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STUDIES IN
INTELLIGENCE
A collection ol orliclos on Ihe historical, operational, doclrlnal, and theoretical aspects of intellfgenco,
All siatemenis of fact, opinion or analysis expressed in Studies in Intelligence axe those of lhe authors They do not necessarily reflect official positions or views of the Central Intelligence Agency or any other US Government entity, past or present. Nothing in the contents should be construed as asserting or implying US Government endorsement of an article's factual siatemenis and interpretations.
For fncteel and economic geography of the USSR.
THE SOVIET ATLASOURCE William Terechow
Soviet atlases, wo.Id atlases as well as those devoted to the USSR itself, haveegree of cartographic erccllence which ranks them among the heat in the world. There are no American atlases
"^cept'of ArnMlcan publishers that an atlas^'a" collection of'mapahe contrasting Soviet concept has been summarized by the noted Soviet cartographer K. A. Salishchev: "An atlas it notrouping of various geographic maps nor their mechanical assemblage. It is an integral system of maps which are organically related and complement oneystem that is governed by the purpose of the atlas and the peculiarities of its
C#Turral Afto.es of the; USSR
The best national atlas of the Soviet Union is currently the Atlai SSSR published' Itomprehensive cartographic study
'Moore, W.f Ce^erephy. (Baltimore: reoguir,)
'Sd.ihchev. t. A, Omoo, tUrtoaedenUe: (Mono.:Coodeii-ctmkey Uteratury. ISM.)
' During World WariroVonKn of this atUsreat treasure Vohime II of tbe Cieat Soviet Atlas, the volume oo.er.ng tbe USSR, had beeo prlntrii hut not generally released. There were only twoourieiy copies In Ibe United States, and the only other up-to-date source availablehe many government offices clamoring for irJormaUori on Soviet geographyct of maps Wendell Wilkie had brought home covering the route of his recent lour through Ihe Soviet Union. OSS therefore borrowed ihearlmcnl'a courteay copy of tbe anas bo reproduce for Its own and other agencies' use OBsel color pttnung would have beers prohibitively eipensive, however, .rvrral thouisndage, and Done of the commercial processes for oolor photog. rapbv in Ihoaa day. couM do the lob; the black printing would alwayi come out blurred. LueWy. OSS had hired for other photographic purpose* theof an aadusiv* color process called Trial which wu found lo be satis, factory, and It wu able to get out its American edition, with tramUled table of3
Soviet caotaaasnauonus bs this achievement. The main man bad bee* edited by reosorship to etirnlnate InfrsnaabtMight ho useful to the boseib outside weald, but the censors had fonrottrn tbe larger sou. -met. oaves tag mroopohtaai and other areas of special interest. These of tee revealed UUagt the Soviet* would not mtrotsonaarylet us know.
I I
Soviet Altai
ot the country and contains an excellent series of general regional maps covering the Soviet Union at scales up. Ithysical geography section comprising various geologic, climatic, vegetational. and fauna! maps and an economic geography section covering such topics as industry, agriculture, and transportation. There are also maps of the former twenty economic regions showing the distribution of different types of economic activities within each.
The Soviets have alsoumber of regional atlases covcrmg parriculaj'p^liricaloth'vthese*and the Aflw'SSSAealth of physical geographic information, both general and specific. The general maps do what is expected ofphysical and cultural features and give place, names, indicate relief by shades of green ascending from sea level to shades of brown for higher elevation, give the highest elevations in each region in meters, and indicate water depth by descending shades of blue. But these are backed upumber of specific topical maps devoted to geology (the urtderiying strata, tectonics, and rockeomor-pbologylimate, vegetation, soils, forests, zoogeography (types and disuibubon ofnd mineral extraction (oostributioo of various mining activities).
Of the topical maps, those devoted to climate give the mostcoverage. The Alias SSSR has eleven of them showing climatic regions, solar radiation, prevailing wind directions, seasonal air temperatures, average daily air temperature, frost-free periods, snow cover, precipitation, radiation balance, and seasonal air pressure and giving considerable detailed information fn each of these categories.
