Lyce Ribeaupierre - Sections Europennes Anglais 2013 2014 HUBER Laure Lionel

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DIEUDONNE-ROMINGER

SATELLITE IMAGERY
Subject : how can satellite imagery consolidate our knowledge of territories, natural phenomenons, human dynamics at the global, regional and local scales ?

THREE SOVIET CITIES IN RUSSIA

SOSNOVY-BOR SEVERSK VILNYUCHINSK

Ghosts from the Cold War. Soviet Secret cities and abandoned military facilities

SUMMARY
Introduction ..................... p. 3 ..................................................................................

A. Continental scale ....................................................................................................... p. 4

B. Regional scale ..................................................................................................... .. p. 5

C. Local scale ........ p. 8

...............................................................................................

Bor

1. Sosnovy................................................................................................ p. 8

I. Industries and military installations ................................................ p.8 structures elements II. Life area and urban ....................................................... p.10 III. Oddities, remarkable ...................................................... p. 11

2. Seversk ..... p. 12

.................................................................................................

I. Industries and military installations ................................................ p.12 structures II. Life area and urban ....................................................... p.13

elements

III. Oddities, remarkable ...................................................... p. 14

3. Vilnyuchinsk .... p. 8

............................................................................................

I. Industries and military installations ................................................ p.8 structures elements II. Life area and urban ....................................................... p.10 III. Oddities, remarkable ...................................................... 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

A.

CONTINENTAL SCALE

A.

Continental view with the localisation of the three secret soviet cities. From left to right : Sosnovy Bor, Seversk and Vilyuchinsk.

B.

REGIONAL SCALE

The first city is Sosnovy Bor, located in west Russia : near the coast, it is less discreet but more easily accessible.

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 for is 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.

Vilyuchinsk is located on the Kamchatka Peninsula. It has 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.

C.

LOCAL SCALE

1. Sosnovy Bor
I. Industries and military installations

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 another nuclear plant is rising higher and higher...

This may be another nuclear facility. What can 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 is released directly in the sea.

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 of Sosnovy-Bor, also nicknamed the "Tower of Sauron" by the inhabitants !

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2. Seversk
I. Industries and military installations

One more nuclear power plan, in Seversk this time : but whereas we only see 3-4 chimneys at Sosnovy-Bor, there are 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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II. Life area and urban structures

The residential areas are quite similar from a city to another.

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III. Oddities and remarkable elements

A plain park... or is it ? The circular shape tells us that something 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 area...

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3. Vilnyuchinsk
I. Industries and military installations

This is a naval base in front of Vilyuchinsk. We can see ships and even submarines.

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II. Life area and urban structures

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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III. Oddities and remarkable elements

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

CONCLUSION

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