A Bird's Eye View of Farm Management: Drones in Agriculture

Drones have many applications, are considered by many fields and disciplines to be incredibly useful tools. In my first post, I provided an overview of many issues associated with drones. In closing my first post I hinted I would author future posts, offering some current or potential uses. Some of the applications I identify are currently uses, with potential for growth; other applications are more future-looking, not in place today, but perhaps in the not-so-distant future.

In my second post, I discussed another field where drone use is opening doors to new exploration techniques. Archaeology is finding many uses for a remotely-piloted aircraft, or unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Kites are being equipped with digital cameras. Balloon kits allow researches to hoist digital cameras aloft. More detailed archaeological surveys mandate stability unattainable from kites and balloons. The survey of archaeological sites must be systematic. Flight lines need to be planned in advance of a survey to ensure the capture of the area of interest (AOI). Scale of acquired imagery needs to be established. Scale and resolution of acquired imagery must be considered before flying a drone. When the details of the mission have been thoroughly accounted, then imagery is acquired. With regards to UAS, several missions might be flown. The first mission might result in imagery, visually inspected, to help plan the geographic scope of future flights. Sometimes, interesting landforms which imply a cultural imprint can only be seen from above, which might impact the scale and scope of later drone missions. In Europe, especially in the U.K., France, and Eastern Europe, drone use has improved the knowledge of culture imprints on the landscape, aided in the inventory of archaeological sites, aided in the detection, analysis, and interpretation of archaeological sites.

I ask students in my all of my courses what color they see the most when they are outside in the late spring or early summer. Sometimes, they need some prompting; "What is the color of the vegetation you see when you go outside?" Usually, the answer is "green," which is sort of wrong. I'll explain why.

From high school physics, we learned about the Electromagnetic spectrum (EM). The EM spectrum is the range of energies emanating from the Sun and other objects. Our eyes, great as they are, are sensitive to a mere fragment of the entire spectrum of possible energies. The rods and cones in our eyes are stimulated by energies associated with colors ranging from violet to red. A simply mnemonic to remember the colors is ROY G BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). The arrangement is from longest wavelength to shortest wavelength.

Our eyes are not sensitive to other energies, like radio waves, cosmic waves, x-rays, microwaves, or even energies just beyond the normal range, infra-red, or ultra-violet. Our natural environment, however, is very adept at reflecting energies beyond the range of our eyes to see.

At left, is a graph illustrating the reflectance of energy from the leaves of healthy vegetation, stressed vegetation, and severely stressed vegetation. "Stressed" means the vegetation has been affected by something, lack of water, lack of nutrients, presence of insects, or some form of blight.

Note the range of reflectance energies along the y-axis, and the range of reflectance wavelengths along the x-axis. Along the x-axis, we see the "visible" range, the range our eyes react to, the "near infra-red" range which we cannot see, and the short wave infra-red, which corresponds to thermal (heat) related energy.

Along the y-axis the reflectance values are indicated. The greater the reflected energy, the higher the reflectance value. Now, note the "visible" range (lower-left). What I mean by saying "green" is sort of a wrong answer is vegetation is obviously reflected far more energy in the near IR and the short wave IR spectrum. I didn't say "green" was "completely wrong," and clearly the reflectance of energy from vegetation is more complex than most people imagine.

To the left is a graphic illustrating what happens when incoming solar radiation strikes the surface of a leaf. The red, green, and blue wavelengths of energy pass through the leaf epidermis. Red and blue are absorbed, while the green wavelength is reflected back by the mesophyll and reaches our eye, and we see the leaf as being "green" as the cones in our eyes are stimulated by color.

When the structure of the leaf changes, the reflectance of the leaf changes. If the leaf lacks water, the epidermis will change color. When the leaf changes "color," we have to ask ourselves, "what is really happening?" What is really happening is the structural change in the leaf is modifying the absorption and reflectance of energy. These changes then manifest as color changes.

Often, when our human eyes detect stress, the plant has already experienced considerable stress. The stress has only just reached the threshold of our eyes to detect. The lack of water, or the presence of too much water, or the blight, acted on the plant well before the ability of our eyes to detect the problem.

One comment before I continue. The "dips" in reflectance values correspond to moisture absorption. Water does not reflect energy well. In fact, one way to find water on remotely-sensed imagery is to look for dark areas in imagery, places where infra-red energy is absorbed. These "dips" are called "water absorption bands."

Knowing something about the EM spectrum AND knowing how different vegetation types reflect energy can lead us toward discovering characteristics about vegetation. We can build sensors to measure reflectance energies in wavelengths we cannot see. These sensors capture and store data, data which can be input into software packages for analysis and interpretation.

Funny, as I write this post, Chris Anderson gave a talk at the San Francisco Bay area MakerFaire a short while ago. The title of his talk, "Farm Drones, Feed the World, Save the Environment, Try Hard To Not Become Self-Aware," gives away the  premise of my post.

The narrative I created earlier was to explain some of the basic theories and technologies. For decades, since the early 1970s, NASA and the USDA have spent hundreds of thousands of man-hours developing technologies for the study of agricultural areas. Satellites LandSAT 1-7 were placed in orbit specifically to capture large amounts of land cover / land cover imagery to support USDA efforts to measure amounts of certain crops. Alongside the efforts to study and measure crops were efforts to analyze and study forest cover. To many, the forest is a crop, silvaculture. In the southern portion of the United States, and the U.S. Northwest, timber is an important industry.