The economic section of Soviet atlases, either national or regional. Is broken down essentially into fouragriculture, peculation, and transportation. The industrial maps have such themes as fuel and electro-energy production, ferrous and non-ferrousmachine building and metal fabrication, chemical andproducts, building materials, lumber and paper production, light products manufacturing, and food production. The agricultural maps show the locatioa and specialization of state farms, the extent
'As of this vmtmg, the following regional atlases have been published: Ukrainian SSR. Bebrusitan SSR, Moldavian SSR. Ceorgtaa SSR, Armenian SSR_ Arerbaydahan SSR. Uibek SSR, Tseliruvyy Kray. Karelian ASSR, Kustaoa. Oblast. Irkutsk Oblast, Kalinineningrad Oblast, Moscow Oblast, Murmansk Oblast, Smolensk Oblast, Vologda Obbut, and Yaroslavl Oblast.
The Soviet
of ploughed or tilled land, and the type and distribution of grain, livestock, and various other agricultural products. The population maps usually cover ethnography along with distribution and density. The transportation topic normally comprises not only roads andbut navigable rivers, canals, and major air lanes.
Specialized Aliases
t^aaOf tbe Soviet aliases entirely devoted to special .Joptes, .the best and most useful are perhaps the agricultural atlas, tbe railroad atlas, and the automobile roadhe atlas of agriculture publishediving fuller coverage and more detailed irrforrration on Soviet agriculture than the national or regional atlases, is tbe most, comprehensive and detailed one of its kind ever published. Its more than three hundred pages are broken down into nine sections under tbe foUowing subject heads: introduction to Soviet agriculture, natural physical conditions, general agricultural characteristics, agricultural pattern including amount of arable land, livestock, agriculture in the Soviet republics, gross production of agricultural commodities, harvest yields for individual areas, and conclusions concerning Sovietproduction compared with the rest of the worlds. Although its main value Is to show the type and distribution of Soviet agri* cultural activities, it is excellent for deteniiining the agricultural potential of any region of the Uoiort
Tbe railroad atlas portrays the regional railway networks in tbe various parts of the country, including such information as theof facilities, traffic flow, cities and towns served, aod tbe railway's relationship with the physical envirorirrienr. The automobile atlas gives corresponding information on roads. It distinguishesprimary and tccoodary roads but gives neither the kind of surfacing nor the number of lanesoad.
The Information Yield
The adminbtrative-pobtical Information found in Soviet atlases is confined largelyimple breakdown into administrative units. Although this type of Irdormation is usually more readily available from other sources such as the AdrnmisWative-Tesritorial Handbook USSR (SSSfl Adminittralivno-Ttvrttariafnoyc Deleniye Soyuzrujch
'Respectively Altai SttAogo Khotxjayitoa SSSfl, Zhelevu/ye Derogi SSSfl. and Allot AvtemobiTrykh Doroz SSSR (Moskva:)
n admmistrative reorganization may often show up firstewly published atlas. If thereoundaryap is required, and an alias may bo the first source for one.
The economic information in the atlases consists of generalizations on the distribution of different types ofduction. Production data are shown graphically, normally In comparison with past years, but only in averages for large regional areas. Accurate
cannot be detcrmtaeej from the graphics. Moreover? official sources such as the national economic handbook Narodnoue Khoxuaystoo, published yearly, provide more accurate Information and greaterail on the subject. The principal use of the economic sections of the atlases is therefore to locate the different types of economic activities distributed throughout the Soviet Union.
Thus it is the physical geographic information in Soviet atlases that is most abundant and most useful- Although even here the prime sources for intelligence are usually maps such as theseries on, the atlas maps with scales uprc sufficiently large to yield detailed Information such as relief comparisons and magnitude or distance relationships. They frequently bridge intelligence gaps or verify information obtained from other geographic sources. Using them for deriving precise geographic coordinates would be somewhat precarious, but good approximations can be made; those with scalesegree grids broken downminute intervals, and even those with scalesnd overegrec grids' broken downminute intervals.
Information on terrain characteristics can be obtained from the general maps section of an atlas, or better for specifics and detail, from the special gcomorphology maps. The geomorphologlc map in the Atlas SSSR shows relief morphology with twenty-runc distinct types of surface features such as plains, valleys, plateaus, tablelands, and mountains, morphologic elements such as ravines, gorges, river valleys, flood plains, sand dunes, and karst regions, aod the immediate subsurface geological structure. The general physical maps, oo the other hand, provide excellent mformatioo on general reliefover large land areas.
