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How difficult is it to scan the entire area using satellites? There are civilian satellites that offer resolutions better than 30cm today, surely enough to spot
by pavelrub 13y ago
How difficult is it to scan the entire area using satellites? There are civilian satellites that offer resolutions better than 30cm today, surely enough to spot wreckage in the middle of the sea. DigitalGlobe alone has over 3 active satellites that can scan an area of over 10,000 km^2 in a single pass, and the combined revisit times should be good enough. This should also be possible using SAR with a good enough resolution, as the sea would appear mostly black and anything non-smooth on top of it should stand out.
Edit: made a mistake concerning the area. Fixed now.
- maxerickson 13y agoThe area of sea involved quickly works out to tens of thousands of square kilometers.
- pavelrub 13y agoThe whole area between Malaysia and Ca Mau is bounded within a square of less than 500 km^2, and even that is a vast exaggeration of where the plane is most likely to be.
- maxerickson 13y agoEither I am completely confused or you are misreading something. The linear distance is more than 300 kilometers. 500 square kilometers is only 22 kilometers on a side. It's a tiny little patch of the sea there.
- pavelrub 13y agoYou are right, it's my mistake. I meant 100^2 km^2 (for the satellite coverage), and 500^2 km^2 for the bounding area. Fixed.