreme handset: Price varies by carrier; Iridium AxcessPoint: Under $200

The world's greatest hotspot isn't necessarily in New York, Ibiza or Las Vegas. That's because it's not about partying all night, but rather getting online wherever and whenever you need to. Global communications provider Iridium recently announced a two-part solution to enable Internet access anywhere on the planet with a clear view of the open sky.

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First, enter their newest satellite phone, the relatively compact Iridium Extreme. It may seem like a basic handset, with just a 200-character grayscale display, 100-entry phonebook, 30 hours of standby and four hours of max talk time. But its resistance to dust, shock and jet-water make it the first satellite phone rated with U.S. Department of Defense Military Standard 810F durability. And it's also the first satellite phone with GPS-enabled SOS (activated with a dedicated button) and real-time tracking.

Where the Extreme becomes invaluable is in its ability to connect you through the Iridium global network to the Internet. One way is via your computer, after downloading their Direct Internet 3 software. Or for those who don't want to lug around a laptop, before the end of the year Iridium plans to release a little index card-sized AxcessPoint device for less than $200. Either way, you'll be able to create a hotspot capable of serving up to five devices. Just keep in mind, the fewer the simultaneous users, the faster the data speeds each will have. Of course, those speeds may be down in the dial-up range, but being able to send and receive messages in your email client and browse in Firefox or Internet Explorer virtually wherever you want...priceless.

Credit: Iridium Communications

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Satellite TV Carrier Dishes Out Portable Antenna

Dish Network Tailgater: $350 without receiver, $499.99 with receiver

When it was '10 minutes to Wapner' or 'almost 5 O'Clock, time for Jeopardy!, 'Rain Main was quite content with the portable convenience of a Sony Watchman. Alas, for the two years since U.S. television stations have been broadcasting only in digital, those devices have become collector's items. But for those who simply must view TV outside the home, Dish Networks now offers their Tailgater, a portable satellite TV solution.

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To get up and running, connect the approximately 17-inch cubed device with the included RG6 coaxial cable to a ViP 211k HD Solo Receiver. (That model -- which offers SD and HD programming up to 1080i, but no DVR capability -- is the only compatible receiver.) With the receiver plugged into a portable generator or AC/DC inverter, the antenna gets powered through the coax. Tell the antenna which of the 48 states you're in and it will automatically find the satellite orbital locations for Dish programming. The Tailgater has a bracket for securing it and a handle for easy carrying. It works in moderate inclement weather. And best of all for seasonal sports fans and outdoors types, current customers don't need another account and can pay as they go for only the months they use.

Credit: Dish Network

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World's First Global 2-Way Text Messager Unveiled

DeLorme inReach: $249.95 plus service (starting at $9.95 per month)

Until now, worldly professionals, first responders, outdoor adventurers, government operatives, remote area workers and other safety-minded travelers have been lacking. They haven't had an affordable, reliable two-way messaging solution when venturing into the estimated 90 percent of the planet not covered by terrestrial wireless networks. To fill that need, DeLorme's recently announced inReach offers bidirectional texting from virtually anywhere on the planet, with messaging and tracking subscription plans starting at just ten bucks a month. The Iridium 9602 short-burst data (SBD) transceiver is the core communications component that connects this compact, buoyant and durable device to Iridium's global satellite network.

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The inReach is a natural for remote tracking and rescue situations, given its ability to quickly transmit an SOS with embedded location info and then confirm delivery of that message with a flashing LED. Even better, the GPS communicator can be paired via Bluetooth to an Android smart phone. That not only allows for more descriptive text dialogues with cell phones, social networks and email, but is also a great everyday way to improve the smart phone's positional accuracy and battery life.

Credit: DeLorme

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Satellites Catch Loggers Red-Handed

Oftentimes it seems like our Big Brother-like society -- with its thousands of satellites swerving overhead, its hundreds of cameras monitoring our actions and its questionable privacy policies on social networking websites -- is way too big. But then, every once in a while, the multi-eyed technological overseer spies a bit of treachery, and we all breathe a sigh of relief that it exists.

Take for instance, the case of the Ayoreo of Paraguay, one of the last groups of indigenous people that live, for the most part, uncontacted by modern people. For the better part of the last decade, loggers and ranchers have been devastating the natural forest in northern Paraguay. According to The Guardian “nearly 10 percent of the virgin, dry forest in northern Paraguay has been cleared.” To make matters worse, this massive deforestation has been happening in the neighborhood of the Ayoreo tribes without their approval or knowledge.

After this tragedy was revealed, a logging moratorium was placed on the land where the Ayoreo live but satellite images from last December obtained by tribal advocacy groups, including Survival International, clearly show that the deforestation is still occurring illegally. Since there does not seem to be much enforcement of the logging regulations on the ground, activists have taken to observing the process through satellite images.

