The increasing availability of satellite data has made it a factchecking tool. Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) is information derived from openly available data such as online images and videos, vehicle tracking or remote sensing. OSINT can help verify or refute content from news outlets and social media to support truthful reporting on sensitive issues. In addition, OSINT is increasingly used in court cases related to war crimes and for a broader understanding of conflict situations. This webinar demonstrated the identification of time and location of events (geolocation and chronolocation) as an operation involving multiple sources of openly available information. The topic was presented on 20 June 2023 by our special guest Eliot Higgins, founder and creative director of Bellingcat (https://www.bellingcat.com/). For easier navigation use the following timestamps and see the relevant links.

0:00 Introduction

01:39 Open Source Investigation by Eliot Higgins
11:27 Watch the featured part (one minute and 10 seconds) of the interview by VPRO here    • Ambassadeur van Rusland in Nederland ...  
11:42 Continuation of Eliot's presentation

❓ Q&A at 20:38
20:51 Are you using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and do you have volunteers to help you?
22:08 Does Telegram still include the metadata when someone sends a picture?
22:54 What kind of verification do you do on the notices?
24:04 Where can we access the Atlos platform?
24:43 Besides social media, where do you get the raw material for analysis, e.g. satellite imagery in short notice, aerial videos, etc.?
26:08 Where can you get higher resolution images like those shown in the presentation?
27:24 Are there risks for volunteers participating in OSINT (harassment, etc.)?
30:29 Are there ethical issues with using satellite imagery?
32:08 Have you ever provided material, analysis, findings, etc. to the IIIM (International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism) for Syria (UN), which is responsible for investigating crimes against humanity, war crimes, etc. in Syria?
34:00 What places and literature would you recommend to improve your OSINT skills, geospatial or otherwise?
35:08 What conflicts in the world today do you think are underreported from an open source intelligence perspective?
36:49 What software or website do you use to get uptodate satellite imagery? Do you switch between different solutions?
37:54 How can one benefit from Bellingcat's OSINT investigative training?
39:14 How do you deal with mental health in your job?
41:08 OSINTbased reporting can sometimes backfire for journalists living in a dictatorial country. Do you have any advice on this?
43:06 Would you say that informants and sources have lost value because of OSINT work like yours?
44:44 Can you repeat how you determine when an image was taken?
46:30 To what extent have you moved to the use of AI? Particularly in plant detection and recognising potential areas? Are there particular methods that you'd recommend but aren't as well known yet?
50:41 "Disinformation efforts are becoming more sophisticated as actors learn from their 'mistakes'." Do you see this happening, and if so, how much more difficult does it make investigations? Do you need new methods/tools to stay ahead of them?
51:31 Have you used video footage (from the ground and from drones) to reconstruct the scenes into 3D models using photogrammetry, which can provide even more detail about shooting directions or destruction? These 3D models can be georeferenced and placed on a map to show the scenes before and after the destruction in even more detail.
53:03 At Bellingcat, do you also use the numerous other possibilities offered by Sentinel Hub, i.e. composites with frequency bands that the human eye cannot perceive e.g. with the aim of making heat, biomass, water surfaces or burnt land even more visible?

Conclusion at 54:16

✍ Use our Forum for additional questions! ➡ https://forum.sentinelhub.com/
Or contact Eliot on Twitter:   / eliothiggins  

Useful links
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Custom Scripts repository https://customscripts.sentinelhub.com/
Public collections repository https://collections.sentinelhub.com/
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