In this lesson, we are going to discuss definitions of geospatial intelligence, the scope of the subject, and examine why geography as a subject and a discipline is fundamental to the idea of geospatial intelligence. For those of you out there who are geospatial intelligence practitioners and professionals, the definition of geospatial intelligence may seem obvious, i.e., "geospatial intelligence is what my agency says it is, and the scope encompasses what we do..." However, as you will find out, different people and different agencies have different understandings of the definition and scope of the field.
It also may seem apparent to some that geography and geographical understanding and knowledge obviously underlay any field called "geospatial intelligence." However, it is quite possible that geospatial analysts have very little if any geographic knowledge and understanding. At Penn State, we think that is a real problem and one of the main reasons that a course entitled "Geographic Foundations of Geospatial Intelligence" is the foundation course of the Certificate in Geospatial Intelligence. So here is a fundamental concept of this course:
A reasonable knowledge of geography and associated geographical viewpoints is essential for all practitioners of geospatial intelligence no matter their agency, mission, focus, or specialization.
At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
If you have any questions now or at any point during this week, please feel free to post them to the GEOG 882 - General Discussion Forum in Canvas.
Lesson 2 will take us one week to complete. Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for specific time frames and due dates. Specific directions for the assignments below can be found within this lesson.
* Students who register for this Penn State course gain access to assignments, all readings, and instructor feedback, and earn academic credit. Information about Penn State's Online Geospatial Education programs is available at the Geospatial Education Program Office [2].
Immanuel Kant [3] (1724-1804) was a famous German philosopher who lived in Königsberg in East Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). He was one of the great thinkers of the European Enlightenment. Among his many ideas was his conception of how all knowledge might be organized. Kant said that there are three ways to organize all knowledge: the topical approach, the chronological approach, and the spatial approach.
In reality, few people limit themselves to using only one of these ways of ordering knowledge. Political Scientists may focus on the politics of certain eras or places. Historians may focus on the history of a particular country. And geographers, as we will see, are great synthesists who invariably use the spatial approach in conjunction with topical and chronological approaches. Yet, Kant's three ways of ordering knowledge demonstrates that the spatial approach of the discipline of geography makes geography one of the core scholarly disciplines.
People use the word "geography" all the time. And while it has many uses and meanings, most people would be at a loss to define what "geography" is. We are going to examine the definition and scope of geography, but before we do, I want to see how you might define "geography."
Without any research or outside help, please return to Lesson 2 in Canvas and enter your short definition of "geography" in the Lesson 2 - Ungraded Geography Definitions Discussion Forum. If you see another definition you would like to comment on, feel free to post a reply.
Let us take the word "geography" apart. The word geography can be broken into the two basic elements of "GEO" and "GRAPHY." Geo comes from the Greek word for earth (the word Gaea, also meaning earth, derives from the Greek as well). The "ography" part comes from the Greek word graphein, which is literally to write about something. The word "graph" derives from the same basis.
Thus, GEO + GRAPHY literally means "to write about the earth." We have commonly come to understand that the translation might also be taken to describe and map the Earth. The American Heritage Dictionary defines geography as "the study of the Earth and its features, inhabitants, and phenomena." I agree with the dictionary, but I like to tell my students that geography really is the study of how the world works in terms of the physical and human processes that occur every day.
So for me, Geography is really about how the world works. That is pretty good knowledge for a geospatial analyst to possess.
Understanding how the world works is a pretty tall order, so let us break down the study of geography into some manageable parts. At the most basic level, think of geography as a coin with two sides.
Physical geography looks at the natural processes that make the surface of the Earth the way it is. Physical geography includes the three major subdisciplines of Geomorphology, Meteorology, and Climatology.
Geomorphology is the study of landforms and landform processes. Geomorphologists want to know:
Meteorology is the study of atmospheric weather processes. Meteorologists want to understand:
Climatology is the study of climate, which is basically the long-term pattern of temperature and precipitation. Climatology, like meteorology, is a branch of the interdisciplinary field of Atmospheric Science. Climatologists seek to understand:
Human geography looks at the human activities that make the surface of the earth the way it is. Human geography includes numerous subdisciplines, some of which are:
Human geography is essentially synthesizing a spatial perspective with one of the topical disciplines to come up with new knowledge and a new perspective to understand how the world works.
