Visualizing the destruction in Ukraine: A years-long project following satellite clues
JUNE 22, 2024
Marco Hernandez
Infographics-dataviz
In June 2022, with a very basic understanding of the SAR technology, I started to use Sentinel-1 data to report on the progression of damage in Ukraine. Shortly after, Tim Wallace, our Editor for Geography connected me with Oregon State University, Jamon Van Den Hoek and City University of New York, Corey Scher, two leading researchers in the field of InSar sensing. They have been using this technology for a long time and were also exploring its use in Ukraine shortly after the beginning of the war. They have also help us to analyze the development of destruction in Gaza more recently.
Corey and Jamon help us to process terabytes of data to flag areas where structural changes happened. The first rounds were a challenge, the data is so sensitive that it was influenced by things like vegetation, soil conditions and snow. Things like mining activity, construction areas and train stations represented a challenge too.
A mine in Poltava. Red marks flag changes happening in the surface. BASE IMG BY PLANET LABS.
A port area in Odesa, red flags showed up probably due to vegetation and the moving shipping containers. IMG BY PLANET LABS.
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https://mhinfographics.com/2024/06/22/visualizing-the-destruction-in-ukraine-a-years-long-project-following-satellite-clues/