SATELLITE imagery is being used to locate mass graves in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Investigators funded by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) start by splitting satellite images into 270 colour bands in the visible and infrared. This allows the team to detect where the ground has been disturbed and does not appear to fit in with the surrounding area.
When we’ve found these footprints we send out a field team,” says Jon Sterenberg of the ICMP. Once there, the team tests for variations in electrical conductivity in the soil, indicating where bodies are buried.
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The methods are non-invasive and discreet. “This is still a very sensitive area,” Sterenberg says. “But we hope we can finally give some closure to the families of the dead.”