Can you think of some other human geography subdisciplines by combining a topical approach with a spatial perspective? Please return to Lesson 2 in Canvas and enter your list of other human geography subdisciplines in the Lesson 2 - Ungraded Human Geography Subdisciplines Discussion Forum. Feel free to post comments to other lists you see in the discussion forum.
The world is fortunate that geographers through the ages have developed a set of spatial tools to help us understand how the world works. These tools are often referred to as the geographic techniques and they include the subdisciplines of:
Geospatial intelligence relies heavily on the geographic techniques (collectively known as Geographic Information Science and Techniques (GIS&T or GIScience) for the collection, analysis, and communication of results. Your other coursework will involve very detailed explorations and applications of the geographic techniques.
Penn State Public Broadcasting has produced an amazing series of webisodes on the "Geospatial Revolution."
Please take the time to view Episode One of the Geospatial Revolution Series (13:45 running time) and think about how the revolution applies to this lesson.
In an Introduction to Geography class (usually for freshmen and sophomores), a fellow instructor likes to stress the point that physical and human geography are completely separate disciplines and that there can be NO mixing between the two. In fact, he makes a big deal that students must write this down, and put stars by it in their notes as this important point will most certainly be on the test. He then stops and lets them think about this statement as they dutifully write it down.
Now, you might be thinking that this contention that physical and human geography are completely separate and can never be mixed seems nonsensical—and you would be correct. Eventually, a few of the students start to grin and perhaps a bold one might challenge the instructor (not very often though).
The instructor then gets to point out to the students the fallacy of such a contention and makes the point that physical and human geography, like the sides of a coin, are absolutely inseparable. We know that physical systems can have enormous impacts on human systems (ask the survivors of Hurricane Ida). We also know that human impacts on the environment have been great. As humans have always modified the surface of the planet to scratch out a living or to build great civilizations (western Europe had a climax vegetation of forest—consider the landscape there now—forests are rare, protected, and highly valued).
I think that the geographic subdiscipline of Environmental Geography occupies the space in the center of the coin, gluing human and physical geography together. A problem in many modern geography programs is that students specialize in either human or physical geography with inadequate knowledge of the other side of the coin. The even greater problem is for students who specialize in the geographic techniques (whom I affectionately call "Techno-Geeks") and lack the necessary background in human and physical geography.
All the geospatial technology in the world can tell you what is happening where and when. It may even tell you something about how it is happening. The technology, however, will NOT tell you why it is happening. To understand the why, you must understand how the world works—and that is the value of human and physical geographic knowledge.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the definition and scope of geography, study the Wikipedia article on Geography linked from the Lesson 2 Checklist [7]. Compare and contrast what I have said with the article. Are there any significant differences, and if so, why?
There are some other ways to conceptualize the field of geography. Parkinson suggested that geography has four traditions: The Earth Science Tradition, Culture-Environment Tradition, Locational Tradition, and Area Analysis Tradition. Geographic techniques support these traditions. The chart below shows how selected subdisciplines fit within these four traditions.
All the subdisciplines, with the exception of the Regional Approach, are topical approaches. The regional approach breaks the Earth down into areas that share certain uniform cultural and physical characteristics. Regional geographers then study the human and physical geography of that particular region. We typically break the world into the cultural regions of North America, South America, Europe, Russia and the Slavic World, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australia and Oceania.
Yet another approach to understanding the scope of geography is Geographic Systems Theory. A system is a series of components such that, when you add energy to it, the components work together to produce an output. Take for example an automobile. Your gasoline-powered car includes multiple subsystems including the chassis with suspension and tires, the engine, the cooling subsystem, the transmission, the fuel tank (with fuel pump and fuel filter), the steering subsystem, etc. When you add gasoline, the engine generates energy, which the transmission sends to the wheels, which results in the output of the car moving. Open systems exchange both energy and matter with the outside universe. Closed systems exchange only energy.
