UPDATE (Wednesday, February 3, 4:15 pm): The Search for Silvia

In case you didn't receive it, here is the latest e-mail from Bill Dreskin:
 

Dear Friends of Silvia,

 

If anyone happens to have any information, or knows of resources or someone with expertise in the area of satellite imagery, that would be helpful.  A private detective and former FBI special agent wrote: "One of the Southern California wildfire arsons was solved by reviewing dated satellite images of the point of origin, zooming in on a pickup truck and

running the plate. How about that for resolution? That would require GPS

coordinates." 

 

The question is whether there is possibly such satellite data and if it is available from a military or commercial satellite, and the probability of such a time window for capture.  What are the refresh intervals and at what resolution?  We only need 20 meters or 30 meters, resolution, not high resolution 2 meters.

 

1) I estimate that resoutionl needed (still or video) to be helpful would be approx. 20 meters or higher resolution, not 2 meters!  Even 30 meters might be adequate.  We do not need car make, etc.  Just enough resolution to see an unidentifiable  person walk across the North Beach parking lot with a dog on a leash, and see where they went.   And of course a 30 meters view of the beach would be helpful too.  Being able to see water come up near to the parking lot would also be helpful.

 

2) GPS

Point Reyes Beach North

Latitude Longitude

N 38 04.639 W 122 58.503

 

3)  Reports from people at the beach around that time (1 PM) for Sunday, January 24 at Point Reyes Beach North for 11:41 AM to 12:20 PM were sunny, no clouds, blue skies, beach visibility good, no mist or fog.    

 

It may be that there are no commercial or military satellites with adequate update rates to capture that time frame and that the arson case was just luck that they had the right time frame. 

 

Thanks.

 

Bill