Reconnaissance Activities Research Articles

RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE USE OF STATE BORDER GUARD SERVICE ASSETS IN COOPERATION WITH THE SECURITY AND DEFENCE FORCES OF UKRAINE

The article analyses the border guard scholars’ views on the algorithmisation and procedure for the use of State Border Guard Service of Ukraine’s assets, as well as the organisation of interaction with the security and defence forces to counteract enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups on the state border. The article reviews the scientific works on possible options for the use of state border guard units of the state border guard bodies while performing tasks related to state border protection and defence. It is established that the protection of the state border of Ukraine under current conditions is carried out under the legal regime of martial law. The war is ongoing in the East of Ukraine, and the rest of the country has seen a deterioration in the crime situation, and therefore the border guard detachment headquarters must be constantly prepared to work in such circumstances and, particularly, be ready to counteract the enemy’s sabotage and reconnaissance activities. Based on the above, we have identified a number of recommendations for the border guard detachment’s headquarters to organise special measures to search for and eliminate enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups and to involve the defence forces in these actions. Taking into account the latest risks and threats arising on the state border of Ukraine, as well as the approval of the “Military Security Strategy of Ukrain” perspective directions for further work improvement on ensuring reliable protection and defence of the state border of Ukraine and countering enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups on the state border are outlined, which can be reflected in the development of a wide range of algorithms for the actions of the head of the state border guard body, for localising situations of various genesis, as well as organizing interaction with units from the security and defence forces of Ukraine.

Application of UAV Technology for Vegetation Community Identification in Coastal BRIS Wetland

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) based methods for reconnaissance activities aim to update wetlands’ health status and are safer and cost-effective considering that wetlands normally have saturated soils, dense vegetation and wildlife. Vegetation survey work in wetland areas needs many staff to ensure the safety of researchers and equipment. This paper describes the application of UAV technology to identify and demarcate vegetation communities in a dense BRIS (beach ridges interspersed with swales) coastal wetland. The methodology employed in this research has two steps. The first step involves the utilisation of UAV imagery and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology. The second step entails ground truthing, which involves validating tree species using 15 quadrants. The utilisation of UAVs in conjunction with ArcGIS 10.3 demonstrated that the unique characteristics of tree canopy morphology and tree heights could be assessed and analysed. The UAV-GIS results are compared to ground truthing results to validate tree communities’ demarcation. The findings indicate that integrating two datasets, particularly tree canopy morphology and tree height, produced an acceptably accurate vegetation community demarcation. The tree canopy form of Hibiscus tiliaceus (Bebaru) was differentiated from the canopies of Acacia mangium and Nypa fruticans by analysing the image. The tree height analysis involved using ArcGIS 10.3 software to generate the digital surface model (DSM) and digital terrain model (DTM). Validation results indicate an 87% accuracy in the demarcation work. Hence, identification and demarcation of the vegetation communities could be achieved by utilising both tree canopy morphology and tree height data obtained from UAV.

일본의 동해안 정탐 활동과 원산 개항

Located in Hamgyeong Province on the East Sea coast, Wonsan was the second port to be opened next Busan after Joseon signed ‘The Joseon-Japan treaty of Amity’ in 1876. This area was where the warship Unyo(雲揚艦) conducted reconnaissance activities and contacted local people while moving up along the East Coast at the time of its first visit in June 1875. The voyage log of the warship Unyo clearly reveals the investigation of the environment around Broughton Bay(永興灣), the contempt that they had for the local people, and the contact with the local people. Miyamoto Okazu(宮本小一) also concluded that Wonsanjin should be used as an open port based on his experience in Joseon and the story of an officer aboard the warship Ryuzou(龍 驤艦). Hanabusa Yoshimoto who had been dispatched to Joseon as charge d’affaires since 1877, traveled to and from the coast of Joseon on a warship and negotiated with Joseon officials in areas requiring coal supply stations and open ports. Measuring the coast of Hamgyeong province was carried out in detail through the warship Amagi dispatched to Joseon in 1878. At that time, the perceptions and responses that Joseon local residents and officials had about the activities of the Japanese people can be confirmed through data related to warship Amagi. The opening of Wonsan and the establishment of basic infrastructure were based on the continuous reconnaissance activities of warships sent by the Japanese navy and the collection of information by Japanese army officers. While inspecting the Wonsan area, Japanese merchants first decided on the space in which they would move and the operation policy of the residence. In this article, we looked at the process of opening the port of Wonsan by reviewing various aspects of the Japanese warship’s survey and inspection of the northern coast of Joseon, the response of local residents, and the local inspections and response of Japanese merchants in Busan.