The earth is a system. Is it a closed system or an open system? The answer is the earth is a closed system in that it exchanges energy with the universe, but it does not exchange any significant amount of matter (space junk and meteorites are insignificant—if the earth is destroyed by an asteroid I will admit I was wrong).
According to Geographic Systems Theory, the Earth has two major sub-subsystems, which are the Physical Subsystem and the Human Subsystem. The Physical Subsystem has four major component subsystems of the Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, and Biosphere. The Human Subsystem has three major components of Beliefs, Institutions, and Technologies.
The atmosphere is the gaseous envelope that surrounds the earth and sustains air-breathing animals. The lithosphere is the solid rock and soil that comprises the outer solid layer of the planet. The hydrosphere includes all the liquid and solid water (water vapor is in the atmosphere). These three spheres are "abiotic" in that they are non-living. The final sphere is the biosphere containing all life. The biosphere relies on the other three abiotic spheres to function for it to sustain life.
A critical part of systems theory is understanding that if one system is significantly degraded, then the system function as a whole degrades. And if one system fails, then the whole system fails. If you consider that Planet Earth is the spaceship for the human race, and that we rely on all of its systems to function properly, you start to contemplate why we do not take better care of it. It is the only spacecraft we have and there are no lifeboats.
Geography is a synthesizing discipline in that geographers take topical subjects and analyze them through the spatial filter, thus seeing the world in new ways. This synthesis is very exciting and liberating in that geographers have the freedom to explore many different subjects and apply topical, chronological, and spatial approaches while integrating both the human and physical world. No other academic discipline takes such a holistic approach, and that makes geography special.
The world is getting smaller, more crowded, and more integrated as the population expands, resources diminish, and globalization brings us all closer together. The US is a "hyper-power" with unprecedented influence around the globe. For the citizens of such a country that is also a democracy comes a duty to be geographically literate—to understand how this planet works in terms of its physical and human geographies. Geographically illiterate citizens will at best be ignorant of what their government is doing globally, and at worst support their government in making bad decisions that are detrimental to national, regional, and global stability and well-being.
Globalization means that America will interact with its global neighbors through combinations of cooperation, competition, and (unfortunately) occasional conflicts. Thus, it is essential that American citizens be geographically literate so that they may hopefully cooperate most of the time, compete some of the time, and occasionally engage in conflict. Viewed this way, geographic illiteracy might be seen as a threat to national security. Of course this is true for citizens of other nations as well, however national rankings of geography literacy show that our neighbors abroad understand the importance of geographic knowledge and do not suffer our illiteracy.
Geographic literacy for intelligence professionals (especially analysts and managers) is especially important. The geospatial intelligence professional must be geographically literate to fully leverage the power of geographic techniques.
To reiterate the fundamental rationale for this course:
All the geospatial technology in the world can tell you what is happening where and when. It may even tell you something about how it is happening. The technology, however, will NOT tell you why it is happening. To understand the why, you must understand how the world works—and that is the value of human and physical geographic knowledge.
A geographically illiterate analyst or manager is likely to produce flawed analyses and poor decisions. In the national security arena, this could result in disastrous policy decisions. In the disaster relief/international humanitarian aid arena, this might result in wasted resources and lost lives.
If you get the feeling I am passionate about this topic—you are right. I am on a mission to stamp out geographic illiteracy, one classroom full of ignorant people at a time. That is a major motivation for me to teach this course to current and future geospatial intelligence professionals.
Why Geography Matters More than Ever (De Blij, Harm J.)
I now want you to read your second reading assignment by the noted geographer Dr. Harm de Blij. Dr. de Blij (1935–2014) served as the resident geographer of ABC's morning television program Good Morning America for several seasons, as well as an editor of National Geographic magazine. His book on Why Geography Matters More than Ever is worth your time to read. For our purposes, you will only read Chapter One, but if it piques your interest, I encourage you to read the whole book.