Not only has Landsat been used to help generate data on U.S agricultural products but on global agricultural production. Landsat data measures acreages of crops in other countries. The USDA can estimate crops in the field, acreages, and yields for every country on Earth. Knowing global crop data can help in planning global food production, and also assist in crop pricing.

Satellite imagery is a brilliant data source for large tracts of land. However, if the area of interest is small, such a single farm, the resolution of some satellite imagery is too crude, too course, for proper analysis. For medium- to large-scale farms, drones represent a new technology for farmers and ranchers for farm management.

Drones outfitted with appropriate technology could assist farm managers in the collection of a multitude of different data. For instance, a drone equipped with airborne sensors capable of sensing the near and short infra-red could detect vegetation in various states and types of distress. Further research could determine the type of stress, whether the stress is the result of water, insects, or some form of disease. Data collected by the drone could then be used to direct spraying, or watering.

Drones could assist in the determination of soil chemistry. Just as plants reflect energy which can be used to determine plant health, soils reflect solar radiation which can be used to determine the soil chemistry and moisture. Data could then be used for the direct application of fertilizer.

Drones could even be used in ranching. While I have not heard of such technology in use, yet, the technology exists today to make the following possible. Today, cattle have ear tags. Some ear tags are radio-frequency identification tags (RFID). I can envision a day not too far away where a farm drone is sent aloft to "count" cattle, or to locate lost cattle, or simply map the distribution of cattle on a ranch. If RFID tags are sophisticated enough, cattle from different herds could be distinguished on a map. Even more sophisticated, what if the RFID telemetry was connected to a database table. Perhaps a software app is developed where a farm manager could watch the flight of drone. The head of cattle in view would appear in the viewer with "tags" over their heads tied to the animal's record in the database table. A mouse-over of the tag would fire a database query resulting in a pop-up window illustrating the animal's data, owner, herd number, age, species, etc.

Flight software for mission planning already exists. ArduPilot (left) is perhaps the best known flight mission planning software for the do-it-yourself drone makers. The drone, equipped with WIFI and GPS, would be capable of being programmed to fly in a specific pattern using a set of waypoints. The drone, equipped with an altitude sensor would also be able to fly at specific altitudes. Therefore, a suitably proficient farm manager, or employee, could use a drone to monitor and manage farm assets.

Visit "DIY Drones" for enthusiastic information on drones.

Drone technology for commercial use in only in its nascent form. The technology has yet to be tested, explored, and analyzed. Drone companies in Europe are paving the way to dominate the global commercial drone market. Drone use in the United States is facing an uphill battle. However, there are many fields and disciplines where drone use is fair, appropriate, educational, informative, and perhaps even necessary. I will explore some of these other fields in future posts.

Shout/Out to readers "Jo,"  "WalkStx," and BKraxberger for their attention.

PAX

Finding Old Stuff with New Technology: Drones in Archaeology

Drones have many applications, are considered by many fields and disciplines to be incredibly useful tools. In my first drone post, I provided an overview of many issues associated with drones. In closing my first post I hinted I would author future posts, offering some current or potential uses. Some of the applications I identify are currently using, with potential for growth; other applications are more future-looking, not in place today, but perhaps in the not-so-distant future.

Drones have been widely used throughout Europe beginning in 2009, perhaps earlier. Prior to the use of drones, manned aircraft were used for evaluating and cataloging archaeological sites. Some of these early imagery collection efforts date back to the 1930s, with the use of fixed-wing aircraft and photography. Some early efforts also used manned balloons and photography.

Early efforts to gather imagery of archaeological sites were costly and time-consuming. A plane had to be hired, a pilot acquired perhaps paid, along with associated fuel costs. Photographs taken might not be adjusted for problems with scale arising from the camera's look-angle, or influences of terrain. Storage of film materials becomes problematic over time, as the film can degrade over time and rendered useless.

Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) provide several well-documented enhancements over conventional airborne collection, efforts, e.g. piloted planes. UASs can be carried within a suitcase, for example. Models have HD front- and bottom-facing cameras. Some models fly for perhaps 12-15 minutes. Many of the smaller, light-weight models are based on hobby airframes, made of carbon composite materials. The power cells are rechargeable NiCd batteries, powering tiny electric motors. Some models are capable of flying for long durations, 30-60 minutes. These cost more than small universities and college can afford, though.

The Parrot Drone 2.0

Smaller UASs are able to carry user-installed USB drives. The USB drive stores HD video aboard the UAS, extracted after the drone returns to ground. Many of the UASs available today can be flown from a tablet or smartphone. 

One such UAS, the Parrot Drone (Parrot, Inc.) weighs about 4lbs, carries two HD 720p cameras, and can be flown from an Android tablet (Kindle Fire), an Apple iPad, or an Android/iOS-powered smartphone. Live streaming video is sent to the remote control via a secure WIFI connection. The Parrot captures HD video on a user installed USB drive, while pics can be captured during flight straight to the remote control device. The Parrot documentation suggests maximum flight distance from the pilot is about 50m (150ft). Flight time is about 12 minutes with a full charge.

