GIS and Society:
A Focus on Remotely Sensed Data and GIS

Jonathan Taylor
Department of Geography

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of works in geography concerned with contextualizing and examining social issues related to information technology. Part of this ongoing research agenda has examined technologies frequently used or in some cases developed by professional geographers. The stance taken in these works is neither an unreflective enthusiasm about advances in information technology or a technophobic response. Instead, these works tend to start from the assumption that information technology is both indicative of structural changes in our society and economy as well as a producer or catalyst of these changes.

While some authors have attempted to examine GIS technologies and practices from these perspectives, remote sensing and image processing technologies have not been similarly studied. Increasingly, however, the information used in many GIS databases stems from remotely sensed images. In my research I have investigated some of the perspectives which accompany the uses of remotely sensed images and their use in GIS technology in order to point to the ways in which particular ideologies and ways of viewing the world are inherent in their use. I also explore some political and social issues related to the practices of remote sensing.

My research interests deal with the following themes:

• The logic of remote sensing and GIS. By this I mean the ontological and epistemological basis of the practices of remote sensing. Particular ideas of space, objectivity, and representation are implicit in the current practices and technologies of remote sensing and GIS. Examining these underlying assumptions helps reveal the problems and limitations inherent in using remote sensing for social research. Also, it is possible that these established notions of space and objectivity are in fact lagging behind both recent theoretical work on these topics and new innovations in information technology.
  
  
• The origins of remote sensing. Along with the underlying assumptions which guide remote sensing are particular aspects of a military ideology. In part this stems from the military origins of remote sensing and the uses for which it was initially conceived. In order to understand and identify this ideology, these origins need to be investigated.
  
  
• Remote sensing and surveillance. Remote sensing is generally defined as a set of practices and technologies used to perform surveillance upon objects, natural resources, and populations from a distance. Many aspects of the nature of this surveillance have yet to be theorized. In addition, there are serious ethical questions which need to be asked about the use of remote sensing for various surveillant purposes by researchers, commercial interests, and government agencies.
  
  
• Differential access to remotely sensed data. Data from remote sensing is unevenly distributed across international and national scales, and also between various levels of user groups such as government agencies, business, and academic researchers. This uneven distribution begs the question of whether a situation of unfair advantage exists for those who have disproportionate access to remotely sensed images, image processing technology, GIS software and hardware, and technical expertise, and what the broader effects of this inequality are.
  
  
• Population and natural resource management. Remote sensing implies the imposition of a particular type of spatial order upon areal objects. What are the effects of this ordering upon both resource areas and populations? The recent use of remotely sensed images in a GIS system enhanced through virtual reality for border definitions in the Bosnia Peace Accord demonstrates the importance of understanding the ways in which remote sensing can be used to impose a spatial order upon a region through policy-making.

Each of these themes suggest issues worthy of consideration by social scientists. Up to this point, however, there has been little in the social science literature on the social implications and uses of remote sensing. I hope to elaborate upon each of the above themes in subsequent research. Briefly, here are some of the conclusions I have reached so far.

An investigation of the ideology and way of viewing the world inherent in remote sensing must start from examining the actual origins of remote sensing technologies and practices. It is my conclusion that the roots of remote sensing lie firmly within the military sphere. This is also true of remote sensing's precursor: aerial photography. Both remote sensing technologies and aerial photography were initially developed by Western militaries for the purpose of monitoring perceived threats abroad. Thus militaristic notions of the control and administration of space are deeply embedded in remote sensing practices. Concurrent with these notions are ideas of a fixed, external, objectivity; and a view of remotely sensed images as accurate representations of an observable reality.

As remote sensing was initially conceived by the military as fulfilling a surveillant role, the nature and purposes of surveillance must be taken into account in an examination of remote sensing practices. Surveillance and its role in modern society has been highly theorized in the works of many poststructuralist scholars. The ideas of these theorists have yet to be taken up by investigators of remote sensing, though they have by recent researchers of the social effects and implications of GIS. At the present time, questions of access to remote sensing images and technologies also take on important roles as the Federal government moves towards declassifying and disseminating remotely sensed images. Another currently relevant research question concerns the strategic uses of remote sensing by other militaries and governments. As an increasing number of nations begin to launch their own satellites, geopolitical issues become ever more important in discussions of remote sensing surveillance. To what extent will a few nations control the production and distribution of remotely sensed images and data obtained from them? What are the political ramifications of future changes in international possession of surveillance satellites and remotely sensed data?

Remote sensing has proven to be a very useful tool for those concerned with natural resource discovery and administration and with monitoring ecological characteristics of areas. Yet questions remain as to how the particular ways in which remote sensing and image processing function (especially when combined with GIS) as a tool for managers for making decisions about the definitions and best uses of areas. As remotely sensed data is often used to identify areas as particular resources, demarcate their boundaries, and then determine their optimal uses, it is important to understand how the nature and logic of this technology can lead to specific natural resource management practices.

In conclusion, I think examining these aspects of remote sensing offers exciting possibilities for future research. From a social science point of view, the non-technical aspects of remote sensing technology and practices are quite under-theorized. Given the close interdependence between remotely sensed data and GIS, an analysis of these aspects of remote sensing could play a valuable role in the NCGIA's Initiative 19 on GIS and Society.

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