Registered students can access a PDF of the reading in Lesson 2 in Canvas.
Click the following link to access a PowerPoint Presentation with a review of the Definition, Nature, and Scope of Geography [9].
Click the thumbnail below to see the pdf version of my Geographic Fundamentals of Geospatial Intelligence ppt.
As I said in the introduction, many of the GEOINT practitioners figure they know the definition of geospatial intelligence—it is what their agency says it is and it is what they do.
The United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency or NGA —as the name implies— is the primary government agency responsible in the US for geospatial intelligence. The NGA's mission is to "provide world-class geospatial-intelligence and lead the Global GEOINT Enterprise." The NGA defines GEOINT as:
"The exploitation and analysis of imagery and geospatial information to describe, assess, and visually depict physical features and geographically referenced activities on the Earth. GEOINT consists of imagery, imagery intelligence, and geospatial information." (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, n.d.)
But language is powerful, and words have different meanings to different people. If we are to think critically, we must go beyond accepting things at face value and do some analysis, synthesis, and evaluation to ultimately come to a judgment about the information. As we learn to apply critical approaches, you will find that a key question concerns power relationships. For example, as you research definitions of GEOINT, you will find that the NGA definition dominates. But why is that so? Why are alternative definitions not readily evident when you do a Google or other search? The answer may be that the NGA is a powerful government agency with lots of money and employees. The sheer size of their organization makes their definition dominant in the literature, media, and on the web. The NGA is also a part of the US Department of Defense and is both a national intelligence agency and a combat support agency. NGA's place in the government will naturally focus it on national security and military issues. As you analyze and evaluate the NGA definition, is it necessarily the last word? Are there other definitions? Are there other applications besides national security applications?
Geospatial Intelligence and the Geospatial Revolution
Reading the chapter "Geospatial Intelligence and the Geospatial Revolution" provides an expanded definition of geospatial intelligence and addresses several foundational principles of the discipline.
Registered students can access a PDF of the reading in Lesson 2 in Canvas.
National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (n.d.). NGA's Mission. Retrieved October 3, 2023 from https://www.nga.mil/about/Mission.html [12]
I want to share a story with you. Getting this geospatial intelligence program approved took a lot of negotiation between different groups within the Penn State Geography Faculty. The members of the faculty, that come from technical geography backgrounds and/or the military and who work with NGA and other agencies, initially envisioned the program as predominantly a technical course of study in support of the traditional US national defense mission. We will call this the traditional technical security discourse.
Another group of faculty members, however, coming from human geography backgrounds, were uncomfortable with this primarily technical and security approach. They proposed an alternative discourse that went beyond security to encompass disaster preparedness and international disaster relief applications (as well as some other applications). They also insisted that critical thinking skills and geographic knowledge that goes beyond the techniques were absolutely essential to support the ultimate goal of producing skilled geospatial intelligence analysts. We will call this the human discourse.
So the lesson here is that "Geospatial Intelligence" is not a naturally occurring phenomenon that has a "correct" definition that is fixed in stone. Geospatial Intelligence in terms of its definition and scope is a socially contested and constructed concept. To understand that human activities are socially contested and constructed, it is very instructive to study the underlying power relationships. Even the NGA definition and scope were socially constructed as different elements of the agency negotiated the creation of the official definition. This process is continuous.
This story has a happy ending. The social negotiation that took place, resulted in a compromise that retained the key elements of the technical/security discourse, while expanding the scope of the program to include emphasis on critical thinking and other applications of GEOINT (although not all possible applications). At the end of the day, all concerned felt that the program was far better for the input of both sides. This viewpoint was subsequently validated when outside agencies were shown the program and voiced their enthusiasm and support for it.
The major evaluated activity for this lesson is the Lesson 2 - GRADED Discussion Forum (#1). To prepare for the activity, I want you to do a web search and see if you can find some alternative definitions and applications of geospatial intelligence. We will be particularly interested in the nature of the organizations that have alternative definitions and applications. If you find some sites that you think other people in the class might find useful, consider adding the URL to the class "Webliography." (See panel below.)
