Res Communis

The size of the annual budget for the Military Intelligence Program (MIP), which has been classified up to now, will be publicly disclosed, said Gen. James R. Clapper, Jr., the nominee to be the next Director of National Intelligence.  He said that he had personally advocated and won approval for release of the budget figure.

“I pushed through and got Secretary [of Defense Robert M.] Gates to approve revelation of the Military Intelligence Program budget,” Gen. Clapper told Senator Russ Feingold at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday.

Since 2007, the DNI has declassified and disclosed the size of the National Intelligence Program (NIP) at the end of each fiscal year, in response to a legislative requirement.  But despite its name, the NIP is not literally the whole “national intelligence program.”  Rather, it is one of the two budget constructs, along with the MIP, that make up the total U.S. intelligence budget.

Thus, when former DNI Dennis Blair said last September that the total intelligence budget was around $75 billion, he was referring to the sum of the NIP (which was $49.8 billion at that time) plus the MIP.

“I thought, frankly, we were being a bit disingenuous by only releasing or revealing the National Intelligence Program, which is only part of the story,” said Gen. Clapper.  “And so Secretary Gates has agreed that we could also publicize that [i.e., the MIP budget]. I think the American people are entitled to know the totality of the investment we make each year in intelligence.”

The MIP budget figure has not yet been formally disclosed.  A Freedom of Information Act request for the number that was filed in October 2009 by the Federation of American Scientists remains open and pending.

By Pallab GhoshScience correspondent, BBC News

Science minister David Willetts is to announce a new UK centre for monitoring the Earth from space.

The Earth observation hub will focus on acquiring environmental data, such as information on deforestation and the impact of climate change.

The hub will be based at the International Space Innovation Centre (ISIC) at Harwell in Oxfordshire, which will open in April 2011.

The aim is to bring together UK expertise in Earth observation.

The hub will also be used as a flight operations centre for controlling satellites.

It addition, it will develop the expertise to analyse environmental information coming from space, helping scientists learn more about how the planet is being affected by climate change.

Tracking pollution

Professor Alan O’Neill, director of the National Centre for Earth Observation, said: “By bringing together the best of our space science base with industrial researchers, we hope to develop a wide range of applications.

“These include global monitoring of deforestation, concentration of greenhouse gasses, and levels of marine pollution.”

Up to 40 scientists will be based at the centre. Many of them will be involved in gathering and presenting the vast amounts of information coming from environmental satellites.

The data will be made available to scientists across the world and to the public.

Details of the hub will be announced by the Science Minister David Willetts in a speech on Wednesday morning at the Farnborough Air Show.

He is expected to say that the centre will not become a “centralising force”; rather, it will serve as a hub to link regional space capabilities and promote knowledge-sharing between academia and industry.

A preview of Mr Willetts’ speech stated: “ISIC will operate at arm’s length from the UK Space Agency so that it becomes a common facility within the Harwell campus.

“And at Harwell, the new European Space Agency facility is already working well, especially in climate change science and related applications.

“Soon it will have an incubator for new space businesses and work on space exploration. This is a fantastic additional catalyst for UK space.”

Type of Event Flood

Location of Event China

Date of Charter Activation 19/07/2010

Charter Requestor China National Committee for Disaster Reduction

Project Management NDRCC

Description of the Event

A severe flood affected Southern China. About 52,000 people and 72 counties have been affected by the heavy rains during the last seven days in Jiunjian and more than 40,000 people were relocated. Officials report that flooding will continue and its effects could be catastrophic.