Military Security in the Baltic Sea during Cold War: Analysis Based on the Materials of the Naval Reconnaissance Unit of the Polish People’s Republic

The purpose of the article was to present, in the proverbial nutshell, the issues related to the military situation in the 1950s and 1960s during the so-called Cold War in the Baltic Sea, based on the materials of the Naval Reconnaissance Unit of the Polish People’s Republic. These materials were very important for analytical teams preparing concepts for operations in the Northern European Theater of Operations, as well as ensuring the security of the maritime borders of the Warsaw Pact countries.
 The 1950s and 1960s were characterized by a wide range of reconnaissance activities as a consequence of the changing reality in the Baltic Sea. The naval potential of both NATO countries, especially Denmark and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), was expanded, thus the other side began to create the People’s Navy of the German Democratic Republic (GDR), as well as to strengthen the combat potential of the naval forces of the People’s Republic of Poland. At the same time, the cooperation of allied fleets of the Warsaw Pact countries was improved, and for this purpose, staff exercises were conducted on maps and in the Baltic Sea.
 In retrospect, both NATO and the Warsaw Pact appreciated the military importance of the Danish Straits and the Baltic Sea. In the following years, efforts were made to improve the concepts of naval forces in these waters.

Disaster reconnaissance framework for sustainable post-disaster materials management

A first foundational assessment is provided for disaster debris reconnaissance that includes identifying tools and techniques for reconnaissance activities, identifying challenges in field reconnaissance, and identifying and developing preliminary guidelines and standards based on advancements from a workshop held in 2022. In this workshop, reconnaissance activities were analyzed in twofold: in relation to post-disaster debris and waste materials and in relation to waste management infrastructure. A four-phase timeline was included to capture the full lifecycle of management activities ranging from collection to temporary storage to final management route: pre-disaster or pre-reconnaissance, post-disaster response (days/weeks), short-term recovery (weeks/months), and long-term recovery (months/years). For successful reconnaissance, objectives of field activities and data collection needs; data types and metrics; and measurement and determination methods need to be identified. A reconnaissance framework, represented using a 3x2x2x4 matrix, is proposed to incorporate data attributes (tools, challenges, guides), reconnaissance attributes (debris, infrastructure; factors, actions), and time attributes (pre-event, response, short-term, long-term). This framework supports field reconnaissance missions and protocols that are longitudinally based and focused on post-disaster waste material and infrastructure metrics that advance sustainable materials management practices. To properly frame and develop effective reconnaissance activities, actions for all data attributes (tools, challenges, guides) are proposed to integrate sustainability and resilience considerations. While existing metrics, tools, methods, standards, and protocols can be adapted for sustainable post-disaster materials management reconnaissance, development of new approaches are needed for addressing unique aspects of disaster debris management.

Reforma prawna w zakresie czynności operacyjno-rozpoznawczych oraz służby funkcjonariuszy

The article addresses the issue of the statutory regulation of operational and reconnaissance activities carried out by the Polish special services and the police, as well as the unification of the general service pragmatics of officers.

Formal and Legal Requirements for Rescue Entities for the Identification of Chemical Hazards in Poland