As you find sites of interest, add the URL and a comment on the content and why the site is of interest to our "Webliography." To access the Webliography, return to your Canvas window and look for the Webliography wiki page in our course.
An online discussion forum is the equivalent to a traditional graduate school classroom seminar. I expect you to have studied the online lesson, read the assigned readings, and conducted some web research as indicated in the lesson. When you access the graded online discussion forum for Lesson 2, you will find two discussion questions to get the ball rolling. The minimum requirement is that each of you post one primary response to each of my questions and comment at least twice on your classmates' posts. The idea here is to have an online conversation so that we can explore different ideas and alternative ways of seeing things. I expect you to demonstrate critical thinking and challenge the ideas of your classmates and yourselves. However, I know all of you will treat each other with dignity and respect and keep the discussion collegial and professional. I will moderate and facilitate the discussion, but do not be surprised if I have limited input. The function of the online discussion just as the traditional graduate seminar is for you to learn from each other. I encourage you to bring your own experiences and opinions into the discussion. That makes it so much more interesting.
In the intelligence community, much of what they do is classified for national security reasons. Everything in this course is unclassified. Presume that the other students do not have a clearance, 'need to know', and remember that everything in this course is done in a non-secure environment. DO NOT divulge, discuss, or even hint at any classified information. Also, remember that this is an academic course open to anyone, including foreign nationals. If you are a government employee, remember that operational security and information assurance are your responsibilities. Please bring any security concerns to my attention via email, and police yourselves.
Return to Lesson 2 in Canvas. Look for the Lesson 2 - GRADED Discussion Forum (#1) where you will find the two questions for this assignment. The minimum requirement is that each of you post one primary response to each of my questions and comment at least twice on your classmates' posts.
PLEASE address each question in a separate primary post to make it easier for your classmates to respond to your ideas.
Note: Please post your primary response to the questions by Sunday evening to allow time for everyone to post comments by Tuesday night.
In this lesson, we looked at Kant's three ways of ordering knowledge. We discussed definitions of geography and geospatial intelligence, the scope of the subject, and examined why geography as a subject and a discipline is fundamental to the idea of geospatial intelligence, and you read "Why Geography Matters." We also noted that different people and different agencies have different understandings of the definition and scope of the field. The lesson also included a brief discussion of how this course grew from a predominantly national security based course to include disaster preparedness, and international humanitarian aid.
Return to Lesson 2 in Canvas. Look for the Lesson 2 - GRADED Discussion Forum (#1), where you will find the two topics for this assignment separated out in their own discussion forums. The minimum requirement is that each of you post one primary response to each of my questions and comment at least twice on your classmate's posts.
Note: Please post your primary response to the questions by Sunday evening to allow time for everyone to post comments by Tuesday night.
Return to Lesson 2 in Canvas. Look for the Lesson 2 - GRADED Quiz (#2), where you will find the fifteen question quiz on this week's readings. You will have unlimited time, and it is open book, but be forewarned. This is a tough quiz. To do well, you must have read and studied the readings.
Before you move on to Lesson 3, double-check the Lesson 2 Checklist [7] to make sure you have completed all the required activities for this lesson.
In our next lesson, we focus on academic and professional writing. Your deliverable is a critical analysis which will give you the opportunity to demonstrate your higher order and critical thinking skills.
Links
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography
[2] http://gis.e-education.psu.edu
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kant
[4] https://www.youtube.com/@wpsuvideo
[5] https://youtu.be/poMGRbfgp38?si=QAxHQ173tTdU4w9i
[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjAuDfnVKi4
[7] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog882_2023/node/2151
[8] https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
[9] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog882/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog882/files/file/L02_Geography_PPT.pptx
[10] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog882/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog882/files/file/L02_Geography_PPT.pdf
[11] https://www.defense.gov/
[12] https://www.nga.mil/about/Mission.html
[13] https://photolib.noaa.gov/Collections/NOAA-In-Space/Imagery/Special-Purpose-Imagery/emodule/706/eitem/23000