Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Remote Sensing and GIS as Counterterrorism Tools for Homeland Security: The case of Afghanistan

  • Chapter
Geospatial Technologies and Homeland Security

Part of the book series: The GeoJournal Library ((GEJL,volume 94))

Abstract

The classic buffer state of Afghanistan, created to avoid confrontation in the 19th century, has in the 21st century become a focal point for armed conflict that can only be alleviated by attention to the country’s problems, many of which can be studied or alleviated through geospatial technologies. Instead of the present weakness and ineptitude, a Marshall-Plan style of post-war rebuilding could have led to a robust Islamic democracy instead of re-energization of the Taliban and the creation of other problems hindering the country’s reemergence from its long national nightmare. Winning every battle could still result in losing the overall war for Afghanistan unless stronger redevelopment measures are undertaken promptly.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Anonymous (M. Scheuer) (2004). Imperial hubris: Why the west is losing the war on terrorism. (Dulles, VA: Potomac Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous (2006a). The test in Afghanistan. The Economist, November 25, pp. 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous (2006b). Predictions of its death were premature. The Economist, November 25, pp. 24–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • BAAG (British Agencies Afghanistan Group) (2004). On-line reports, September, 2004; Retrieved September 28, 2007 from http://www.baag.org.uk/downloads/monthly%20review%2004/52%20-September%202004.pdf.

  • BAAG (British Agencies Afghanistan Group) (2006). Afghanistan briefing pack: An introduction to working in Afghanistan, on-line report, 52 pp. Retrieved September 28, 2007 from http://www.baag.org.uk/downloads/reports/BAAG%20Briefing%20Pack%202006.pdf.

  • Bearden, M. (2001). Afghanistan, graveyard of empires. Foreign Affairs (November/December), pp. 17–34.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, R.A. (2003). Remote sensing and GIS as counterterrorism tools in the Afghanistan War: A case study of the Zhawar Kili region. The Professional Geographer 55, 170–179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergen, P.L. (2004). The long, long hunt for bin Laden. The Atlantic, October, 294(3), 88–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bergen, P.L. (2006). The Osama bin Laden I know. (New York: Free Press/Simon & Schuster).

    Google Scholar 

  • Berntsen, G. & Pezzullo, R. (2005). Jawbreaker: The attack on bin Laden and al-Qaeda. (New York: Three Rivers Press/Crown Publishing Group).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, M.P., Kargel, J.S., Kieffer, H.H., MacKinnon, D.J., Raup, B.H. & Shroder, J.F., Jr. (2000). Remote-sensing science and technology for studying glacier processes in high Asia. Annals of Glaciology, 31, 164–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, M.P., Bonk, R., Kamp, U., Jr. & Shroder, J.F., Jr. (2001). Terrain analysis and data modeling for alpine glacier mapping. Polar Geography, 24(4), 257–276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, M.P. & Shroder, J.F., Jr. (Editors) (2004). Geographic information science and mountain geomorphology. (London: Praxis).

    Google Scholar 

  • Boot, M. (2006a). War made new: Technology, warfare, and the course of history. (New York: Gotham Books).

    Google Scholar 

  • Boot, M. (2006b). From Siagon to Desert Storm: How the US military reinvented itself after Viet Nam. American Heritage, November/December, 28–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borovik, A. (1990). The hidden war: A Russian journalist’s account of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradsher, H.S. (1983). Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Byrd, W.A. & Buddenberg, D. (Editors) (2006). Afghanistan: Drug industry and counter-narcotics policy. World Bank, 214 pp. [Electronic version] Retrieved September 28, 2007 from http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0, contentMDK:21133060, pagePK:146736ppiPK:146830ptheSitePK:223547, 00.html.

