Parts of South Beirut flattened (satellite photos before and after)

[Selatius]

It's a time warp. Everything else is Beirut 2006, but these three city blocks or more are straight from 1986 again:

[evox]

1. But isn't that

photoshopped?

[Swamp Rat]

2. Nope

Neither is this:



Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Selatius]

3. Hah!

Nice work! :)

[Behind the Aegis]

4. When was the first picture taken?

Are you saying that is a 1986 satellite photo? Thanks.

[The Magistrate]

5. The First Is From Shortly Before The Recent Hostilities, Sir

The second from a few days ago.

It is, over-all, a quite instructive image and comparison. It makes quite clear that the destruction is confined to a small, albeit often photographed, area, which is more an evidence of a reasonably precise targeting than otherwise. Whether the targets selected were actually worth hitting is far beyond my knowledge of the local geography to say, but was certainly not an exercise in general slaughter, as some have sought to present it.

[evox]

6. assuming each building holds

an average of 20 people. I'd say the number of buildings that appear damaged are no less than 80... 80x20 = a lot of victims.

[The Magistrate]

9. Most Would Hold Far More Than Twenty People, Sir

They are multi-story structures, six or eight floors, at leats, most of them. They were also just about all empty from the time of the first strikes.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. If they are both recent pictures...then something isn't right.

There are some glaring problems with those photos! One thing being the shadows cast in the second photo. Some go in one direction, but a building right next to it has a shadow going in the opposite direction. Also, the second photo, supposedly taken after the bombings show buildings that don't exist in the first photo, which is why I asked the date of the first photo. If they are only weeks apart, then there is a serious problem!

[Selatius]

8. It is difficult to tell which structures you're referring to

They're both taken at different times of the day, so the shadows are naturally not the same, and the angles from which they were taken are different.

[Behind the Aegis]

11. I know the pics are at different times of days.

The first pic is either early morning or dusk...I am thinking early morning, because it looks like a morning fog in some areas. The second one is taken mid-day, probably around 2pm local time because of the length of the shadows. I wasn't comparing the shadows from one and two, but the different shadows from #2. Some of those differences can be because of camera angle. If you are still around in about 30 mins, I will post the problem areas. I have to do something else really quick.

But...take a look at the bottom right hand-corner, near the big brown field (parking lot :shrug:), in pic #2 there is a huge building that is not in picture one. I have found several other buildings in #2, that aren't in #1, which is why I asked about the date of the first photo.

[Selatius]

13. It's a soccer field, apparently, from looking at the DG original

Are you talking about the building across the street to the north? Is it west, south, or east of it? (Assume the top of the picture is north)

[Behind the Aegis]

17. Top of the picture is east.

According to the site, north is to the left. So, I am talking about the building to the 'real' north. However, as I said to The Magistrate, I think #2 is a miles closer to the target.

[The Magistrate]

15. Near The Soccer Field, Sir

The buildings are the same in both pictures, to my eye. The angle looking down is slightly different, a little more acute in the second, which lends a slightly different aspect, and the focus there is also sharper. But the things are the same.

[Behind the Aegis]

16. #2

It seems that the second picture is closer to the ground than pic #1. However, there are some things I just can't seem to figure out. I will post a pic with my observations...see if you can help.

Give me a few mins.

[The Magistrate]

18. It Does Seem To Be From A Lower Elevation, Sir

Which complicates comparison a little as well. Oh, for an antique stereo-opticon set, taken from six thousand feet....

[Behind the Aegis]

20. It also appears to be a slightly different angle...

...which might also explain some of the lighting and detail issues.

[Selatius]

10. Digital Globe website:

http://www.digitalglobe.com/sample_imagery.shtml

[Behind the Aegis]

12. I saw 7-22-06 as the date for #2.

Is there a date for #1?

[The Magistrate]

14. The Shadows Seem To Be In The Same Direction, Sir

All indicate a light source towards the upper right hand corner of the image. There is one atrea, near the brown toned athletic field, where you may think you see a shadow going opposite the general direction, but it is a poorly focused image of a clump of trees, and not a shadow at all.

It is very difficult to pick out individual buildings in the earlier shot, or to differentiate their height, owing to the density of the contruction. The demolitions leave some in stark exposure, that it is difficult to locate precisely in the earlier image, but it is an illusion.

[Behind the Aegis]

19. Look in the middle of pic #2

Follow the "D" from the words "Digital Globe," (the one on the far right, to the top)...follow it down to the second "Digital Globe," before you get to the "E," if you go up you will see a building with a shadow pointing due north (to the left) and a shadow point in the direction of the others (NW). There are a few others like that. (Sorry, I can't find my photo program that allows me to add boxes and such). Also, the building near the soccer field at the bottom (to the north, north being left in the photo). Looks very different in #2, as opposed to #1. Of course that can be because the view is closer. However, the building to the south of the soccer field (orange roof), looks identical in both pictures. How can that be?

I wish I could find my photo program, it would make my questions clearer. I don't deny that pic #2 is probably a real photo and the destruction is real, but I just see a few things that are a little off.

[The Magistrate]

21. To My Eye, Sir

The first item you point out is not a single building casting a shadow to the north. It is a tall building, with a much lower building to the left and up a little beside it, that is casting its own shadow in the proper direction, and this shadow does show about due left of the taller building.

The second item, the building with the orange roof near the playing fireld, does not seem wholly identical in both photographs: it looks a little larger and sharper in the second than in the first, as would be expected from the general character of the two photographs.