The value of the climatic information in Soviet atlases is particularly pointed up in the case of tbe arctic regions, on which Soviet scientific publications indicate thereaucity of data, especially on the area
cast of the Urah. The Soviet atlases give arctic climate data lhat would otherwise be difficult to obtain from overt sources and. ahbough somcwhai generalized, is sufficient for the reconstruction of condi-tions in the Soviet northeast. On all areas it is useful to haveon the separation of climatic zones, the number of frost-free days and days with snow cover in each, the maximum anddady temperatures and amounts of precipitation, and thepallis of cyclones and anticyclones.
Hydrographlc information can be gleaned from several sections of an atlas, Tlie general maps can be used for tho size and coo-figuration of lakes, rivers, swamps, and bogs, the location of canals and hydroelectric projects, and coastal water relationships. The transportation map will show navigable rivers, or navigable parts o'f them, and canals. Then lhe specialized hydrographic map will give Ihe characteristics of the majorwater level, velocity of Bow, seasonal flood period and area flooded, and hydrocbemieal classification.
Inforrrution oo Soviet soils is presented in soil maps in both the rational and the regional atlases. The Atlas SSSfl identifies suty-Gve distinct soil types. The regional atlases have still mot* detail, giving for example soil profiles with associated graphics describing composition. Such information is of value in studies of thepotential of particular areas.
TA* InteUigence End Product
Al) these kinds of information contribute to Ihe basic encyclopedic store for the maintenance of which geographic intelligence isSome of it, however, can be put to more immediate use for special purposes. Evasion and Survival studies need data on climatic and other characteristics of particular regions, their drainage pattern, the types of vegetation present, the ethnology of thefood and water supplies available, and any peculiarhazards, say the presence of wild animals. Atlases arc atonfirmatory andnique source for such informal ion.
Oilier specialized studies that may use atlas information include those seeking to locate possible ICBM sites or underground caves that might be used for nuclear testing Geographic analysis of the suspected areas would center on the nature of the bedrock there
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ij Hi" inii'lTT'i
Soviet Allot
and the overlying terrain, the type and composition of the soil, and the depth of the water table.
Sometimes clues to secrets are turned up in the process ofdataewly published atlas with previous information in the same field.own and associated road complexshown in eastern Siberia are now missing. The experienced analyst has learned that this isatter of cartographicearch for reasons why the Soviets would want lo delete It is begun. Perhaps it turns outumber of nuclear scientists have recently been moved to the area, or there mayeport that uranite has been discovered there. Routine geographic authentication hasruitful inteUigence process.
Finally, Soviet atlases serve VS. Intelligence in the very way they are intended to serve Sovietready reference works, No day goes by but someone wants to know where Marinovka is, what is the highest elevation on Sakhalin, how far It Is from Volgograd to Lugansk, how many towns in Tula Oblast have chemical plants, or what areas In the Soviet Union grow rice. He can most easily get the answer from the Soviet atlas.
B1BUOCBAPHY
X. A. Sallshchcv. Omtrcy Karloaedtniya. Moskva: Irdatoritvo CeooYiichtikoy
llot SSSft. Moskva;lia. Utra. Moskva:
BoTihoy Sovdrfiy. Moskva: Sovet Narodnykh
Altai BSSfl (Beloiussia). Moskva-Minsk:
Arras ItkulAox/ Oblaai. Moskva-lrtcutsk;
Attar Vktatfxtiavofciouitoy SSR. Motkai
Allot Str*kogp Khoiyoystoa SSSR. Moskva:
PrzJo.CtografichtAiy AtUt Mint. Moskva;
Arid) Noredov Wiro. Moskva:
Ittoritc-EtnoetaficKeskiy Allot SlbiH. pad: IidateT.tvo Akademli
ltai Vdev. Lcnlograd:
Alto* AWomoiMfiM/th Doro* SSSH. Moskva:heUtnyyt Doioei SSSR. Moskva:
Original document.
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