  • Central Intelligence Agency (not identified on map) (undated a; but early 1980s). Afghanistan: Kabul and Panjshãr. Landsat imagery Sept. 1972–June 1979; 505317 (547059F) 9–82; 1:500, 000 scale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Central Intelligence Agency (not identified on maps) (undated b; but early 1980s). Afghanistan:.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheet I Herãt; 505081 (547059-H) 2–83; 1:500, 000 scale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheet II Maymanah; 505082 (547059-G) 8–82; 1:500, 000 scale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheet III Kãbul; 505083 (547059 F) 2–83; 1:500, 000 scale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheet IV Islamãbad; 505084 (547059 E) 10–82; 1:500, 000 scale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheet V Zaranj; 505085 (547059 D) 5–84; 1:500, 000 scale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheet VI Qandahãr; 505086 (547059-C) 6–82; 1:500, 000 scale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheet VII Ghazni; 505087 (547059 B) 1–83; 1:500, 000 scale.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chayes, S. (2006). The punishment of virtue: Inside Afghanistan after the Taliban. (New York: Penguin Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Chmyriov, V.M. & Mirzad, S.H. (1972). Geological map of Afghanistan, 1:1, 000, 000. Royal Government of Afghanistan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chuinsiri, S., Blasco, F., Bellan, M.F. & Kergoat, L. (1997). A poppy survey using high resolution remote sensing data. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 18(2), 393–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coll, S. (2004). Ghost wars. (New York: Penguin Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Crile, G. (2003). Charlie Wilson’s war. (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Danner, M. (2005). Taking stock of the forever war. The New York Times Magazine, September 11, 44–53, 68–71.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dreyfuss, R. (2005). Devil’s game: How the United States helped unleash fundamentalist Islam. (New York: Owl Books/Henry Holt & Co.).

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards, D.B. (2002). Before Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad. (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Fallows, J. (2004). Bush’s lost year. The Atlantic, October, 294(3), 68–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gall, C. (2007). At border, signs of Pakistan role in Taliban surge. The New York Times, Sunday, January 21, CLVI (53831), 1 & 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grau, L.W. & Gress, M.A. (2002). The Soviet-Afghan war: How a superpower fought and lost. (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas).

    Google Scholar 

  • Geokart (1987). National atlas of the democratic republic of Afghanistan. (Warsaw, Poland: Geokart).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goodson, L.P. (2001). Afghanistan’s endless war: State failure, regional politics, and the rise of the Taliban. (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ignatieff, M. (2002). How to keep Afghanistan from falling apart. The New York Times Magazine, July 28, Section 6, 26–31, 54–59.

    Google Scholar 

  • Griffin, M. (2001). Reaping the whirlwind. (London: Pluto Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall, S.T. (2001). Mapping limestone caverns of southeastern Afghanistan using structural geology, aerial photography and geophysical surveys. Unpublished report from Geo-Environmental, Inc., Reston, VA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, R.S. (2003). The road ahead: Lessons in nation building from Japan, Germany, and Afghanistan for postwar Iraq. United States Institute of Peace, Peaceworks No. 49, Washington, DC, 41 pp. [Electronic version]. Retrieved September 28, 2007 from http://www.usip.org/pubs/peaceworks/pwks49.html.

  • Kargel, J.S., Abrams, M.J., Bishop, M.P., Bush, A., Hamilton, G., Jiskoot, H., Kääb, Keiffer, H.H., Lee, E.M., Paul, F., Rau, F., Raup, B., Shroder, J.F., Soltesz, D., Stainforth, D., Stearns, L. & Wessels, R. (2005). Multispectral imaging contributions to global land ice measurements from space. Remote Sensing of the Environment; Special Issue on Terra/ASTER Science, 99, 187–219.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langran, K.J. & Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1990). Using remote sensing to monitor the decline of karez agriculture in Zamin Dawar, Afghanistan. American Association of Geographers Program and Abstracts, Toronto, Canada, pp. 133.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore, R. (2003). The hunt for bin Laden: Task Force Dagger. (New York: Random House).

    Google Scholar 

  • Moreau, R., Yousafzai, S. & Hirsh, M. (2006). Losing Afghanistan: The rise of Jihadistan. Newsweek International Edition, Monday 02 October 2006. Retrieved September 28, 2007 from http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/64/22749.

