Can satellites detect people on the ground?

Satellites can detect people on the ground.

The most advanced U.S. military spy satellite’s images with a maximum resolution of 0.01 to 0.05 meters are enough to “describe” the model of gun in the hand of a soldier on the ground and “see” the headline of a newspaper.

Spy satellites mainly include photographic reconnaissance satellites, electronic reconnaissance satellites, ocean surveillance satellites, missile early warning satellites and nuclear explosion detection satellites.

Obviously, it is not enough to just discover the target from satellite images. It is often necessary to specifically identify the military or civilian identity of the target, as well as the model of the target, and even its current condition. Military ground reconnaissance is divided into four levels:

The first level is discovery, which can only determine the presence of targets from images, such as whether there are ships on the sea and whether there are suspicious objects on the ground. Things are biased.

The second level is identification, which can roughly identify the type of target, such as a person or a vehicle, a cannon or an aircraft.

The third level is confirmation, indicating the type of target from the same type, such as whether the vehicle is a truck or a bus, and whether the ship at sea is a tanker or an aircraft carrier.

The fourth level is description, which can identify features and details on the target. For example, it can point out the models of aircraft and cars and the types of missiles equipped on ships. Among these four levels, "discovery" (seeing) requires the lowest ground resolution, and "describing" (seeing clearly) requires the highest ground resolution.

Reconnaissance satellites with a resolution of 30 meters can detect larger targets such as ports, bases, bridges, highways or ships sailing on the water. With a resolution of 3 to 7 meters, smaller targets such as radars, small units, missile bases, and command posts can be discovered. On the Google "satellite map" with a resolution of 1 meter, city buildings, roads and cars can be clearly "identified". The house of the editorial office of this magazine can be found and the location of our office can be pointed out. Of course, aircraft carriers, aircraft, and tanks can also be "confirmed." As for the images with the highest resolution of 0.01 to 0.05 meters from the most advanced military spy satellites in the United States, they are enough to "describe" the model of the gun in the hands of soldiers on the ground and "see" the headlines of newspapers. However, sensational reports that American satellites can see everything on the ground today, such as whether soldiers have shaved or "clearly" read the headlines of newspapers on the ground, are exaggerated. If you want to clearly see (not just "see") newspaper titles from satellite images, the ground resolution must reach 0.003 meters, which is currently impossible. In addition, current imaging satellites can take pictures vertically downward, or tilt left, right, forward, and backward, so it is easy to take pictures of the sides of vertical objects such as buildings, and other places. Relatively speaking, the south side of the building has much better lighting than the north side. It is not surprising that satellites can photograph objects in front of the south window of the house. However, due to resolution limitations and the influence of the window glass, it is still difficult to see clearly the secrets in the south room.