Satellite Imaging and Human Rights

It's been forty years since the first images of Earth from space were captured, but the sight of our planet is still inspiring.

Now, Amnesty International is harnessing the power of these images and putting them to work for human rights.

Thanks to high resolution satellite imagery, human rights advocates can now document abuses anywhere in the world - even in countries that are sealed off from on-the-ground researchers. All from 280 miles above the Earth's surface.

Amnesty International's unprecedented Eyes On Darfur project leverages the power of high-resolution satellite imagery to provide evidence of the atrocities being committed in Darfur - enabling action by private citizens, policy makers and international courts. Eyes On Darfur also breaks new ground in protecting human rights by allowing people around the world to "watch over" and protect twelve highly vulnerable, villages using commercially available satellite imagery.

NCDC Imaging is working with Overwatch Geospatial and AAAS to accelerate the production of the satellite evidence. As internationally-reknown experts in the application of geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA), NCDC Imaging is streamlining the way that buildings are extracted from the commercially available satellite imagery, saving hundreds of hours in searching the wide landscapes for scattered buildings.