  • Moseley, W.G. (2006). America’s lost vision: The demise of development. Association of American Geographers, AAG Newsletter, 41(10), 17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nathan-Berger (Nathan Associates & Louis Berger International, Inc.) (1991). Afghanistan mineral resources study. Nathan Associates Inc. Unpublished report for USAID.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rashid, A. (2001). Taliban: Militant Islam, oil and fundamentalism in Central Asia. (New Haven, CN: Yale University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rohde, D. & Sanger, D.E. (2007). How the ‘Good War’ in Afghanistan went bad. The New York Times, August 12, CLVI (54, 034, 1, 12–13).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, B.R. (1995). The search for peace in Afghanistan: From buffer state to failed state. (New Haven, CN: Yale University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubin, B.R. (2007). Saving Afghanistan. Foreign Affairs, 86(1), 57–78.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sader, S. (1992). Remote sensing of illicit narcotic crops from aircraft and commercial satellite platforms. International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment, 24th, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, USA; 27–31 May 1991, 849–857.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheuer, M. (2006). Clueless into Kabul. The American Interest, 2(1), 111–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schollmeyer, J. (2006). Terrorism: A shifting landscape. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April, 8–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scott, R. (2006). Helmand follow up XX: The way backward. Unpublished report to author on record opium poppy production in southwest Afghanistan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Senlis Council (2006). Nation-building priorities in the wrong sequence. (12/2/2006). Retrieved September 28, 2007 from http://www.senliscouncil.net/modules/publications/014_publication/ chapter_05.

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1975). National Atlas of Afghanistan: A call for contribution. Afghanistan Journal, 2, 108–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1977). Satellite-image mosaic of Afghanistan. Prepared by C.M. Dimarzio under direction of J.F. Shroder, Jr. and D.C. Rundquist with cartography by J.K. Turner; Remote Sensing Applications Laboratory, University of Nebraska at Omaha. Republished as frontispiece in: Debon, F., H. Afzali, P. LeFort, J. Sonet & J.L. Zimmerman, 1987. Plutonic rocks and associations in Afghanistan: Typology, age and geodynamic setting. Mémoires Sciences de la Terre, Mémoire No. 49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1978). Remote sensing of Afghanistan. Afghanistan Journal, 5, 123–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1980a). Mineral wealth of Afghanistan. United Press International report (24 January 1980); published widely, including newspapers in New York, Albany, Boston, Baton Rouge and Omaha.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1980b). Afghanistan’s minerals. Business Week, 27 October 1980, 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1980c). Special problems of glacial inventory in Afghanistan. World Glacier Inventory Proceedings Reideralp Workshop, September 1978 (IAHS-AISH) Publication No. 126, Hydrological Sciences Bulletin, 142–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1981a). Physical resources and the development of Afghanistan. Studies in Comparative International Development, XVI(3–4), 36–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1981b). Russians grab Afghan resources. Omaha World Herald, Thursday, 19 March, 9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1982). Afghanistan’s unsung riches. The Christian Science Monitor, 74(54), Thursday, 11 February.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1983). The USSR. and Afghanistan mineral resources. (In A. Agnew (Ed.), International mineral resources a national perspective (pp. 115–153). American Association for Advancement of Science).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1987). Afghanistan resources and the Soviet Union. Geotimes, 32, March, 4–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1989a). Afghanistan resources and Soviet Policy in Central and South Asia. (In M. Hauner & R. Canfield (Eds.), Afghanistan and the Soviet Union: Collision and transformation (pp. 101–119). Westview Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1989b). The multi-temporal and spatial characteristics of agriculture in the Helmand and Ghazni Provinces of Afghanistan. Unpublished report for Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) and US AID.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1989c). Remote sensing and mapping of Afghanistan. Unpublished annex D of report by RONCO and US AID Afghanistan Agricultural Project redesign team, November.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (1989d). Preliminary report #2 on agriculture of Helmand area. Unpublished report for Volunteers in Technical Assistance (VITA) and US AID.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (2002a). Resource assessment for Afghanistan and alleviation of terrorism. EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 83(19): S2–S3, AGU Spring meeting, Washington, DC, 07/05/2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (2002b). Afghanistan press release. American Geophysical Union, AGU Spring meeting, Washington, DC, 07/05/2002.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (2003). Reconstructing Afghanistan: Nation building or nation failure? Geotimes, October, 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J. (2004). Afghanistan redux: Better late than never? Geotimes, October, 34–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J. (2005a). Remote sensing and GIS as counterterrorism tools in the Afghanistan War: Reality plus the results of media hyperbole. Professional Geographer, 57, 592–597.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. (2005b). Global land ice monitoring from space (GLIMS) Project Regional Center for southwest Asia (Afghanistan and Pakistan). (In: Mountains, Witnesses of Global Changes: Research in the Himalaya and Karakoram: SHARE-Asia Project (Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment), Ministry of Regional Affairs, Office of the Prime Minister, Government of Italy, Abstract Book, 55).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. & Tawab Assifi, A. (1987). Afghan mineral resources and Soviet exploitation. (In R. Klass (Ed.), Afghanistan and the Soviet Union: The great game revisited (pp. 97–134). New York: Freedom House).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. & Watrel, R.H. (1992). Mineral resources in Afghanistan (summary of report for USAID). AACAR Bulletin (Association for the Advancement of Central Asian Research), 5(2) 9 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. & Bishop, M.P. (2004). Glacier change detection in the Hindu Kush of Afghanistan. Eos Transactions, American Geophysical Union, 85(47), F778.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr., Bishop, M.P., Bulley, H.N.N., Haritashya, UK & Olsenholler, J.A. (2007). Global land ice monitoring from space (GLIMS) project regional center for Southwest Asia (Afghanistan and Pakistan). (In R. Baudo, G. Tartari & E. Vuillermoz (Eds.) (J.F. Shroder, Jr. Series Editor; Developments in Earth Surface Processes, 10) Mountains witnesses of global changes in the Himalaya and Karakoram: SHARE Asia project (pp. 187–208). Amsterdam: Elsevier).

