Identification

Title

KH-4B CORONA Satellite Panchromatic Image for a Partial Area Extending across the Syrian and Turkish Border in the Al-Jazira Region of Syria

Alternative title(s)

unknown

Abstract

This is a satellite image data product made available from the 1995 declassification of intelligence imagery acquired by the first generation of United States photo-reconnaissance satellites, including the systems code-named CORONA, ARGON and LANYARD. More than 860,000 images of the Earth's surface, collected between 1960 and 1972 have been declassified. The images were used to produce maps and charts for the Department of Defense and other Federal Government mapping programs. Nearly all of the imagery from these systems was collected using black and white film. There is a very limited amount of infrared film and high definition colour aerial film that was tested as part of the KH-4B missions and yielded poor spatial resolution performance. The original film is being preserved by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and is stored at the National Archives at College Park, MD. The US Geological Survey (USGS) originally delivered these images as negatives and prints to customers, but now USGS offers them as scanned images in *.tiff file formats. The images are not geo-referenced and require a Geographical Information System (GIS) or image processing package to achieve this. This CORONA image dataset was captured as part of the KH-4B mission which photographed the earth's surface from September 1967 to May 1972. The ground resolution for these images is six feet (1.8 metres). This image is identified as DS1107-2154DA071, which is coded to provide the following information: DS = Dataset Name (2 characters) MMMM = Revolution (4 characters) C = Camera Type (1 character) FFF = Frame number (3 characters) This image file is named <rectify1107_2154da_71d_c2.tif>. This is one of eight image files cropped and extracted from the original file. This was done to improve spatial accuracy, during geo-referencing of each image, and reduce file size. The original image's coverage spans an area of about 275 kilometres in length and 21 kilometres in width. The photo extends across an area, which follows along the Syrian/Turkish border and extends east into the Sirnak Province of Turkey. The image starts just east of the Ras al Ayn settlement in Syria and extends east towards the settlement of Beytussebap, Turkey. Beytussebap is about 85km east of the River Tigris. Neither Ras al Ayn or Beytussebap can be seen on the image, but both are within 10km to the west and east respectively. This CORONA image extends across the parts of the Cudi Mountains in the Sirnak province of Turkey and towards Beytussebap. As this image was captured during the summer month of August in 1969, there is very little cloud cover present; ground visibility is close to 100 percent. This image has been primarily used as part of research to locate and map archaeological sites (Tells) in this part of the Jazira region of Syria. The image also provides an important snapshot of the northern Jazira landscape in 1969. Landscape features and settlements in the region can also be mapped and compared with those from images captured recently to track and compare changes to land-use and settlement patterns in the region.

Resource type

dataset

Resource locator

http://www.sharegeo.ac.uk/handle/10672/38

Unique resource identifier

code

DS1107-2154DA071

codeSpace

unknown

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

authority code

WGS84 Latitude Longitude

code identifying the spatial reference system

WGS84 Latitude Longitude

Additional information source

National Reconnaissance Office: http://www.nro.gov/corona/facts.html This CORONA satellite image was made available from the U.S. Geological Survey.

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

imageryBaseMapsEarthCover

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

GIS digital format

geographic information system

satellite image

photography

originating controlled vocabulary

title

reference date

date type

revision

effective date

2010-01-13

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

37.1997070314

East bounding longitude

42.5830078124

North bounding latitude

38.2813130791

South bounding latitude

33.6603531220

Extent

Extent group

authority code

code identifying the extent

Extent group

authority code

code identifying the extent

Extent group

authority code

code identifying the extent

Extent group

authority code

code identifying the extent

Vertical extent information

Minimum value

0

Maximum value

0

Coordinate reference system

authority code

code identifying the coordinate reference system

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

1969-08-02

End position

1969-08-02

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

1995-01-01

Frequency of update

notPlanned

Quality and validity

Lineage

This CORONA image dataset was captured as part of the KH-4B mission which photographed the earth's surface from September 1967 to May 1972. This is one of four original image segments identified with path DS1107-2154DA071.

Conformity

Data format

name of format

GeoTiff (*tiff)

version of format

unknown

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Limitations on public access

not provided

Constraint set

Use constraints

None.

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

organisation name

Tony Mathys

email address

tony.mathys@ed.ac.uk

responsible party role

distributor

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact

organisation name

Tony Mathys

full postal address

EDINA, The University of Edinburgh, Causewayside House, 160 Causewayside

Edinburgh

EH9 1PR

Scotland

telephone number

+44 (0)131 651 1443

facsimile number

+44 (0)131 650 3308

email address

tony.mathys@ed.ac.uk

web address

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata date

2013-04-24

Metadata language