Aurora Flight Systems SKATE UAS

Some U.S. schools have engaged in inter-disciplinary cooperation. Vanderbilt University, in Nashville, TN., has developed a UAS project based upon the Aurora Flight Systems SKATE platform. In 2012, Vanderbilt garnered some publicity for the use of the SKATE over ruins in Peru.

Archaeologists in the United States are well-behind their European counterparts in the use of aerial systems for mapping, analysis, cataloging, and overall research of North American archaeological sites. Since at least 2009, Italy, France, and the UK have all initiated both academic and national archaeological research projects specifically with UASs in mind.

The Mirkovo Basin research utilized the Quest Systems 200 UAV

In 2012, research sponsored by the Field Museum, Canada, and conducted by Durham University (UK) and the New Bulgarian University (Bulgaria), gathered aerial surveys of important archaeological sites in the Mirkovo Basin (Bulgaria). The unique landscape of the Mirkovo Basin provides over 8,000 years of human settlement history, covering the Neolithic to the modern age of human habitation. Aerial surveys of archaeological sites promises to provide improvements to landscape analysis, cataloging of current sites, with potential use of finding additional unknown sites.

UAS offers fantastic potential for archaeology. Currently, most of the less-expensive UASs are equipped with only HD cameras. More expensive UASs offer thermal imaging capabilities. Thermal imaging technology has the potential to reveal archaeological sites not visible to the human eye. Soil conditions can betray hidden paths, buried foundations, or hint subsurface structures. UASs can be equipped with infrared or multispectral cameras. The human eye, while a wonderful apparatus, is limited in the ability to see wavelengths only between 0.4µm (blue) to 0.7µm (red). Humans cannot see the ultraviolet or the infrared.

When we go outside, we see green trees, grasses, etc., due to the absorption of green electromagnetic (EM) radiation by the 'cone" structures in our eyes. However, vegetation reflects more energy in the infrared portion of the EM. When I tell people vegetation is a poor reflector of green, they look at me like I'm crazy. Chlorophyll response is significantly greater in the infrared than in green, but the human eye cannot see into the infrared. We engineer sensors to reveal the infrared to us, and, in doing so, staying with the domain of archaeology, the sensors can indicate traces of human disturbance. Plants, because they reflect infrared so well, betray changes in soil moisture and chemistry our human eyes are unable to detect. Landscape changes can indicate heretofore undiscovered sites, forts, homes, villages, or cemeteries.

Very expensive drones can be equipped with LiDAR. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) uses lasers to map terrain very accurately. Subtle changes in terrain, when the elevation data are processed and mapped, can be used to analyze historical human landscapes. In some cases, both in Central America and in Southeast Asia, archaeologists have literally walked over archaeological sites without realizing. Only after mapping and surveying, either using ground-based or aerial techniques, did the researchers realize how they had underestimated the size of their study areas.

UASs have the potential to revolutionize archaeology. When coupled with ground survey information, using levels and transits - traditional survey tools, UAVs can provide unparalleled detail for archaeological studies. Geographic information systems, as well as other remote sensing methods, promise to transform the field of archaeology from the stereotypical Indiana Jones stomping around in the jungle, dodging poisonous snakes and toxic darts, to a technology-driven, cutting-edge 21st century digital discipline.

[Archeometry, Department of Geography; Ghent University. The link implies no endorsement. I simply provide as a sample of the peculiar field of archeometry and to illustrate by example the nature of technology use in archaeology.]

The New America: Baseball, BBQs, Apple Pie ... and Drones

Whether you approve of drones or not is mostly irrelevant, drones are here to stay. Perhaps drone makes you nervous. However, drones are an invaluable technology which used in appropriate ways can be both fun, educational, and contribute towards understanding our Earth.

I have four drones. Specifically, I have four hobby helicopters. I have plans on buying more, and more sophisticated drones. The university I work has built a drone. Our builder is like Q, the old chap in the James Bond films who introduces 007 to his new array of nifty gadgets. Jim is not as old as Q but his underground workshop brings to mind the workshop Tony Stark worked from in his early days. I'm pretty sure Jim is hiding an ARC reactor in the basement of my building.

Technically, a drone does not have to aerial. A drone is simply a device which follows the commands of a master, right? Many of us worked jobs (or work currently at jobs) where we felt as if we were drones, given tasks by our overlords to stock shelves, polish floors, bundle cardboard. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are simply an airborne version of a drone. A drone could be an underwater, terrestrial, or aerial device. What makes aerial drones so fascinating is the ease of movement within the airborne environment. Burrowing drones are probably a long way off, technologically-speaking. However, one should not be surprised the U.S. Navy is working on aquatic drones (Economist). Imagine a school of drones, or maybe the correct term for a group of aquatic drones is "pod," sitting off the coast of Country X, sniffing WIFI traffic, radio traffic, sniffing for chemical signatures, or feeling about for radioactive anomalies.

The Knifefish, a mine-hunting drone. Yes, the Knifefish bears a remarkable resemble to a torpedo.

Airborne drones, a/k/a Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs), make people understandably nervous. No one wants to be caught outside, naked sunbathing, or fighting their dogs in a backwoods arena, or tending their pot crop in a national forest.

