Investigations

What drives our clients?

Clients are interested in our services because they are driven by one or more of the following requirements:

The need to discover what Earth observation images may be available to assist with an investigation or project.
The need for robust evidence to show whether a certain activity, offence or land-use type, occurred at a certain location in a specified period of time.
Professional interpretation as to what an Earth observation image actually shows, its significance in the context of a case, and an assessment of the accuracy of the Earth observation information and the processing steps applied.
The need to demonstrate that Earth observation data can be relied upon in court and ways of increasing its probity as evidence.
Analysing weaknesses in another party’s case where Earth observation is submitted as evidence.

How we can help our clients?

We help our clients by providing advice and discussions on the best ways for them to proceed with Earth observation, for example by taking full or partial responsibility for the following (click on the links below for further details).

Applications

"Earth observation helps investigators gain insight into the spatial aspects of the situation they are dealing with, verify the reliability of some of the utterances made by material witnesses and to generally understand what is where and at what time." Eya David Macauley, Remote Sensing Expert, International Criminal Court, The Hague, The Netherlands

Here are a few examples of applications where our work has found that Earth observation data might be useful as evidence.

Insurance Fraud Investigations.
Criminal Investigations.
Regulatory Investigations.
Planning Controls.
Environmental Investigations.
Border Disputes.
Human Rights Investigations.
Commercial Investigations.
Agricultural and Subsidy Fraud Investigations.
Disaster Monitoring and Aid Auditing.

Since the establishment of the company we have provided advice to a wide variety of clients. The following list indicates some of the applications where our services have been called upon.

Monitoring of the location of a very large stolen mining vehicle in an insurance fraud case in Europe.
Identification of mobile homes and lorry storage containers on a UK property which did not have the requisite planning authorisations.
The identification of historical flood damage at a property in Europe, which was not declared during the house sale by the previous owners.
Information on a UK property to be used as intelligence to enable the planning and risk assessment for a security operation by a commercial investigation company.
The measurement of the changes to a wetland area and the possible illegal expansion of agriculture in a western European country.
The identification of access points and field entrances in properties in Europe.
Provision of information about the extent of illegal offshore fish farming in Europe.
Proof of existence of the dates of a new roof on a property in a UK planning dispute.
Identification of dredging in a major European lake.
Identification on the history of illegal hard standing at a property, for a planning authority in the UK.
Identification of buried walls and foundations in a European archaeological investigation.
Proof of existence of illegal deposits of waste on a property’s land in Europe.
Provision of information in a number of UK cases of the existence of illegal tarmacadam roads and tracks and paths across private properties (for planning authorities).
Analysis of imagery in connection with murder enquiries in Europe and North America.
Georeferencing of a rural property in South America.

Example Stories and Images

Click here for a wide array of example stories and images.

How we provide advice and data

We operate a worldwide service. We appreciate that you might be busy, subject to strict timings, or even in another hemisphere. Communications with us can be flexible and we are happy to consider telephone consultations, online interactions(email, Skype), and even good old-fashioned face-to-face meetings.

All Earth observation data can be supplied in both CD and photographic format and in cases where digital data is needed urgently this can be accessed from an online drop-box. Other written reports can be sent via email and post.