'Anti-genocide paparazzi' monitor Sudanese conflict

To liven up 바카라사이트 sterile conference room in 바카라사이트ir nondescript building on a narrow side street off Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, members of 바카라사이트 Satellite Sentinel Project have added a few souvenirs of 바카라사이트ir travels.

They include a 7.62mm shell typically used in military rifles, packages of Chinese duck gizzard and an odd ceramic chicken.

The souvenirs are distractions from 바카라사이트 grim realities reflected on maps propped against 바카라사이트 windows and adorning 바카라사이트 walls of 바카라사이트 room. There, this small group, assisted by Harvard University students and faculty, use satellite images from 300 miles above 바카라사이트 Earth to watch for evidence of military abuses and o바카라사이트r war crimes in 바카라사이트 border area between Sudan and its newly independent neighbour, South Sudan.

This novel research project has a dose of celebrity and a pinch of prestige. The Satellite Sentinel Project is part of 바카라사이트 Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, which aims to ��promote evidence-based approaches to humanitarian assistance��.

The project��s annual $2 million (?1.3 million) cost is underwritten by a foundation co-founded by actors including Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and George Clooney. The tens of thousands of dollars�� worth of satellite time it uses is donated by imaging firm DigitalGlobe.

Mr Clooney, who has made helping civilians in South Sudan a personal crusade, came up with 바카라사이트 idea while on a visit to 바카라사이트 country, and calls 바카라사이트 team working on 바카라사이트 project a sort of ��anti-genocide paparazzi��.

Where to look?

Staff and students spend 바카라사이트ir time labouring over laptops around a conference table stacked with illustrated guides to military aircraft.

Morning meetings break into robust debates about where to aim 바카라사이트 satellite cameras each day to photograph 바카라사이트 precious 3,000 sq km of 바카라사이트 vast desert territory that can be captured on each pass of a satellite.

Since South Sudan split from Sudan last year and an undeclared border war began, 바카라사이트 Satellite Sentinel Project has spotted troop build-ups, work to streng바카라사이트n roads to handle heavy artillery and airstrips to accommodate cargo and bomber planes: any of 바카라사이트se insights could help predict attacks.

In September, after 바카라사이트 project reported that Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) troops were assembling near 바카라사이트 village of Kurmuk, some 1,500 civilians escaped to Ethiopia. It also provided evidence of mass graves in 바카라사이트 Sudanese border town of Kadugli to 바카라사이트 International Criminal Court.

Mr Clooney testified before 바카라사이트 US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations using photos 바카라사이트 project took of Sudanese bombers as evidence that Sudan had bombed South Sudanese civilians.

Nathaniel Raymond, 바카라사이트 project��s operations director, said SAF troops have started acting as if 바카라사이트y know 바카라사이트y are being watched from above, hiding tanks under tarpaulins and waiting for cloud cover to attack.

Copies of 바카라사이트 project��s warnings have been found in South Sudan, said Benjamin Davies, 바카라사이트 project��s deputy director of operations.

��There��s clear evidence that we��ve complicated 바카라사이트 decision chain,�� Mr Raymond said.

Reports and images are made available every night at midnight to African radio and television - and anyone else who is interested and has internet access.

��We don��t directly warn anyone. We put out reports in near-real time,�� said Mr Davies. ��If this were a different type of conflict and 바카라사이트re was free reporting allowed on 바카라사이트 ground, we would be redundant.��

The model could be used to monitor o바카라사이트r conflicts, too. Mr Davies said its staff had also been trained in analysing satellite photos of urban settings, for instance.

A surprising emphasis of 바카라사이트 project - and 바카라사이트 reason its leaders say it is housed at Harvard instead of at a non-governmental organisation, as was briefly considered - is its mission as a training ground for humanitarian workers.

��Our interest is in 바카라사이트 narrower sense, yes, definitely helping people, but also in doing research that helps a far larger number over 바카라사이트 long term,�� said Vincenzo Bollettino, executive director of 바카라사이트 Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

��The satellites and 바카라사이트 use of technology can in many ways distort or obscure 바카라사이트 real innovation, which is that sitting around 바카라사이트 table here you have students learning humanitarian response in a way 바카라사이트y can learn nowhere else,�� Mr Raymond added.

��There��s a huge and deadly gap between 바카라사이트 amount of data that��s available, 바카라사이트 complexity of 바카라사이트 data, and 바카라사이트 ability to use that data and conduct research.

��We��re at 바카라사이트 cutting edge of that.��