Syrian Damage Detection Tool

For my Master's thesis, I developed an online tool using Google Earth Engine to detect airstrike damage in Syria to support open source investigations of civilian casualities.

Project Abstract
Investigations using social media and open data provide insight into the events of the Syrian Civil War. This project aims to better understand and support these investigations. First, a study was conducted to evaluate the methodologies used by five organizations conducting open source investigations into the Syria conflict. The study identified major methodological shortcomings relating to an overreliance on inconsistent physical data and subjective social media data to substantiate findings. To address these shortcomings, the second part of the project develops an online Google Earth Engine tool that uses publicly available Sentinel-1 imagery to detect damage. The tool successfully detects large building damage and provides useful functionality for open source investigators.

Below is a video showing a walk through of using the online tool to geolocate an airstrike that targeted a market in Al Atarib in Aleppo, Syria.