Aim: The article presents issues related to selected aspects of chemical and environmental rescue, their location in the legal norms in relation to the performed tasks and taking into account the needs of the society. In this respect, the legal acts relating to the operation of the system of identifying chemical and environmental rescue hazard, its transformation, and its impact on the safety and execution of tasks by the rescue entities were reviewed. Moreover the meaning of records relating to the identification of chemical hazards was analysed and clarified. The topics were based on new legal regulations on the detailed organization of the national rescue and firefighting system and guidelines covering the organization of chemical and ecological rescue in Poland. The reviewed area in this analysis relates to the identification of hazardous materials, the designation of danger zones, the ability of emergency responders to identify hazards in formal and legal conditions, and their identification by the functioning cooperating entities. The dependencies that exist in the identification system and the future directions of its development are indicated. Introduction: In today’s world, the expectations of the society for emergency services focus on the quick and efficient execution of an organized rescue operation. In chemical rescue, the primary factor affecting the course and success of the operation is the identification of the chemical threat. Conducting reconnaissance activities under conditions of changing threats requires skills and the fulfilment of a number of conditions that will affect the functioning of the rescue entities in the reconnaissance system. Experience from ongoing rescue operations shows that reconnaissance tasks are carried out to varying degrees. On the one hand, they depend on regulations, and on the other, on the capabilities of emergency responders and the difficulties arising from the resulting disasters and chemical accidents. Therefore, it is reasonable to review selected legal elements relating to the identification of hazardous materials – in particular, those that condition the efficient and effective operation of the rescue entities in terms of the existing risks. Methodology: The article was developed using analyses of legal acts and literature on improving the system of threat identification. Consideration was given to the existing threats, the current international situation, the possibility of uncontrolled action and the release of hazardous substances with chemical, biological or radiological properties, especially in the border area. In analysing the conducted research, publications on rescue law, legal norms of the national rescue and firefighting system, emergency management, guidelines from chemical and ecological rescue, articles from the area of reconnaissance and conference materials were used. Conclusions: The emergence of new regulations in the Principles of Chemical and Environmental Rescue has led to the need for a unified course of action in the area of identifying the chemical agent. Ongoing monitoring of the area for the presence of a hazardous substance – due to the frequently changing weather conditions at the scene – should be a permanent part of the competence tasks of the rescue units. In addition, continuous and effective analysis of the samples taken at the site of the hazardous substance would allow detection and identification of the hazard relatively early – so that further appropriate action could then be taken. Such a solution would allow the emergency manager to conduct a chemical rescue operation continuously and make accurate decisions at every stage of the operation, despite a possible sudden change in the weather conditions. The inclusion in the regulations of all possible elements of identification in terms of the existing hazards will affect the effectiveness of the rescue entities in the elimination of chemical, biological, radiological hazards. Keywords: hazardous substance, danger zone, chemical and environmental rescue, chemical reconnaissance

Research on Detection and Recognition Technology of a Visible and Infrared Dim and Small Target Based on Deep Learning

With the increasing trend towards informatization and intelligence in modern warfare, high-intensity and continuous reconnaissance activities are becoming increasingly common in battlefield environments via airborne, vehicle, UAV, satellite and other platforms. Visible and infrared images are preferred due to their high resolution, strong contrast, rich texture details and color features, and strong information expression ability. However, the quality of imaging is easily affected by environmental factors, making it crucial to quickly and accurately filter useful information from massive image data. To this end, super-resolution image preprocessing can improve the detection performance of UAV, and reduce false detection and missed detection of targets. Additionally, super-resolution reconstruction results in high-quality images that can be used to expand UAV datasets and enhance the UAV characteristics, thereby enabling the enhancement of small targets. In response to the challenge of “low-slow small” UAV targets at long distances, we propose a multi-scale fusion super-resolution reconstruction (MFSRCNN) algorithm based on the fast super-resolution reconstruction (FSRCNN) algorithm and multi-scale fusion. Our experiments confirm the feasibility of the algorithm in reconstructing detailed information of the UAV target. On average, the MFSRCNN reconstruction time is 0.028 s, with the average confidence before and after reconstruction being 80.73% and 86.59%, respectively, resulting in an average increase of 6.72%.

Smart Suspect Tracker Using Deep Learning Model

Each human progress requires a problem free environment since it influences all components of monetary and social turn of events. Quite possibly the main work in keeping a serene local area is finding lawbreakers. In India, finger impression ID is the most part used to distinguish lawbreakers In most of the cases, The fact is that most Suspects these days are becoming more skilled at trying not to leave their thumbprint on the scene, this type of recognizable proof is restricted. CCTV cameras, have been placed in number of public spots and confidential spots to give reconnaissance activities. CCTV can be used to distinguish the denounced rapidly. we give a Profound Learning model to find the criminal location. It's a two-step process: In camera photos, countenances of individuals are first distinguished and afterward perceived. This method might be utilized in an assortment of surveillance cameras in different areas to persistently screen and look for hoodlums inconspicuous. The police headquarters will be cautioned of a suspect's where abouts after the person in question has been distinguished. The police headquarters will be cautioned of a suspect's when he/she has been found.

УДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ СПОСОБІВ ВЕДЕННЯ ІНЖЕНЕРНОЇ РОЗВІДКИ В ІНТЕРЕСАХ ІНЖЕНЕРНОЇ ПІДТРИМКИ БОЙОВИХ ДІЙ ВІЙСЬК (СИЛ)

The experience of the Russian-Ukrainian war shows that with the rather large spatial and temporal indicators of combat operations, the volume of one of the main measures of engineering support - engineering reconnaissance - increases, which in turn leads to an excess of the required time and the need to attract a significant amount of resources for its implementation. To resolve this discrepancy, it is necessary to envisage not only the strengthening of forces and means and their rational distribution, but also the choice of the most effective ways to accomplish the tasks. Neglect of engineering support tasks (measures) always leads to unjustified losses in personnel, weapons and military equipment. The purpose of the study is to find new, more advanced ways of conducting engineering reconnaissance, to reveal the role, risks, advantages and disadvantages, and to analyze the possibility of their integration into the practice of engineering troops. The main task was to determine the effectiveness of methods of performing engineering intelligence tasks, the composition of equipment of engineering intelligence bodies, taking into account the capabilities of modern technical means. The tasks of engineering reconnaissance in the main types of combat (operations) and at different levels, which involve units of engineering troops, are analyzed. It is established that the proposed methods of conducting engineering reconnaissance will lead to a sharp change in the conditions of its conduct and reduce the time for the implementation of reconnaissance activities by engineering units at individual sites. The role, place and influence of unmanned aerial vehicles of various types used by the defense forces in the course of combat missions are studied and it is established that the most effective methods, both in the course of defensive and offensive combat (operation), are combined air-ground. The implementation of the proposed methods of engineering intelligence contributes to the improvement of such key indicators as efficiency and reliability. command and control bodies and troops (forces) compared to traditional approaches. The main direction of further research should be directed to the development of various methods of conducting engineering reconnaissance, taking into account trends in the direction of robotization of processes to improve the capabilities of mine action.

Time-Based Moving Target Defense Using Bayesian Attack Graph Analysis

The moving target defense (MTD) is a proactive cybersecurity defense technique that constantly changes potentially vulnerable points to be attacked, to confuse the attackers, making it difficult for attackers to infer the system configuration and nullify reconnaissance activities to a victim system. We consider an MTD strategy for software-defined networking (SDN) environment where every SDN switch is controlled by a central SDN controller. As the MTD may incur excessive usage of the network/system resources for cybersecurity purposes, we propose to perform the MTD operations adaptively according to the security risk assessment based on a Bayesian attack graph (BAG) analysis. For accurate BAG analysis, we model random and weakest-first attack behaviors and incorporate the derived analytical models into the BAG analysis. Using the BAG analysis result, we formulate a knapsack problem to determine the optimal set of vulnerabilities to be reconfigured under a constraint of SDN reconfiguration overhead. The experiment results prove that the proposed MTD strategy outperforms the full MTD and random MTD counterparts in terms of the maximum/average of attack success probabilities and the number of SDN reconfiguration updates.

ОСОБЛИВОСТІ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ ТА ВЕДЕННЯ ОСОБОВОЇ РОЗВІДКИ ОРГАНАМИ РОЗВІДКИ ФОРМУВАНЬ НАЦІОНАЛЬНОЇ ГВАРДІЇ УКРАЇНИ ПІД ЧАС УЧАСТІ У ВІДСІЧІ ЗБРОЙНОЇ АГРЕСІЇ

The article examines the peculiarities of organization and conduct of personal intelligence by the defense forces of Ukraine based on the analysis of experience in performing reconnaissance tasks during the repulsion of full-scale armed aggression by the russian federation. It clarifies the list of main tasks of personal intelligence in modern conditions and discusses the problematic issues related to the collection of intelligence information from the local population. It describes general approaches to obtaining information through the analysis of social media and monitoring services used for this purpose. Furthermore, it outlines the ways to further develop the capabilities of personal intelligence within the National Guard of Ukraine. Personal intelligence, in this article, refers to a complex of measures and actions carried out by designated units using methods of acquiring information from human resources (sources) in order to provide intelligence information to military command (staff) for the purpose of preparing and conducting combat (special) operations by military units (subunits) of the defense forces of Ukraine. It provides detailed information that helps confirm or refute intelligence information, enables obtaining answers to specific questions, and increases the reliability of information used by defense management authorities for decision-making. Conducting personal intelligence through obtaining information from the local population is one of the effective methods of collecting intelligence information in dynamic combat situations. This approach involves interacting with individuals residing in territories occupied by the enemy or having access to valuable information concerning enemy actions, population attitudes, significant events, and other intelligence-relevant aspects. In addition to obtaining information from the local population, gathering intelligence from open sources is a particular tool that helps collect valuable data for the effective execution of reconnaissance tasks by intelligence units within the National Guard of Ukraine formations. The acquisition of intelligence information from the local population and open sources is an integral component of reconnaissance activities. These processes assist reconnaissance units in having a comprehensive understanding of the situation, ensuring the timeliness and accuracy of intelligence information, thereby contributing to the successful accomplishment of tasks and ensuring national security by the National Guard of Ukraine formations. The experience of organizing and conducting personal intelligence activities to provide reconnaissance support for operations of the defense forces in countering the aggression of the russian federation allows drawing conclusions that intelligence from open sources, including the actions of the population regarding documenting and disseminating information about enemy activities, significantly contributes to enhancing the capabilities of reconnaissance support for defense operations in repelling armed aggression.