Other efforts using satellite imagery have revealed illegal logging in Madgascar, Brazil, Indonesia ( PDF) and the Congo in Africa, among other places.

The images may help to shine a spotlight on the specific instances of illegal activity, but according to Wired Science, there is currently no systematic tracking of the deforestation within the area in question and the Paraguayan forests continue to be destroyed. The hope is that as satellite-equipped activists continue to call out instances of illegal logging, there will be mounting pressure to fine the companies that are carrying out the illegal deforestation.

Credit: Survival International

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Free Internet For All

Despite the fact that you're reading this now on your computer and/or have an iPhone or a some other smart phone that allows you web access day and night, 7 out 10 people around the world have no access to the Internet. That's about 5 billion people, according to the charity group, A Human Right, whose mission is "to improve the human condition by advocating for and safeguarding global access to information as a human right."

To address the discrepancy, founder Kosta Grammatis wants to buy a TerreStar-1 communications satellite from TerreStar, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010.

The effort is called Buy This Satellite, and it has 3 phases: In phase 1, the group wants to raise US $150,000 in order to finalize a business plan, get legally organized to submit a bid for the satellite, and hire engineers. In phase 2, the group will, among other things, submit an official bid for the satellite, develop an open source modem and acquire an orbital slot. In phase 3, the group will move the satellite to a new orbit over partner countries and roll out service.

Although A Human Right has talked with folks from TerreStar, there is no final price tag on the satellite. The $150,000 will get the ball rolling, but the ultimate cost will likely be much higher. According to the group's website, a different satellite called an Iridium recently sold for $23 million after its parent company in 2000.

And even if the charity group can raise the necessary funds, it plans to fund the free coverage by allowing telecommunications companies to purchase and resell high-speed bandwidth. Basic Internet service will be free to all, though.

A Human Right says, "We believe that access to information and the Internet is a necessity for every global citizen and we plan to address the information inequality by making Internet access so ubiquitous you can take it for granted: Free, global, seamless connectivity."

Photo: TerreStar

Bringing Connectivity to a Devastated Haiti

The scenes of destruction emerging from Haiti are, I think you will agree, heartbreaking. Amid the ongoing horror, we're hearing the usual litany of post-disaster needs: food, clean water, medicine, and sanitation. But in our connected world, you need to add another to that list of must-haves: telecommunications.

"Telecoms isn't a luxury in emergency response. It's core to the mission," says Paul Margie, U.S. representative for the group Télécoms Sans Frontières, or TSF.

These folks are a Geek Squad made of some seriously tough stuff. They go into disaster zones in teams of three, armed only with the gear needed to establish satellite communications links.

TSF's mission is two-fold. First, establish secure Internet and phone communications for aid agencies, so that relief workers can talk to and coordinate with one another, not to mention access mission-critical things like email, field reports and satellite maps.

Once that's done, though, TSF teams then set up call centers, and offer locals a free phone call to anyone, anywhere in the world.

The photo you see above, for example, was taken in Haiti in 2008, following floods that devastated parts of the island.

With local cell service currently intermittent at best, you can bet that Haitians are desperate to make contact with loved ones inside and outside the county.

Paul Margie explained it like this: "People want their families to know they're alive, and they want them to know who's not. They want to try to get resources from people they know. And they want to try to reconnect with their families."

As noted on the TSF Web site, a donation of $10 can mean a five-minute phone call for an affected family.

TSF has been going into disaster zones for more than a decade now. The aid workers who founded it did so for the simple reason that, on missions, they were approached by people who -- even before they asked for food or water -- asked if they could make a phone call to relatives. This video gives you a good overview of the scope and breadth of their work:

As of this writing, TSF already has one team of three on the ground in Port-au-Prince, and six more volunteers on the way.

I should note that Télécoms Sans Frontières isn't the only group working to enable the modern day connections that aid groups need to get their jobs done. The World Food Program has dedicated Emergency Response Teams that go in and establish communications in support of food aid distribution.

Geeks everywhere should be proud of these men and women.

UPDATE: See photos from TSF's work in Haiti here.

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Haiti Earthquake: How You Can Help The Victims:


• The American Red Cross is accepting donations by phone. You can text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross's efforts, or call 1-800-Redcross or 1-800-257-7575. Visit their Web site to find out more.
• Interaction, the largest coalition of U.S.-based NGOs focused on the world’s poor, has set up a Haiti relief donation page, listing several participating organizations where you can donate.
• UNICEF is also accepting donations for the relief efforts in Haiti and the Caribbean region. Visit their Web site or call 1-800-4UNICEF to donate.

(Photo courtesy of Télécoms Sans Frontières)