15 minutes (orientation)

Observational Grammar OG-001 Observational Grammar (OG) is the idea that sensors — satellites, radar, spectrometers, thermal cameras — can form a language of evidence about reality that operates independently of human bias, market incentives, or bureaucratic approval chains. Just as grammar gives structure to language, OG gives structure to what instruments can claim about the physical world. It is M33's foundational concept: build systems that let reality set the table, then let markets and decisions work within those constraints, rather than the other way around. Latency: From Orbit to Application COM-001 Latency in satellite systems is the total time between a sensor observing something on Earth and that observation becoming usable information. It is not one delay — it is a chain of them. Propagation through space, queuing at ground stations, decryption, format conversion, atmospheric correction, reprojection, tiling, indexing, and delivery. Some links are governed by physics and cannot be shortened. Others are engineering choices. Understanding where latency lives determines what questions you can answer with the data. A flood map delivered in 15 minutes can direct evacuations. The same map delivered in 48 hours is a historical record. Data Provenance SEC-001 Data provenance is the complete, verifiable record of where a piece of data came from, every transformation it underwent, and who or what performed those transformations. In satellite imagery and remote sensing, provenance is not a nice-to-have audit trail — it is the difference between evidence and hearsay.