The Kremlin: IMINT Project

Kremlin - Image One - Satellite
Kremlin - Image Two - Aerial
Kremlin - Image Three - Aerial

The subject of the IMINT project is the Moscow Kremlin. There are three images used for the project. image one is a satellite image from Google Maps. The area is triangular shaped with walls surrounding a majority of the land. Within the walls are various buildings, many of them having inner courtyards. Image two is an aerial image, obtained from Wikipedia, showing the southern wall of the Kremlin. Image three is another aerial view, found in Wikipedia's image database, showing the eastern wall that faces Russia's Red Square.

Usefulness

Looking at Image One, the Kremlin has very few entrances. The wall completely surrounds the buildings. There are numerous trees blocking the northwest wall. The southern wall is bordered by a highway and a river. The eastern wall is directly across the Red Square. There is visitor parking near the lower part of the eastern wall.

The satellite image shows the inner streets hidden by the wall, and trails inside and outside the Kremlin wall that might not be visible from ground level. The image shows only one vehicle entrance found in the southwest corner.

Image Two shows the detail of the buildings' sides. This image shows no entrance from the southern wall. The walls obscure any visibility of the buildings from ground level. The inner streets are wider than the highway lanes. Very few cars are seen inside. Most of the buildings are about two to three floors tall. This image shows another entrance in the northwest wall, walk-in only.

Image Three shows the eastern building in greater detail. Very few crowds are standing in the center of the Red Square. They seem to follow the border of the Square. The crowd is also lining up near a wall tower on the left side of image three. This must be a second walk-in entrance into the Kremlin. This image indicates that only the top floor is visible from a ground level view.

Looking at Image One and Three, there might be a third walk-in entrance on the north side of image one and on the left on image three. Image one shows the corner of the inner road touching the wall where a tower is situated. One the bottom left of image three, the tower is very similar to the other tower entrance on the right. The problem in this image is that the tower is blocked by a building in front of the camera.

Shortcomings

In Image One, what is noticeable in the Kremlin is that there are few parking spaces visible. There is no way of knowing how many people might be working withing the walls. While Image Two shows the best detail, very little activity is seen in this image. The entrances themselves are covered, so there is no way of knowing how many are guarding the entrances and what styles of gates they use. The smaller towers in the walls hide any guards or observers watching the wall.

Image Three might be more useful for visitors, knowing which way the crowd flows. It does show the size of the crowd visiting the Red Square. This picture alone shows no paths within the walls.

Summary

The images might have more value if studied as a group. Images Two and Three give a bitter perspective on how high the wall is compared to the people and vehicles. Image One hos a better view of the layout of the building and roads. Each image adds more meaning to the other.