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Photo of the Week -- The Tethered Aerostat Radar System Keeps Eyes on the Border

Eight blimps, like this one in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, house video and radar equipment aimed at catching illegal border crossers, human smugglers and human traffickers.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security runs the Tethered Aerostat Radar System as a part of its border surveillance program. While funding was threatened for a time, the bill last October that reopened the federal government following the historic shutdown included an appropriation to fund the program through 2014. Eight blimps, like this one in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, house video and radar equipment aimed at catching illegal border crossers, human smugglers and human traffickers.

Noelle Knell is the executive editor for e.Republic, responsible for setting the overall direction for e.Republic’s editorial platforms, including Government Technology, Governing, Industry Insider, Emergency Management and the Center for Digital Education. She has been with e.Republic since 2011, and has decades of writing, editing and leadership experience. A California native, Noelle has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history.