A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO GEOSPATIAL INTELLIGENCE

A Short Introduction to Geospatial Intelligence explains the newest form of intelligence used by governments, commercial organizations, and individuals. Geospatial intelligence combines late 20th century historically derived ways of thinking and early 21st century technologies of GIS, GPS, digital imaging satellites and communications satellites to identify, measure, and analyze the current risk in the world. These ways of thinking have developed from military engineering, cartography, photointerpretation, and imagery analysis. While the oldest example dates back to the early 16th century, all the ways of spatial thinking share the common thread of being developed and refined during conflicts to help military leaders make informed decisions prior to action. In the 21st century― thanks in great part to advances in digital precision technology, miniaturization, and the commercialization of satellites― these ways of thinking have expanded from the military into various other industries and sectors including energy, agriculture, environment, law enforcement, global risk assessment, and climate monitoring.