We do not want Big Brother breathing down our neck when we jaywalk, returning home to find a violation emailed to us from the automated airborne Jaywalking Identification, trackinG, and ticketinG system (JIGGY).

We do not want to get an SMS notification of the grass in our front yard, which we haven't mowed in 8 days, having violated the homeowners association Code of Lawn and Landscaping Standards according the SubdivisioN Optimal cOde Protocols (SNOOP).

We simply want to hold onto some semblance of privacy.

We want privacy, if Facebook status updates are any indication. When we post all of our personal details and drama on Facebook, we vociferously expound upon how we do not have any privacy at all and how we wish people would just leave us along, and how we couldn't believe Bethany would wear those skanky shorts to the parking lot so she could drink with her underage high school friends, and Jillians belly-shirt makes her look pregnant.

Drones will soon become part of everyday life. Accepting drones as commonplace will help society develop acceptable use practices. A vast array of obstacles is arrayed in front of societal acceptance, I completely understand. As our small contingent of DIY Droners discussed our drone, we frequently cast sidelong glances at "Drones in the News." Several states, counties, and cities are evaluating drone use, or non-use, perhaps banning drones in all forms.

The banning of drones has an analog in Science Fiction, something like the "KILL everything Different, aliEn, or Disagreeable" philosophy (KILLDED). Nothing positive is gained from immediate, visceral, gut-level animosity and ignorant reactions (that goes for you, too, Alien civilizations on the moon, sniffing hominid EM transmissions emanating from the Blue Planet. 

Play nice :)

Again, I can completely understand the concern. When the U.S. government, the Department of Defense (DoD), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) won't come clean about the use of drones to kill U.S. citizens on U.S. soil even I feel great consternation. Regardless of potential benign uses by our federal government ("The Wonderful World of Drones," NextGov), the precedent for drone use in killing people has already been established (Reuters). In fact, U.S. policymakers are currently working to "regularize" policies for both domestic and foreign drone use. In what I consider to be the penultimate hubris of policymakers and advisers, policy drafts are being created by the United States for all countries who want drones or who currently have drones to follow ("Obama Seeks Global Rules;" Reuters). 

How nice.

By the way, "regularize" is not my term. I often write sarcasm (and am somewhat adroit in speaking Sarcasm) but in the case of "regularize" I cannot take credit for coinage. The CIA or Department of Defense are the originators of the term, I suspect. To me, "regularize" is a synonym for "commonplace" and could be defined as "to make normal or everyday; common, like a bowel movement or regular mail delivery."

To illustrate "regularize," consider the conversation below.

     "I haven't seen your neighbor in a while. Did he move?"

     "The government auvved (pronounced "awe-v-d") him the other day while he was mowing his yard. He mentioned to me just before it happened he was getting "Cease-and-Desist" letters from the FBI. I'm spending too much time educating myself about Middle East politics, submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and reading subversive material on Khan Academy and iTunes University, according to these letters."

     "Wait. Khan Academy and iTunes University have subversive material?! I've been on those sites! I didn't see anything subversive! It's just educational material! ...Oh, wait...; I see..."

     "Knowledge is power, my friend. Knowledge is power..."

     "So, what kind of beer you got?"

In the 1980s, we had "Strategic Arms Limitation Talks" (SALT I and SALT II), negotiations with the Soviet Union to manage mutual nuclear weapon arsenals. For UAVs/Drones, I suspect in the next decade we will have something akin to "INternational Strategic Unmanned vehicLe Talks" (INSULT). Invited countries will include China, Russia, the United States, South Korea, UK, Cuba, India, Pakistan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, ..., oh, probably all 200+ countries will have to attend. Anyone with $1,000 to spend will be able to fly a drone capable of hurting someone or something.

Should You Need A License To Operate a Smartphone?

What a dumb question, right? Probably. Entertain me for a moment. The FAA is currently formalizing license requirements for the operation of UAVs/drones for use in the United States (FAA; March 27, 2013). Licensing is available for UASs weighing less than 4 pounds, and for drones weighing between 4 pounds and 25 pounds. UASs, for the record, can be as small as a hummingbird, or have wingspans as wide as a commercial aircraft.

DHS and the FAA do not want the common person to enjoy a hobby, apparently. These government agencies, along with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), would pretty much like to strip legitimate UAS and hobby UAS from not only the United States but global use of what only a few years ago was a groovy hobby. Check out the video below and then tell me these guys didn't create something cool.

On the surface, I can see why. UASs put consider power in the hands of a 12-year old girl. That's right, a 12-year old. Actually, maybe 11; I can't remember. Last summer, before my former step-children moved away, my step-daughter and step-son stood out in the street in front of my house and flew my helicopters around the neighborhood. My step-daughter, in particular, likes taking objects apart. One of the best times I can remember her having is when my old VHS player broke. She was about 8 or 9, and I gave her the VHS player, some tools and my cordless drill and said, "have at it." She completely disassembled the VHS over the course of a rainy afternoon. By the way, a child who can sit on the floor for 7 hours or so and does something interesting and ask questions about  components being removed does not have ADD.

At the time, I did not realize I was training my step-children to be terrorists, or anti-government anarchists, or anti-establishment drone-flying radical sympathizers. I was really hoping to instill in them some interest in physics, aerodynamics, patience (flying a helicopter is a challenge), and spark their imagination a little. Both children are imaginative.

