Reflections on the value of ethics in relation to Earth observation
Abstract:
Earth observation is a science and technology with tremendous power to collect data over the whole of the Earth at many wavelengths and at many spatial resolutions. But does this science and technology, or rather the use of this science and technology, have an ethical dimension? This article explores the application of ethical concepts to Earth observation. Three main aspects of ethics are examined: duty theories of ethics, consequentialist ethics, and environmental ethics. These ethical ideas are then applied to the UN Principles on Remote Sensing, the International Charter on Space and Major Disasters and to Google Earth, and also to questions of security and privacy. The article concludes that there is no absolute ethical position in relation to Earth observation, but a dependency on the perspective of the observer. For link to the article (but it’s behind a $58 paywall, seriously), click here.
Author: Ray Harris
Source: International Journal of Remote Sensing, Volume 34, Number 4, 2013 , pp. 1207-1219(13)
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Ltd
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01431161.2012.718466
Publication date: 2013-02-20
Competition to Validate Global Land Cover
The Geo-Wiki Project: Validation Competition
Owing to the importance of global land cover in disciplines such as climate change, food security and land-use modelling, the creation of a global land cover calibration and validation dataset is essential. To help us achieve this goal, we have established a global sample of validation points which we want you to classify in this competition. You will be presented with pixels overlaid on Google Earth and we would like you to tell us what land cover types you can see up to a maximum of three classes. As most pixels contain multiple land cover types, this will provide us with valuable information for future validation of land cover maps and to get a better understanding on how much people have modified the landscape.
The top 10 classifiers will be invited to join as co-authors on a scientific publication. The score will be based equally on a quality evaluation and the number of validations provided. The publication will be called: How much wilderness is there left on this planet? It will be an extension of the work done by Sandersen et al., i.e. The Human Footprint and the Last of the Wild, which you can find here. Furthermore, the top three classifiers will be awarded Amazon gift certificates with a value of 50 Euro.
The competition will end September 15th, 2012 at 23:59:59 CEST.
For more information, got to Welcome to Geo-Wiki Project.
Why Google Earth Pixelates Israel
By William Fenton, PC World, June 14, 2011
If Google Earth maps the trees, the oceans, and the annals of history, why is a country, Israel, so hard to make out? An article from Mother Jones explores how U.S. policy makers have pixelated Google Earth and why that might change in 2013.
Israel’s low-resolution e-presence can be traced back to the 1997 National Defense Authorization Act. Tucked inside the 2,870-page bill is a two-bullet point section titled “SEC. 1064. PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION AND RELEASE OF DETAILED SATELLITE IMAGERY RELATING TO ISRAEL” (page 2653). Below, the full-text:
For full text of the article, via Why Google Earth Pixelates Israel | News & Opinion | PCMag.com.
Related articles
- Why Google Earth Can’t Show You Israel | Mother Jones (talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)
- Why Google Earth Can’t Show You Israel (motherjones.com)
Google Earth and the Middle East | Ogle Earth
Google Earth and the Middle East
Posted on 2011/03/03 by Stefan Geens, Ogle Earth
The Middle East is where Google Earth has perhaps had the deepest geopolitical impact since its introduction in June 2005. In these 5+ years, the wide availability of high resolution imagery of the region to anyone with an internet connection has caused a slew of governments to fret, and not just the Arab dictatorships — Israel and the UK have also worried, as we’ll see. In his New York Times op-ed column on Wednesday, Thomas Friedman calls Google Earth one of the “not-so-obvious forces” behind the revolutionary fervor currently gripping the Middle East. The reason cited by Friedman: in 2006, Google made visible the opulent palaces of Bahrain’s ruling family to a populace in the grip of a housing shortage. Outrage ensued, albeit online. The inequalities were simply too striking. …
For full text of the article, you really must visit Google Earth and the Middle East | Ogle Earth.
Google Earth Accused of Aiding Terrorists
An Indian Court has been called to ban Google Earth amid suggestions the online satellite imaging was used to help plan the terror attacks that killed more than 170 people in Mumbai last month.
A petition entered at the Bombay High Court alleges that the Google Earth service, “aids terrorists in plotting attacks”. Advocate Amit Karkhanis has urged the court to direct Google to blur images of sensitive areas in the country until the case is decided.
There are indications that the gunmen who stormed Mumbai on November 26, and the people trained them, were technically literate. The group appears to have used complex GPS systems to navigate their way to Mumbai by sea. They communicated by satellite phone, used mobile phones with several different SIM cards, and may have monitored events as the siege unfolded via handheld Blackberry web browsers.
Police in Mumbai have said the terrorists familiarised themselves with the streets of Mumbai’s financial capital using satellite images, according to the sole gunman to be captured alive. The commandos who stormed the Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Mumbai said the militants had made a beeline for the building’s CCTV control room. … [More]
Source: Rhys Blakely in Mumbai, TimesOnline, December 9th, 2008
On a related note:
Emboldened by its first mission to the Moon, India is to take on a target closer to Earth: Google.
The Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), which is based in Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of the sub-continent, will roll-out a rival to Google Earth, the hugely popular online satellite imagery service, by the end of the month.
The project, dubbed Bhuvan (Sanskrit for Earth), will allow users to zoom into areas as small as 10 metres wide, compared to the 200 metre wide zoom limit on Google Earth. … [More]
Source: Rhys Blakely in Mumbai, TimesOnline, November 19th, 2008