Mapping the Tropics: Cold War Remote Sensing and Geohistorical Impacts in the Amazon

This paper historicizes Cold War uses of remote sensing technologies for development and national security initiatives in tropical regions. While the advent of remote sensing in the latter half of the twentieth century is commonly portrayed as enabling the "true conquest" of tropical rainforests, my research explores the socio-political controversies and techno-environmental implications surrounding the early usage of remote sensing technologies like radar, laser, and satellite data/imagery in the Amazon forests of South America.

The primary focus of my presentation is on the far-reaching impact of remote sensing on the environment, colonizers, development initiatives, indigenous populations, and the militarization of the Amazon. For instance, radar technology played a pivotal role in mapping the Amazon Basin during the seventies and eighties through initiatives such as the "Amazon Radargrammetric Project" (RADAM) under the Brazilian military regime. Launched by the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy, RADAM employed side-looking airborne radar technology to comprehensively map the Amazon Basin, survey its natural resources, plan military colonization, and monitor the progress of the Trans-Amazonian highway. Similar projects were undertaken by the governments of Colombia and Venezuela to enhance economic development and national security strategies in their respective Amazon Basin territories and other tropical rainforest regions.

Despite these projects sparking prolonged political and environmental conflicts across the region, they, along with similar initiatives in Central Africa and Southeast Asia, have received limited attention in historical research. Examining RADAM-like projects, alongside the responses of local, regional, and transnational communities either opposing or supporting them, provides valuable insights into the diverse and paradoxical dimensions of knowledge systems, enviro-technical regimes, and techno-politics. This exploration sheds light on the intricate ways these elements intertwine with security dynamics in the region, contributing to a comprehensive understanding of the historical context of remote sensing applications in tropical development and surveillance projects.