However, over the course of the last two years or so, the Federal Government, DHS, FBI, CIA, DoD, plus many states, some counties, and some cities are seeking to restrict and/or criminalize even the use of small UASs.

Honestly, I cannot see needing a license to pilot an AR Parrot Drone. Nor can I see the need to have a license to use a Smartphone. Accessories are easy to obtain which could attach a Smartphone to a UAS for capturing video. In fact, people often use their Smartphones for surreptitiously capturing video, sometimes incriminating video. Just ask the Rutgers coach if he might have behaved himself had he known he was being caught on video. "Would you have behaved differently if you knew this was being videoed?"

In public places, people have no right to privacy. Last winter, I was marveling at a scene in my local grocery. The store was undergoing renovations. The freezer aisles had been removed and replaced with a long, shallow trench which stretched the length of the aisle. The trench was deep enough to have exposed soil below the store's foundation. I was like, wow, cool, a trench down to the construction gravel. Sitting smack-dab in the middle of the aisle, over the trench, was a small backhoe. Backhoes and trenches are not normal components of my store's frozen pizza section so I grabbed my iPhone and snapped some photos.

I hope Kroger does not "regularize" placing miniature backhoes in their frozen food aisle, or any aisle for that matter.

The fellows (not shown) working in the trench were not amused by my photography efforts and wanted to know "what the hell is so interesting about a backhoe?" Backhoes in grocery stores must be "regularized" in their part of the United States, but not in mine. I replied with, "How often do you guys walk up on a backhoe in the middle of a grocery store?" I suspect their concern over my pictures had nothing to do with the backhoe but these fellows have had their pictures taken multiple times over the course of their life by local law enforcement.

Granted, Kroger isn't exactly a public place. Kroger's management might have asked me to deleted photos since the store is technically private property. However, these places are commonly thought of as "public places" because we refer to "being out in public" when running errands, or having to be careful when "out in public" because we don't people to know we are fooling around. Thus, Kroger, Wal-mart, Walgreens, and other places are public in the sense we may modify our behavior due to the presence of an audience.

Our front yard, the street in front of our house, while perhaps not exactly public places do offer opportunities for people to catch glimpses of our lives since we set those actions in an environment for many to see.

It's what we do in our backyards, behind privacy fences, which we want to avoid having posted to YouTube, Vimeo, or Vine. Or, inside our homes which may need some discussion about legal protection.

We already have laws to protect privacy, though. Do we need more laws to protect privacy when laws already exist to guard privacy? It's not legal for a person to spy into your home, to use any means of distance viewing, using binoculars, telescopes, or remote cameras. People have a reasonable expectation of privacy. Many states and cities have laws which protect individual privacy making spying or "peeping" illegal regardless of the method.

Since society has legal measures to protect individual privacy, I do not see a valid argument for the licensing or legislation concerning drones. Most of us carry with us Smartphones. Our Smartphones provide us with ways of covertly capturing pictures, video, and recording conversations. I personally have used my iPhone for all the above. iPhones are awesome tools for recording lectures, recording presentations, and if one sits near the front, for capturing audio from lectures, or conference calls. During military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, cell phones were used as triggers for Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

Since I have a device capable of being used in nefarious ways, do I need a license to operate the device? Do I need to register my Smartphone with some quasi-government agency, like the Department of Unmanned Mobile Bandwidth (DUMB) devices? Some type of formal or regularized National smartphonE Registry DatabaSe (NERDS)?

I hope not. Actually, I'm sure one already exists. Any regular viewer of NCIS or Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, or Law and Order: Criminal Intent has heard of LUDs. LUD is an acronym for "local usage details." Any law enforcement agency can "pull LUDs" to determine when and where a call was placed. Any local law enforcement agency can "ping" a cellphone to determine the approximate location of the cell phone and presumably the cell phone user. No warrant is needed for obtaining these records. What does not exist is a true "de jure" Smartphone ownership registry akin to a gun registry.

Available from Hobbytron for about $109

I've digressed considerably but I feel these points need made. We are surrounded daily by technology capable of a multitude of applications, both benign and inherently evil. Technology is both omnipresent and "regularized" in our lives. When the toys of a child require a license, something is wrong. Next, people will need a license for driving scale model electric cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and anything else remotely operated. I'm not being ridiculous. Cameras and GPS technology are already being placed upon every remote-controlled device, and if the device does not arrive right-out-of-the-box with HD video technology, accessories are available to convert the device into a roving spy-buggy buzzing the streets of your local neighborhood.

Returning to my theme from which I have deviated greatly, UASs do have a place in society, for fun and learning, and for more cerebral pursuits, as well.

In future essays, I will discuss the potential educational and scientific uses of UASs, and why the technology is necessary and vital for society.

Winter Soldier: A Geographical Perspective

On April 11th, Jason Latour announced on his blog the end of Winter Soldier (WS). Thus, I hate Latour and Klein for ending one of my favorite comic books of the last 20 years. Just kidding, Latour and Klein. Stuff happens. DC keeps killing-off Aquaman; Marvel kills Moon Knight and Namor faster than WS kills minions. No harm done. WS will be back; he is too strong a character not to have his own book, own movie, perhaps own cable series.