Survey and Taxonomy of Adversarial Reconnaissance Techniques

Adversaries are often able to penetrate networks and compromise systems by exploiting vulnerabilities in people and systems. The key to the success of these attacks is information that adversaries collect throughout the phases of the cyber kill chain. We summarize and analyze the methods, tactics, and tools that adversaries use to conduct reconnaissance activities throughout the attack process. First, we discuss what types of information adversaries seek and how and when they can obtain this information. Then, we provide a taxonomy and detailed overview of adversarial reconnaissance techniques. The taxonomy introduces a categorization of reconnaissance techniques based on the source as third-party and human-, and system-based information gathering. This article provides a comprehensive view of adversarial reconnaissance that can help in understanding and modeling this complex but vital aspect of cyber attacks as well as insights that can improve defensive strategies, such as cyber deception.

A space stealth and cosmic radiation shielding composite: Polydopamine-coating and multi-walled carbon nanotube grafting onto an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene/hydrogen-rich benzoxazine composite

The application of stealth design to satellites provides an advantage in reconnaissance activities by evading ground observation and increasing survivability by preventing attacks from anti-satellite weapons. A shield that absorbs microwave irradiation was developed for incorporation into an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/hydrogen-rich benzoxazine composite for cosmic radiation shielding and to prevent electronic malfunction. Through the application of a polydopamine coating to UHMWPE followed by the grafting of carbon nanotubes, microwave absorption was achieved and the mechanical properties were improved. Moreover, radiation dose analysis confirmed that the proposed material exhibited a higher radiation shielding performance than conventional radar absorbing structures.

Coordinated Charging and Discharging of Electric Vehicles: A New Class of Switching Attacks

In this work, we investigate that the abundance of Electric Vehicles (EVs) can be exploited to target the stability of the power grid. Through a cyber attack that compromises a lot of available EVs and their charging infrastructure, we present a realistic coordinated switching attack that initiates inter-area oscillations between different areas of the power grid. The threat model as well as linearized state-space representation of the grid are formulated to illustrate possible consequences of the attack. Two variations of switching attack are considered, namely, switching of EV charging and discharging power into the grid. Moreover, two possible attack strategies are also considered (i) using an insider to reveal the accurate system parameters and (ii) using reconnaissance activities in the absence of the grid parameters. In the former strategy, the system equations are used to compute the required knowledge to launch the attack. However, a stealthy system identification technique, which is tailored based on Eigenvalue Realization Algorithm (ERA), is proposed in latter strategy to calculate the required data for attack execution. The two-area Kundur, 39-Bus New England, and the Australian 5-area power grids are used to demonstrate the attack strategies and their consequences. The collected results demonstrate that by manipulation of EV charging stations and launching a coordinated switching attack to those portions of load, inter-area oscillations can be initiated. Finally, to protect the grid from this anticipated attack, a Support Vector Machine (SVM) based framework is proposed to detect and eliminate this attack even before being executed.

