Comments on: testing https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/ Sun, 05 Apr 2026 21:05:37 -0700 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39194 ER Sun, 14 May 2017 21:46:38 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39194 ...its pretty clear that the "rumors" I mentioned are certainly not classified any longer, and I won't be betraying my security oath if I tell you about how I learned about this. I had worked with SAR data before, when I was at my oil company job, but one of the earliest satellites launched with synthetic aperture radar capability suddenly went silent. The official line was that it had just failed unexplainedly due to some internal malfunction. Years later, when I was working for a defense contractor, the rumor went around that it had been shut off deliberately when they found the wakes of submerged submarines could be clearly seen in images of open ocean waters. This was a NASA earth resources mission, with no military or intelligence potential and the protocol was for open distribution, so they simply had to pull the plug on it before the Soviets started using our own freely available data to track our boomers. We wouldn't have had security access to any of this, but the spook community is a small, and alas, a gossipy one, so soon we were speculating about just what had happened to the bird. …its pretty clear that the “rumors” I mentioned
are certainly not classified any longer, and I won’t be betraying my security oath if I tell you about how I learned about this.

I had worked with SAR data before, when I was at my oil company job, but one of the earliest satellites launched with synthetic aperture radar capability suddenly went silent. The official line was that it had just failed unexplainedly due to some internal malfunction.

Years later, when I was working for a defense contractor, the rumor went around that it had been shut off deliberately when they found the wakes of submerged submarines could be clearly seen in images of open ocean waters. This was a NASA earth resources mission, with no military or intelligence potential and the protocol was for open distribution, so they simply had to pull the plug on it before the Soviets started using our own freely available data to track our boomers.

We wouldn’t have had security access to any of this, but the spook community is a small, and alas, a gossipy one, so soon we were speculating about just what had happened to the bird.

]]> By: hank https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39193 hank Sun, 14 May 2017 21:17:46 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39193 It is theoretically possible to detect the few millimeters of wake displaced by a deeply submerged submarine, even though they be masked by meters of wave action at the surface, and that this can be done <em>in real time</em>. This suggests it may be theoretically possible to detect a few mm of rise in sea level using technical means, especially if it be integrated over months or even years of satellite observations. So it is not unreasonable to assume that SDAI's assertion that one year's rise in sea level was, in principle, unobservable, is incorrect. Furthermore, it appears from ER's remarks that this has been at least theoretically possible for many years now. Quelle surprise. It is theoretically possible to detect the few millimeters of wake displaced by a deeply submerged submarine,
even though they be masked by meters of wave action at the surface, and that this can be done in real time.
This suggests it may be theoretically possible to detect a few mm of rise in sea level using technical means, especially if it be integrated over months or even years of satellite observations.

So it is not unreasonable to assume that SDAI’s assertion that one year’s rise in sea level was, in principle,
unobservable, is incorrect. Furthermore, it appears from ER’s remarks that this has been at least theoretically possible for many years now.

Quelle surprise.

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39191 RL Sun, 14 May 2017 15:41:57 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39191 <a href="http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7729229/?denied" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7729229/?denied</a> <blockquote> Abstract: Submarine detection plays an important role in modern wars. As a potential technique, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is used to detect submarines through detecting their wakes on the sea surface. This requires the images of submarine wakes under all kinds of conditions. However, it is difficult to acquire these images by field experiment. In this paper, we propose a method to simulate SAR images of submarine wakes. First, the sea-surface shape with submarine wakes is acquired via hydrodynamics approaches. Then, the scattering coefficient of each patch on the sea surface is calculated based on a scattering model. Finally, the image is generated using the SAR imaging model.</blockquote> <a href="http://www.london-research-and-development.com/Ship-Wake.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.london-research-and-development.com/Ship-Wake.html</a> <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj8zOiF3O_TAhWGYyYKHS75D18QFghBMAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sarusersmanual.com%2FManualPDF%2FNOAASARManual_CH12_pg277-304.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHGgj_oMe12YfmXL7zySIf6NB-P6g" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj8zOiF3O_TAhWGYyYKHS75D18QFghBMAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sarusersmanual.com%2FManualPDF%2FNOAASARManual_CH12_pg277-304.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHGgj_oMe12YfmXL7zySIf6NB-P6g </a> http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7729229/?denied

Abstract:
Submarine detection plays an important role in modern wars. As a potential technique, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is used to detect submarines through detecting their wakes on the sea surface. This requires the images of submarine wakes under all kinds of conditions. However, it is difficult to acquire these images by field experiment. In this paper, we propose a method to simulate SAR images of submarine wakes. First, the sea-surface shape with submarine wakes is acquired via hydrodynamics approaches. Then, the scattering coefficient of each patch on the sea surface is calculated based on a scattering model. Finally, the image is generated using the SAR imaging model.

http://www.london-research-and-development.com/Ship-Wake.html

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwj8zOiF3O_TAhWGYyYKHS75D18QFghBMAU&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sarusersmanual.com%2FManualPDF%2FNOAASARManual_CH12_pg277-304.pdf&usg=AFQjCNHGgj_oMe12YfmXL7zySIf6NB-P6g

]]> By: ER https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39190 ER Sun, 14 May 2017 13:33:21 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39190 I had a "fact" that would have demolished SDAIs arguments, but I realized that it was based on a rumor that was going about when I was in the intelligence community. At the time I really had no confirmation that it was true, nor have I received any such confirmation since, although it certainly fit and explained some otherwise very puzzling facts. It referred to alleged technical capabilities that if they were not highly classified, certainly should have been. This all happened over a quarter century ago, and probably is totally irrelevant today, but in order to be safe I decided not to bring it up. After all, catching SDAI in a lie is really not all that critical, or all that hard. There will be plenty of other opportunities to do so. I had a “fact” that would have demolished SDAIs arguments, but I realized that it was based on a rumor that was going about when I was in the intelligence community. At the time I really had no confirmation that it was true, nor have I received any such confirmation since, although it certainly fit and explained some otherwise very puzzling facts. It referred to alleged technical capabilities that if they were not highly classified, certainly should have been.

This all happened over a quarter century ago, and probably is totally irrelevant today, but in order to be safe I decided not to bring it up. After all, catching SDAI in a lie is really not all that critical, or all that hard. There will be plenty of other opportunities to do so.

]]> By: mcfly https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39188 mcfly Sun, 14 May 2017 02:11:58 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39188 ER, haven't you heard? Being correct is for losers, and treason is all the rage! ER, haven’t you heard? Being correct is for losers, and treason is all the rage!

]]> By: podrock https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39186 podrock Sat, 13 May 2017 18:09:15 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39186 As I understand it, the new Zone will need us to keep an eye on the pending posts folder. Anyone of old-timers will be able to approve held posts. Thanks for the experiment. As I understand it, the new Zone will need us to keep an eye on the pending posts folder. Anyone of old-timers will be able to approve held posts. Thanks for the experiment.

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39185 RL Sat, 13 May 2017 17:33:08 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39185 Damn, Long way to go for a joke... of course I have gone LITERALLY ~479,800 miles for a joke in the past.... Damn,
Long way to go for a joke… of course I have gone LITERALLY ~479,800 miles for a joke in the past….

]]> By: RL https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39184 RL Sat, 13 May 2017 17:29:49 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39184 will do will do

]]> By: podrock https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39183 podrock Sat, 13 May 2017 17:20:29 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39183 I didn't see it in the trash bin. I didn’t see it in the trash bin.

]]> By: podrock https://habitablezone.com/2017/05/10/testing-5/#comment-39182 podrock Sat, 13 May 2017 17:14:46 +0000 https://www.habitablezone.com/?p=63878#comment-39182 There's a lot of trash. I have access to a spam filter where I can put in IPs or key words to hold comments for approval. I don't use it much, only when the spam tends to repeat, which is what tripped RL's comment to the pending file. There’s a lot of trash.

I have access to a spam filter where I can put in IPs or key words to hold comments for approval. I don’t use it much, only when the spam tends to repeat, which is what tripped RL’s comment to the pending file.

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