NOAA, which regulates the remote sensing of Earth from space, published its findings on available non-federal, commercial imagery of Israel and announced a change in its resolution criteria.
Specifically, NOAA may “issue a license for the collection or dissemination by a non- Federal entity of satellite imagery with respect to Israel only if such imagery is no more detailed or precise than satellite imagery of Israel that is available from commercial sources.’’ Under this law, popularly referred to as the Kyl-Bingaman amendment, NOAA makes findings as to the level of detail or precision of satellite imagery of Israel available from commercial sources. In the course of one of its reviews, NOAA found that satellite imagery of Israel is readily and consistently available from non-U.S. commercial sources at a resolution of 0.4 meters Ground Sample Distance (m GSD). The agency is therefore changing its existing resolution limit of 2.0 m GSD to 0.4 m GSD.
NOAA regularly reviews this finding as additional information becomes available, and the agency invites the public to provide evidence of the availability of commercial imagery over Israel at a finer resolution than 0.4 m GSD.
As a note to my future students, I love to put this issue on exams. Sometimes, to be extra sneaky, I just describe a satellite obtaining imagery of the Mediterranean Sea or the Middle East. Space lawyers need to know at least a little geography.
