Vertical52

When the "Open Planet" becomes a closed circle: A somber shift for space transparency. Planet, a provider of high-resolution satellite imagery, has today announced that it will release satellite imagery over the Middle East only after a 14-day delay, for fear it might be "tactically leveraged by adversarial actors..." This effectively makes near-real-time fact-checking of conflict events with satellite data impossible. Years ago, the promise of new space actors was built on a bold, democratic premise. As Planet stated in their early manifesto, the goal was simple: "To use space to help life on Earth," by creating a platform that offered an unprecedented level of openness. That mission just hit a wall. At Vertical52, this development is bittersweet. It is a reminder that the world is becoming more closed, more suspicious, and more divided. But it also sharpens our focus as investigators. If the primary supply of data is being restricted, we keep our eyes on the next generation of independent, non-partisan constellations: 👉 Thermal Intelligence: Companies like constellr and SatVu are providing groundbreaking thermal and emissions data that reveal significant insights into conflict zones - hopefully with fewer political constraints. 👉 Institutional Integrity: The Copernicus programme of the European Space Agency - ESA continues to serve as an indispensable, neutral anchor for global monitoring, albeit at much lower spatial resolution. 👉 Humanitarian Satellite: Common Space, led by Bill Greer and Rhiannan Price, are working on a satellite constellation for the humanitarian community - perhaps that is the right model for fact-checkers and journalism! What do you think? Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) Yevheniia Drozdova Sandrine Ramboux, CFA Thomas Stölzel

"Harmony" is a secret project of the Russian Ministry of Defence. Since 2014, #Russia has been connecting the ports of its #nuclear-armed #submarine fleet and other military bases in the far north with a network of state-of-the-art hydroacoustic underwater detection systems. Research by Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, WDR and international partners such as The Washington Post, Le Monde, Dutch investigative media outlet Pointer & the Consortium of Investigative Journalists International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) under the project name #RussianSecrets now reveals for the first time where Russia has apparently installed the technology. Vertical52 was also involved in this months-long #investigation. We have been tracking the research vessel #Aurelia, the cable ship #NorthernWave and six other specialised vessels since 2013, evaluating over 100 locations and tracking them down in the #BarentsSea. ____________ #Collaboration Manuel Bewarder, Katharina Bews, Petra Blum, Florian Flade, Ben H., Antonius Kempmann, Sven Lohmann, Merlin Menze, Mauritius Much, Alice Pesavento, Joerg Schmitt, Lea Struckmeier, Michael Anthony, #ResearchTeam  Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Norddeutscher Rundfunk, WDR and international partners such as The Washington Post, Le Monde, Dutch investigative media outlet Pointer & the Consortium of Investigative Journalists International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), Kyodo News (Japan), L'Espresso (Italy), Norsk rikskringkasting (NRK) (Norway), SVT (Sweden), The Times (UK)

🏊♀️Pools of privilege 💦 How many private pools did people put up in Berlin – and who has this privilege❓ In times of the climate crisis, it becomes vital to cool down in the midths of heat waves. A jump into the cool water is a welcome remidient. Yet, especially in the dense central neighbourhoods of cities there are only limited public bathing options. Today, a project we collaborated on for more than a year, is finally being published at our partner Verlag Der Tagesspiegel. It’s the results of a new methodology of combining machine learning, aerial photography and geo-analysis. It’s been quite a journey! It started out as a student project at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam in a seminar called MAPPING CITIES – MAKING CITIES, led by our very own Hendrik Lehmann and Professor Marian Dörk. The Urban Journalism Network was a partner of the seminar. 🔎 A great idea was developed by a group of students: analyzing aerial images to find out which areas of the city are overloaded with private swimming pools and where people have no access to public baths. Together with the satellite journalists at Vertical52, Marple, Verlag Der Tagesspiegel, Norddeutscher Rundfunk and the scientist Amir Hamedpour in Iceland, we refined the methodology of AI object detection in images for swimming in the city. 🌡️ Why? With cities like Berlin getting hotter and hotter, cooling has become rather a necessity than a luxury. But who can cool down in summer and who has to sweat? And how is that related to income, neighbourhood or property ownership? The results are exposing a lot about class, social behaviours and questions of distribution. Read the article 👉 https://lnkd.in/erjNwz-d

We will be at the International Journalism Festival in Perugia until Sunday. We are looking forward to exciting conversations and inspiring panels. Drop us a PM if you have time and want to have a coffee. Vertical52 GmbH Michael Anthony