ABSTRACT
The use of the term "measurement and signature intelligence" (MASINT) as a category encompassing a number of distinct collection activities. Measurement and signature intelligence is defined in the Department of Defense Instruction on the subject as "Information produced by quantitative and qualitative analysis of physical attributes of targets and events to characterize, locate, and identify them". Identification of MASINT's various components indicates its scope and diversity. The components are Radar, Radio frequency, Geophysical data, Nuclear radiation, Materials, Multispectral, hyperspectral, and ultraspectral imagery, Biometrics. MASINT collection systems, which operate across the electromagnetic spectrum, can be found in space, on aircraft, at ground stations, on surface ships, and below the ocean surface. The United States (US) government operates several satellite systems that carry MASINT sensors. The US has also employed at least two other satellite systems to carry nuclear detonation sensors: the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program and Satellite Data System. Defense Support Program satellites have also provided intelligence on nuclear detonations.