The theme behind Constant Geography, and in my courses, involves the notion geography is ubiquitous; everything is intrinsically geographic. In my course, I try to illustrate how fundamental geography is in our lives, from our books, music, politics, even popular culture, including comic books.

I am a life-long comic book collector. From my earliest memories, I have appreciated the art, imagination, science, and creativity associated with the comic/graphic novel milieu. As a young boy, I drew my own comics, created my own heroes, my own stories. The writers, illustrators, pencilers, inkers, letterers, developed such intriguing worlds, with fantastic villains attempting to fulfill devastating crimes against society. While I never became 'lost' in the comics, I always found the imagination of the writers astounding, the technology and powers invested in heroes and villains sparking my own imagination. I wanted to be an engineer, an aerospace engineer. I wanted to be the person who built the first starship, or the first transforming aircraft, or the first powered-suit. Yes, I wanted to be Tony Stark. Alas, I am a geographer; the bifurcated paths of life led me away from engineering, nudged off by Calculus III and Thermodynamics.

Comics are more sophisticated than most people give them credit for being. I refer not simply to the use of technology, the publishing technology, the art technology, or even the fictional technologies utilized by comic book heroes. No, I refer to the writing, the character backgrounds, plots, staging, and the underlying geography which provide compelling story environments. Characters have birth places, places of origin, places where their powers are gained, enhanced, exploited, or rendered useless. Comic book action takes place in specific places, both 'real,' meaning a real place on Earth, or imaginary, such as Alternate Realities, the Future, the Past, or other imaginary places, like Krypton, Oa, or Valhalla.

James Buchanan Barnes, for instance, was born in Shelbyville, IN, in 1925. For those unaware of who James "Bucky" Barnes is, he was the early sidekick to Steve Rogers, a/k/a Captain America. "Bucky" was featured in the 2012 movie, "Captain America: The First Avenger," starring Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, and Hugo Weaving. "Bucky" was portrayed by actor Sebastian Stan.

Shelbyville, IN, is a real place, located southeast of Indianapolis, IN, having an estimated 2011 population of about 20,000 people. Why would "Bucky" come from such a small town? I can really only guess why Shelbyville, IN, was selected without having an interview with Ed Brubaker or Jason Letour, however, I do know from my limited knowledge of World War Two history enlistments disproportionately affected rural areas. I suspect Shelbyville was quite rural in the 1940s, I suspect.

View Larger Map

Comic book writers, especially early authors like Stan Lee, Joe Simon, and Jack Kirby, drew heavily upon traditional cultural traits found predominantly in rural areas. Such traits as 'strong moral fiber,' 'strong work ethic,' 'patriotism,' and a strong inclination towards 'justice' and 'fair play' were common cultural traits which were applied to rural areas. People self-identified with the presumed simple, rustic life represented in rural life.

The history of the Winter Soldier begins simultaneously with Captain America. We cannot explore the geography of Barnes without beginning with the transformation of Steve Rogers into Captain America. Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, aided a few years later by Stanley Lieber a/k/a "Stan Lee," deliberately created Captain America as a political icon. In Comic Book Nation (Wright; 2003), the venerable team of artists and writers admitted Captain America was designed as a counter to the growing threat of Nazism. According to Joe Simon, many groups were organizing against Nazi Germany and the German Wehrmacht, and Simon and Kirby wanted to make their voice heard.

Thus, was the character of Steve Rogers born, his transformation into the Captain America via the super-soldier serum was begun. James Barnes would not be the benefactor of any super-soldier serum, not here in the United States, nor abroad. His fate would diverge greatly from Captain America's at the end of World War II, not only in context of the character but also in print.

James "Bucky" Barnes began life with no "X-factor," no genetic mutation, no alien weaponry, or another augmentation. He was like every other person, i.e. a "normal." In 1940, after accidentally discovering the true identity of Captain America, James was trained by the United States Army. At 15, he was one of the youngest (if not the youngest) enlisted soldier. He followed Captain America on a number of adventures throughout Europe, helping to defeat the Nazis and the hated Red Skull. Both Captain America and Bucky fell victim to the same catastrophe, though. While attempting to disarm a German drone, both Captain America and Bucky were lost in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic. Later, Captain America would be found, thawed, and live on as the superhero as we know him today.

Bucky was thought "killed in action." The killing of a teenage protagonist, even within the confines of the comic book genre, was not well-received in the popular culture of the 1950s.  Bucky's death was used throughout the industry as a reason why adult superheroes should never have teenage sidekicks, especially ones whose only "powers" were wits.

Writers pull themes from popular culture, from all eras and geographies. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union provided immense opportunities for writers to develop adversaries based in Europe, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), East Germany, and the countries behind the Iron Curtain.

In the early 1950's, Democracy was under threat by Communism, so the sentiment went. After World War II, many realms, regions, and countries were caught in their own internal leadership struggles. China, while warring with Japan in the 1940s, was also in the throes of a civil war. The Korean War (1950 - 1953) would leave a divided peninsula, the northern portion in the hands of Communists, while the southern portion adopted a form of Socialism. The Soviet Union would drape a figurative "iron curtain" of near-impenetrable influence upon adjacent European states, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. In 1954, Eisenhower described the adoption of Communism as being like the toppling of dominoes, once one country went Communist, the adjacent country might, too. Even in the United States, the Joseph McCarthy Communism hearings and the subsequent black-listing of politicians, academics, and entertainment personalities, provide evidence no one living in the United States was safe from scrutiny.

