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Lyce Ribeaupierre - Sections Europennes Anglais anne

2013 2014

HUBER Laure DIEUDONNE-ROMINGER

Lionel

SATELLITE IMAGERYubject : how can satellite imagery consolidate our knowledge of territories,

atural phenomenons, human dynamics at the global, regional and local

Ghosts from the Cold War. Soviet

Secret cities and abandoned

military facilities

THREE SOVIET

CITIES IN

RUSSIA

SOSNOVY-BOR

SEVERSK

VILNYUCHINSK

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SUMMARY

Introduction ..................................................................................

..................... p. 3

A. Continental

scale ....................................................................................................... p.

4

B. Regional

scale ....................................................................................................... p. 5

C. Local

scale ...............................................................................................

........ p. 8

1. Sosnovy-

Bor ................................................................................................ p. 8

I. Industries and military

installations ................................................ p.8

II. Life area and urban

structures ....................................................... p.10

III. Oddities, remarkable

elements ...................................................... p. 11

2.

Seversk .................................................................................................

..... p. 12


installations ................................................ p.12


structures ....................................................... p.13


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elements ...................................................... p. 14

3.

Vilnyuchinsk ............................................................................................

.... p. 8


installations ................................................ p.8


structures ....................................................... p.10


elements ...................................................... p. 11

Conclusion ..................................................................................................

.................... p.22

INTRODUCTION

Since the dawn of mankind men interested in their environment. It

was of a critical importance, even a question of survival.

So they began to discover the world and the first maps were drawn even

though these maps were not accurate most of the time.

Today new technologies allow us to have perfect flat representations of the

Earth : the shapes of the continents are faithful to reality and we thought

nothing was to discover anymore, at least until the beginning of satellite

imagery. During the cold war satellites were developed, at first for an

intelligence and military spying purpose but then to cartography the world

even more accurately.

Today these satellites stay military, but there is also a very dynamic

satellite imagery activity.

For instance the ISat is a fantastic tool that allow to see far away, near

again and with a

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3

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A.

A. CONTINENTAL SCALE

Continental view with the localisation of the three

secret soviet cities. From left to right : Sosnovy Bor,

Seversk and Vilyuchinsk.

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B. REGIONAL SCALE

The first city is Sosnovy Bor, located in west Russia : near the coast, it is less

discreet but more easily accessible.

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The second city, Seversk, is in

central Russia near Tomsk.

It is less exposed for it is not

located near the coast : its far

away inlands, in the middle of

nowhere : the perfect place foris city that was not supposed to

exist. Today this city is not

unknown anymore but the

access is still restricted, as for

the two other cities.

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Vilyuchinsk is

located on the

Kamchatka

Peninsula. Ithas many

naval bases -

right in the

front of the US

- and is less

likely to be

spotted, unlike

Sosnovy Bor

which is near

Saint

Petersburg,

one of the

main cities in

Russia - and in

the former

USSR.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsulahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamchatka_Peninsula


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C. LOCAL SCALE

1. Sosnov Bor

This is a nuclear power plant

being built, in the southern

part of the city : there are

many industries, mainly

nuclear energy production,

nuclear waste disposal

facilities and research centers- Alexandrov Research

Technological Institute for

instance is a research facility

mostly dedicated to

development and testing of

nuclear ships and submarines

power plants.

The following picture is a view

of the yard where anothernuclear plant is rising higher

I. Industries and military installations

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This may be another

nuclear facility. Whatcan be confused with

a dock is actually a

channel where all the

wastes are rejected.

The third picture

shows the output,

where all that green

foamy water isreleased directly in the

sea.

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II. Life area and urban structures

This is a typical

residential area of a

closed soviet city :

big house blocks,

with many trees

spread around.

Actually it's lovely

beside the heavy

industries that can

be found in the

south.

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III. Oddities and remarkable elements

What can this

weird building be ?

Actually it's the

optical institute ofSosnovy-Bor, also

nicknamed the

"Tower of Sauron"

by the

inhabitants !

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2. Seversk


One more nuclear

power plan, in

Seversk this time :

but whereas we only

see 3-4 chimneys at

Sosnovy-Bor, thereare 29 - at least -

cooling towers in

Seversk!

Next to the power

station - to the left -

we can see a wide

infrastructure : it's a

chemical and

metallurgical plant.

These structures are

in the northern area

of the city.

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The residential

areas are

quite similar

from a city to

another.

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A plain park... or is it ?

The circular shape

tells us thatsomething might be

buried here : an

underground base

under the city ? We

can't be sure, but

there is enough trees

and grass around in

the city : such a place

isn't necessary in the

middle of a forested

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3. Viln uchinsk

This is a naval

base in front of

Vilyuchinsk. We

can see ships

and even

submarines.

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Vilyuchinsk,

unlike Seversk or

Sosnovy-Bor is a

small city of the

same size than

Colmar (around

20.000

inhabitants).

Sosnovy-Bor has

around 65.000

inhabitants and

Seversk more

than 108.000.


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CONCLUSION


What can these circles in the forest be ? No pictures areavailable but we can clearly see that there are no trees in the

bright areas.

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