Space and Counter-Space Activities of Great Powers in Outer Space

The article is dedicated to outer space as a space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, open for exploration and use by all. Celestial bodies are natural resources of the common heritage of humanity. Their exploration and use for the benefit and discovery of all countries is the result of the ownership of all mankind. However, since the end of the 20th century and especially in the 21st century, outer space has gradually become militarized. This is due to changes in the system of warfare, which is likely to be heavily transformed in the coming future. In this transformational system, all domains of warfare will be interlinked and outer space will play a significant role. One example of such processes is the Gulf War, also called the First Space War, in which the US Army successfully used the outer space systems for its Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) activities. Since then, outer space has become an integral part of US military operations. Consequently, other great powers like Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China are also trying to develop the same capability to counter US dominance in outer space. Simultaneously, the US is continuing its counter-space capabilities to maintain the dominance in outer space. The growing dependence on outer space is not only applicable to the military operation but also to commercial and civilian activities. As a result, great powers are more actively engaging in various space and counter-space activities to pursue their national interests; such activity turns outer space into an arena for inter-state rivalry.

CUPID: A labeled dataset with Pentesting for evaluation of network intrusion detection

Reproducibility of network intrusion detection research necessitates widely available datasets that represent real-world scenarios. One of the key omissions of existing datasets used in empirical evaluations of network intrusions is the lack of human-generated traffic with accurate labels to distinguish benign and malicious behavior. Using an emulated network environment with a vulnerable web application, we collected baseline traffic, human-generated normal user traffic, automated attacks, and the attacks of ten human penetration testers of varying abilities. We preprocessed this collected data to produce a new dataset named the Colorado University Pentesting Intrusion Dataset (CUPID). The attacks span from reconnaissance activities to delivery of an exploit payload. To our knowledge, this is the first collection that provides labeled, Institutional Review Board-approved, benign and attacker data that is publicly available. The CUPID dataset can be used to train and test the limits of classification-based machine learning algorithms used for network intrusion detection systems.

MITRE ATT&CK Based Evaluation on In-Network Deception Technology for Modernized Electrical Substation Systems

In recent years, cyber attacks against critical infrastructure have been increasing and are becoming stealthy and persistent. Attackers or malware may be hiding in the system after penetration to collect system information. They would further make lateral and vertical movement to seek target devices under the radar of existing cybersecurity measures. In order to counter such emerging attack vectors, in-network deception technology is attracting attention. In-network deception technology utilizes an apparently real but dummy (often virtual) devices deployed throughout the infrastructure to capture the attackers’ reconnaissance activities. In this paper, we pick one concrete design and implementation of in-network deception technology for IEC 61850 standard compliant smart substation systems in smart grid, named DecIED, and discuss its effectiveness in countering high-profile attacks that were recently witnessed in the real world. The evaluation is conducted based on the MITRE ATT&CK Matrix for industrial control systems, which tabulates phases and tactics of cyberattack against industrial control systems.

АМЕРИКАНО-КИТАЙСКИЕ ПРОТИВОРЕЧИЯ ВОКРУГ ТАЙВАНЬСКОГО ПРОЛИВА (Часть 2. Правовые трактовки и противоречия)

China, while insisting that the definition of "international waters" does not apply to the entire Taiwan Strait, especially emphasizes which maritime zones of sovereignty and jurisdiction predominantly comprise its water area - the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone. The article examines in detail the restrictions that exist both at the level of national legislation of the PRC and on the part of other states concerning the exercise of the right of innocent passage of foreign warships through the territorial sea. In addition, it shows how the implementation of various types of naval activities, including reconnaissance activities, within the exclusive economic zone of a coastal state has become the stumbling block that has divided certain countries into two opposing camps. The PRC and the United States, in this case, are the main antagonists on this issue. It is concluded that the existence of these contradictions, which could not be agreed even with international mediation, significantly increases the level of conflict both in the South China Sea in general and in the waters of the Taiwan Strait in particular.

Reconnaissance of 2020M 7.0 Samos Island (Aegean Sea) earthquake.

The Samos Island (Aegean Sea) Earthquake occurred on 30 October 2020. It produced a tsunami that impacted coastal communities, ground shaking that was locally amplified in some areas and that led to collapse of structures with 118 fatalities in both Greece and Turkey, and wide-ranging geotechnical effects including rockfalls, landsliding, and liquefaction. As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the reconnaissance of this event did not involve the deployment of international teams, as would be typical for an event of this size. Instead, following initial deployments of separate Greek and Turkish teams, the reconnaissance and documentation efforts were managed in a coordinated manner with the assistance of international partners. This coordination ultimately produced a multi-agency joint report published on the 2-month anniversary of the earthquake, and this special issue. This paper provides an overview of the reconnaissance activities undertaken to document the effects of this important event and summarizes key lessons spanning topic areas from seismology to emergency response.