Thread: Aerial surveillance, thermal images find INDOOR pot grow

(Big brother at work)

Aerial surveillance, thermal images used in Pa. drug probe

The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - Federal agents said after nine months of stakeouts, phone taps and aerial surveillance they have begun rounding up a marijuana and ecstasy distribution network stretching from Canada to North Carolina.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided suspected marijuana growing and stash houses Tuesday in Philadelphia and Berks County and arrested nine Vietnamese defendants.

Technology played a role, with thermal images and electricity use patterns leading agents to an alleged indoor pot growing site in Sinking Spring near Reading.

Federal court papers accused the defendants of distributing 60,000 ecstasy pills and 100 pounds of marijuana this year.

Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.philly.com

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/ ... 13664.html

This has been around for a while.

Also, pot in the fields can be spotted with I think infared goggles. It reflects a different light than most other plants. It's easy to spot from the air.

Dixie

Via multispectral digital imagery / analysis. The electromagnetic (EM) response patterns over a range of wavelengths allow an analyst to discriminate between vegetation that appears similar by the human eye, but can be distinguished accurately by the finer measurements afforded by the very precise and detailed computer-based digital analysis. The process falls into the overly-used buzzword(s): 'spectral signature', signature analysis, and ultimately, 'pattern recognition'. This is the fundamental technique used in the image processing/digital image analysis field for many years. Some methods are quite simple and straightforward. Other methods are quite numerically/statistically complex, and are applied in many steps or iterations.
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In short, it's all computer-based, numerically-intensive/digitally-oriented procedure that can usually be applied over a fairly large area rather quickly. and usually pretty accurately.