From kimt@asprs.org Fri Jun 29 09:48:16 2001
Date: Thu, 28 Jun 2001 14:08:33 -0400
From: Kimberly Tilley 
To: "'cestvr@ces.iisc.ac.in'" 
Subject: Commercial Observation Satellite Book

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Dear ASPRS Member,

ASPRS and RAND have jointly published a book titled "Commercial
Observation Satellites: At the Leading Edge of Global Transparency,"
with John C. Baker, Kevin M. O'Connell, and Ray A. Williamson, editors.
Now available for purchase, on line from the ASPRS Bookstore
https://eserv.asprs.org, Commercial Observation Satellites brings
together an international group of experts to analyze the diverse issues
presented by the new, higher resolution commercial and civilian
observation satellites.  Early reviews of the book have been quite
favorable (See the reviews posted on the web site with the book.)

With more than two dozen chapters and numerous satellite images, the
book's authors examine emerging policy issues, provide a survey of the
U.S. and many non-U.S. satellite remote sensing programs, and offer case
studies on international security applications of satellite imagery.
The authors discuss remote sensing programs and policies from the
following countries: Russia, France, Japan, Israel/Middle East, India,
and Canada.  Written to reach nonspecialists, as well as policymakers
and commercial practitioners, the 644-page book is divided into four
parts:
· Policymaking Context
· National Remote Sensing Programs and Policies
· Remote Sensing Applications to International Problems 
· Emerging International Policy Issues

The book also contains:
· a Foreword by Marta Macias Brown, wife of former Congressman George E.
Brown, Jr., in which she commemorates his unequaled role in advancing
both public and private-sector remote sensing programs
· a detailed bibliography and index
· 32 pages of color images
· a description of the past, present, and future of the medium- and
high-resolution   satellite world.  The charts in this section are also
available on the ASPRS website at
http://www.asprs.org/asprs/news/satellites/ and will be updated
regularly.

Commercial Observation Satellites illustrates how higher resolution
images from satellites can enhance global transparency, encourage
economic development, and contribute to international security.
However, as the book points out, this technology does not come without
risks, and not all users may have benign intentions.  The book editors
observe that, "The primary challenge is to find ways of hedging against
the potential risks that unprecedented global access to overhead imagery
poses without diminishing the many positive contributions that
commercial observation satellites can offer for civil, commercial, and
international uses."

ASPRS Executive Director James Plasker said, "ASPRS agreed to co-publish
this book with RAND because of its clear relevance to professionals in
the field of remote sensing and the outstanding credentials of its editors
and authors."  John C. Baker, a member of ASPRS, is a technology policy
analyst at RAND specializing in commercial observation satellite issues.
Kevin M.
O'Connell is a senior international policy analyst and manager of
Intelligence Community Programs at RAND.  Ray A. Williamson, a longstanding
member of ASPRS, is a research professor of Space Policy and International
Affairs at the George Washington University's Space Policy Institute, which
is part of the Elliott School of International Affairs.

Books may be purchased from ASPRS on line at http://www.asprs.org .
Click on Publications, then on The ASPRS On-line Store, or email orders
to: asprspubs@pmds.com.


Kimberly A. Tilley, Communications Director/Assistant Executive Director