I've neglected to keep up with changes in the comic book publishing realm in my story, as neither Marvel nor DC existed in the early days of Captain America. Atlas Publishing, along with Timely Comics, which both published some early Captain America titles, would eventually evolve into Marvel Comics. In 1953, Atlas would team Captain America, the Human Torch, and Namor, the Sub-Mariner, in a new effort to stomp out Communism. Captain America would become "Captain America, Commie Smasher." Namor was not too impressed with the Red's, either.

Comic books embody the same trait as most daytime soap operas; no character ever really dies (unless the actor dies in real-life, of course, and sometimes not even then, due to the miracles of plastic surgery). Same holds true with James Barnes. The very same incident which led to Captain America being trapped in ice led to the eventual capture, imprisonment, and 're-programming' of James "Bucky" Barnes from a World War Two hero into a Soviet spy and assassin.

In Winter Soldier #1, the connection to the former Soviet Union is clear. The familiar 'hammer and sickle" emblem, an illustration of the egalitarian roles of both industry and agriculture of the Soviet Union, depicted in the title is an unmistakable icon of a by-gone era. Or, as the pages of Winter Soldier reveal, perhaps not as by-gone as we might want to believe. Even the smaller star above "Winter Soldier" appears to suggest Communism, or the threat of Communism is not so far removed from our current political theatre.

In the Winter Soldier, we find Barnes and his partner, Natalia Romanova a/k/a Black Widow, discovering a trio of Soviet-era assassins have been activated throughout the United States. James Barnes, throughout issue #1, refers to his physical training, mental conditioning, and re-education within the Soviet spy apparatus, along with the three other assassins. These assassins appear to have been activated by a resurgent Spetnatz (Russian Special Operations/Special Forces) for some undetermined purpose. But, I'll get the plot in a moment. First, let me track down some comic book-based geography.

The opening scene in Winter Soldier shows James Barnes buckling from the psychological weight of his past. We see a montage of events, from his first days at Fort Lehigh U.S. Army base, fighting alongside Captain America, the Red Skull, to his eventual demise as "Bucky" and his rebirth as the Winter Soldier.

To the left is our imperfect hero, as drawn by Butch Guice. In these images, which I have used to highlight and illustrate the educational use of a great comic, I call-out some of the evident geography. I've discussed the iconography of the star/hammer and sickle above (noted by the yellow circle, left). Fort Lehigh does not exist in the Real World. Fort Lehigh, sometimes referred to as Camp Lehigh, is a fictional U.S. Army installation which had been abandoned prior to Steve Rogers and the Super Soldier experiment. Fort Lehigh, though fiction, was located in Virginia, obviously a real U.S. state.

Many books move from geographic location to geographic location quickly. Paying attention to clues can help one keep abreast of the storyline. Devout readers of any genre will build "cognitive maps" (mental maps) as the authors or writers drive the action forward. In Winter Soldier #1, we learn the USSR planted some "sleepers" in the United States, to be awakened for some nefarious purpose, no doubt. Nico Stanovich, a Russian Spetsnaz member, is being watched by a U.S. intelligence agency. Stanovich, operating under the guise of Nick Stanton, is frequenting some casinos in Las Vegas, NV. Las Vegas is a well-known hive of villainy not only in comic books but in Real Life. Organized crime, legalized prostitution, gambling, and the "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" advertising scheme provides substantive evidence Las Vegas is a node for any criminal network.

Spetsnatz is an interesting organization. The Russian Spetsnatz consists of a number of Special Operation Units. Some Spetsnatz units have naval specialties, marine units for performing sea operations. Some Spetsnatz specialize for urban environments. In many ways, the Russian Spetsnatz are the mirror image of the U.S. Special Forces units. Both U.S and Soviet/Russian special force units were born out of World War Two.

During World War Two, the development of intelligence services created very elaborate global spy networks. Every major country ran operations. The United States created the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War Two. The OSS ran spys throughout Europe and Russia to gather news of troop movements, adequacy of food supplies, labor force, raw materials, public sentiment, etc. While spies gathered intelligence, the tactical removal of people or missions against "hard targets" was somewhat problematic. The U.S. military often had to create ad-hoc special teams to conduct rescue missions, sabotage, or simply perform surveillance. Eventually, the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines would formally develop teams. The Green Berets and Rangers, Delta Force, and SEAL would arise in the late 1940s and in the 1950s to address critical tactical and strategic needs. Spetsnatz is the Soviet/Russian equivalent being created during the same timeline for performing similar operations for  Mother Russia.

Later in the first issue, James and Natalia catch a break. They find themselves racing through the rain to the fairly mundane environment of Minnesota. Not sure where their destination ends up being, though to fly from Las Vegas to Minneapolis is about 1,300 nautical miles. James and Natalia might have better airline departure times than mere "normals" and could probably cut the regular 3 hr flight time down to perhaps 2 hrs, given some form of S.H.I.E.L.D assistance. Would James and Natalia fly Southwest? I'd think not. Then, there are the issues of baggage claim, rental car, getting directions out of the city. James would not make it past security with his arm, let alone all of his weapons. Thus, having a secret organization to work through for planning travel is probably a huge benefit to heroes lacking mutant flying genes, superhuman powers, the endowment of alien technology, or being able to command the cosmic powers of the Universe.