    Google Scholar 

  • Shroder, J.F., Jr. & Bishop, M.P. (in press, 2008), Satellite glacier inventory of Afghanistan. (In R.S. Williams, Jr. & J.G. Ferrigno (Eds.), Satellite Image Atlas of Glaciers. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1386-F).

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinha, F. & Schaffer, T. (2006). The reconstruction of Afghanistan: A fight for survival. South Asia Monitor, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Number 97, August 1, 2006, Washington, DC, 3 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Srinivas, P., Das, B.K., Saibaba, J. & Krishnan, R. (2004). Application of distance based vegetation index for agricultural crops discrimination. International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing XXth Congress, Geo-Imagery Bridging Continents, 12–23 July 2004, Istanbul, Turkey, Commission VII papers, Vol. XXXV, part B7. Retrieved September 28, 2007 from http://www.isprs.org/istanbul2004/comm7/papers/215.pdf.

  • United Nations (2006). Afghanistan could return to being a failed state. Press release, Sunday 26 November 2006 4:00AM. Retrieved September 28, 2007 from http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0611/S00395.htm.

  • UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs Crime) (2007). Afghanistan opium survey 2007. Retrieved September 28, 2007 from http://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/AFG07_ExSum_web.pdf.

  • Wakefield, S. & Wilder, A. (2003). The A to Z guide to Afghanistan assistance. Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit. 2nd Edition (Kabul: AREA).

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, D. (2006a). As Taliban insurgency gains strength and sophistication, suspicion falls on Pakistan. The Guardian, Monday, 13 November.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, D. (2006b). Afghanistan’s opium poppies will be sprayed, says US drugs tsar. The Guardian, Monday, 11 December.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weaver, M.A. (2005). Lost at Tora Bora. The New York Times Magazine, September 11, Section 6, 54–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wittekindt, H. & Weippert, D. (1973). Geological Map of Central and Southern Afghanistan, 1:500, 000. Bundesanstalt für Bodenforschung, (Geological Survey of the Federal Republic of Germany), Hannover.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2007a). Afghanistan data Profile. Retrieved March 8, 2008 from http://devdata.worldbank.org/external/CPProfile.asp?PTYPE=CP&CCODE=AFG.

  • World Bank (2007b). Afghanistan at a glance. Retrieved March 9, 2008 from http://devdata. worldbank.org/AAG/afg_aag.pdf.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Nebraska, Omaha

    John Jack Shroder

Authors
  1. John Jack Shroder
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Texas A&M University, 810 O&M Building, College Station, TX, 77843-3147, USA

    Daniel Z. Sui

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer Science + Business Media B.V

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Shroder, J.J. (2008). Remote Sensing and GIS as Counterterrorism Tools for Homeland Security: The case of Afghanistan. In: Sui, D.Z. (eds) Geospatial Technologies and Homeland Security. The GeoJournal Library, vol 94. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8507-9_2

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation