DOC NOSS-Victorio Peak OR The Caballo Mountains

First of all, I don't know a good helo pilot. I need a Howling Mad Murdock to come and offer their services I guess. There is also the cost and the risk. Its not cheap to rent a helo with a pilot, and I recall the story of the guy flying the ultralight plane in the Caballos that was swept into the side of a bluff by a wind gust. I've also never flown in a helo, and not sure I want to start under those circumstances.

Instead I can spend a little on the front end and have a tool I can use repeatedly, with no risk to myself whatsoever, and little long term cost. It has a live video feed with a heads up display which I use to keep track of flight status, and for viewing pleasure. Everything is recorded on a DVR on my ground station. I have my 1080p camera on a 2 servo gimbal, so it can look side to side and up and down in flight. I'm working on the head tracking system now, so it will move the camera from side to side and up and down as I move my head. To an old fool from the old school like me, the things I am able to buy off the shelf are simply amazing these days!

So instead of knocking myself out, I can launch my UAV, watch the video on my HD goggles, and have a cocktail. When the battery power reaches a certain level, the autopilot returns it to my location and lands it. Pop in new batteries, and you launch again for another mapping run. No fuel, little noise, low profile. And 200 feet up, it will be hard to see, blends right in to the sky. I guess its that sky blue paint job on the bottom...
 

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sdcfia, that video 3-D image is exactly the kind of thing I want to produce, only on a much larger scale, as an infrared map. Forgive, but I am not familiar with this "map cave". I could see a horses head clearly in the markings in the image though, in the center of the screen at 2:28.
 

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I could be mistaken, but I thought Springfield's book was about the Spider Rock treasure hunt, not this book.
 

I was poking around on GE north-west of the radio antennas, and saw an interesting shadow on the map:

32.980691, -107.236213

See if you have a good guess as to what is making that shadow. It almost appears to be a tall tank or rock column.
 

UncleMatt said:
I was poking around on GE north-west of the radio antennas, and saw an interesting shadow on the map:

32.980691, -107.236213

See if you have a good guess as to what is making that shadow. It almost appears to be a tall tank or rock column.
Click to expand...

That is interesting - the shadow seems to be something like 3 feet wide. Compare the two photos below, taken about 11 months apart with similar sun angles.

1-21-2013.jpg
Jan 21, 2013 no shadow

12-14-2013.jpg
Dec 14, 2013 shadow showing
 

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So I heard back from Satellite Imaging about a recent inquiry I made about LWIR imaging from their company. They tell me that NONE of the newer high resolution satellites are carrying thermal imagers! The best commercially available LWIR satellite imaging has a resolution of 30 meters! I will have to do some more research on Sarah Parcak's methods. I know she was able to image ancient roads covered with sand erosion for thousands of years with 30 meter resolution LWIR imaging. So maybe we could still achieve some results with what is available. I will ask for a quote covering the VP and Hardscrabble areas.

I have to say, that sounds pitiful. 30 meters. bah!
 

BUT hope remains!

US government signs off on sale of ultra-high resolution satellite imagery | The Verge

The guy I exchanged email with was obviously incorrect. Its probably the case that his specific company won't be offering this product, so they pretend its not out there.

I emailed DigitalGlobe and asked for specs and availability for their highest resolution LWIR satellite imagery. We'll see what they come back with.

Supposedly they are releasing a bunch of high res stuff in February.
 

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HERE is an article about satellite archeology, and then I will shut up about this unless I get my hands on some LWIR images.
 

What do they charge. Is there a flat rate based of teran and location. What is the criteria used to determine cost.
 

I was told $250 a "scene" by the Satellite Imaging Service company, and they say a scene is this : "A landsat-8 scene covers an area of 170 by 185 kilometers in size. This will include all the visual and infrared bands including the thermal."

So they don't sell just LWIR imagery, they sell you imagery with ALL the spectrums they have available included in that imagery. Not what I was looking for at all, I just want LWIR. DigitalGlobe may turn out to be the better choice, still waiting to hear back from them on this.
 

I am determined to pursue every lead that has the potential to provide some hard data on VP and the Caballos. Those opportunities are obviously few and far between, so I'm striking where the iron is hot.
 

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