Latveria is a popular location in many Marvel titles. Latveria is the home country of Victor Von Doom, the nemesis of the Fantastic Four, and Iron Man, to some extent. Nestled in the Banat region of northern Serbia, surrounded by the Carpathian Mountains, Victor Von Doom is somehow able to leverage what, under normal conditions, would be a minuscule global influence and project power and influence on numerous occasions, often bringing the FF, et. al., to their knees. While Latveria does not exist, the other geography does exist. The small fictional region wedged between Romania, Hungary, and Serbia was once home to the Thracians, but also fell under the dominion of the Goths and later the Huns. Victor Von Doom hails from the city of Doomstadt, appropriately enough (the fictional capital of Latveria); "Von" means "from" or "of" in German, and can indicate noble lineage, in case you didn't know.

Later in the same book, we are introduced to a Russian scientist, the apparent mastermind of the sleeper program Barnes and Romanova are trying to shutdown. Professor Ivan Kragoff a/k/a Red Ghost was the original mastermind behind a number of Soviet science programs, one of which led to the training of the Winter Soldier. In one scene, we see the professor awakening a sleeper, providing the barest of briefs.

"Dmitri, it is time for you to awaken." Dmitri's response has to be translated from Russian, as he believes himself to be in Russia. Professor Kragoff reminds Dmitri to "speak English; you're in America, now." Obviously, action has moved forward in time, and across geography, as Dmitri was most likely placed in his sleeper mode while in Russia and transported to the United States.

However, as I read the book I noticed a fairly severe historical error. In the last panel, Professor Kragoff is entreating Dmitri to prepare for his assignment. "And your Soviet masters need you to help destroy the Great Satan." No Russian scientist real, or fictional, would never call the United States the "Great Satan." Calling the United States the "Great Satan" connotes the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union as one of religion, or with religious undertones. The Soviet Union not only discouraged religion, all citizens were officially atheists. Members of the Communist Party certainly would profess no religious leanings.

Furthermore, the term "Great Satan" was a term not used by the Soviet Union, but by Iran. In the late 1970s, prior to the overthrown of the Iranian government by religious radicals, referred to the United States as "the Great Satan." For Iranian leaders to refer to the United States as the "Great Satan" makes perfect sense; after all Iran is officially known as "The Islamic Republic of Iran."

The error is not egregious enough in my opinion to detract from the story. I would only encourage the writers to check their sources more thoroughly before their characters make such comments. Other readers may not be as forgiving. On the other hand, close scrutiny of the book, the story, coupled with my own knowledge of world history and geopolitical events allowed me to pick up on this subtle flaw and use the error as a teaching moment.

However, I can understand why Brubaker and Sankovitch, et. al. wanted to take the story in this direction. The Soviet era of science research was fascinating, especially under Stalin. Stalin had some interesting ideas, one of which was the creation of a "super-soldier." Both Staling and Hitler had predilections toward the building "master races" and people who could work fervently, soldiers who could fight endlessly, with strength, skill, agility, with ferocity not available in a "normal" human.

While no straight line relationship can be drawn between Stalin and some of the Soviet military research, anecdotal evidence seems to suggest Stalin gave a tacit acceptance for many different types of secret research. The cover of Winter Soldier #5 shows Barnes barely holding his own against nothing other than a gorilla wielding a Gatling gun, or what might be referred to today as a "mini gun." While far-fetched even for the 21st century, if one were to dive into the Soviet archives one might be surprised to learn Soviet scientists were trying to figure out how to hybridize differing animal species, including the creation of a chimp-human hybrid [link]. History will show these efforts began long before Nazism or Stalin, yet history does provide marvelous fodder for material, technologies, and intrigue even into the 21st century.

I selected Winter Soldier for an analysis as the character of James Barnes can be traced back in real-time to World War Two. Both James Barnes, as Bucky, as Captain America, and then as the Winter Solder captures a timeline of geopolitical intrigue which exists not only in comic books but manifests in the real world. The Winter Soldier has little other than physical training and wits to address dangers and crises; a bionic arm provides some advantage over adversaries, but he is otherwise mortal. His partner, Black Widow, is similarly adept physically but possesses no supernatural powers, no particular genetic augmentation, or physical augmentation. These characters are vulnerable and could easily make the transition of the small screen.

The Winter Soldier and Black Widow also engage in real-world geopolitical machinations. They are spies, sent around the world to carry-out covert operations where the United States government needs "plausible deniability." These characters then provide ample material for a geographer like me to discuss their exploits in a context of geography, of explaining geography, incorporating history, and perhaps some science along the way. Few other Marvel books provide the ability to examine, analyze, and interpret the geography found within the books. The new "Hawkeye" run is a good example, perhaps Daredevil and Iron Man. Many of the Marvel titles splinter off into other dimensions making geographical analysis irrelevant. DC, on the other hand, has several titles, like Arrow, most of the Batman titles, Nightwing (who is moving to Chicago), Swamp Thing, Animal Man, Constantine, the Before Watchmen series, which have settings in familiar locations and familiar geography.