Remote Sensing and GIS as Counterterrorism Tools in the Afghanistan War: A Case Study of the Zhawar Kili Region

Abstract Rocks forming the backdrop of video footage of an admitted September 11 terrorist appeared to the author to belong to the Kurram Group of eastern Afghanistan. The cultural geography and military history of the area suggested that the terrorist was in or near the Zhawar Kili cave complex. Band-ratio satellite image mapping combined with public National Imagery and Mapping Agency and United Nations databases confirmed that Zhawar Kili is on Kurram Group rocks. This information was forwarded to the U.S. government in October 2001. Military and news media reports indicate the subsequent successful elimination of a large number of terrorists and munitions at Zhawar Kili in November 2001 and January, February, and April of 2002. *The author thanks the USGS's EROS Data Center for assistance with satellite image collection and travel support to key facilities, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio for the provision of secure processing facilities, the NASA Stennis Space Center's Science Data Purchase for high-resolution data, and TRW, Raytheon, Lockheed-Martin, Space Imaging, Kodak, and Research Systems for technical support. Howard Stafford, Robert South, Truman Hartshorn, and two unidentified reviewers provided valuable suggestions that improved this manuscript significantly. This work was supported by grants from NASA and the USGS.