GEOINT
Location and visual verification
GEOINT compares visible location and time clues with maps, satellite imagery, and public geographic sources. The goal is to narrow candidates and write confidence clearly.
First steps
- List fixed clues in the image.
- Write candidate areas and reasons for excluding others.
- Compare maps, satellite views, street-level imagery, or terrain tools.
- Report the result with confidence and limits.
Limits
- Do not expose private homes or vulnerable people.
- Do not use the work for live tracking or harassment.
- Do not make a final location claim from one similarity.
What this field covers
A quick scope view.
Terrain comparison
Landmark review
Satellite checks
Shadow and season checks
Candidate-area narrowing
Related source collections
Good places to start in this field.
Video verification
Bellingcat Geolocation How-To Guides
Use to break a video into checkable frames, dates, sources, and location clues.
Open sourceSatellite imagery
Copernicus Browser
Use to compare terrain, infrastructure, and changes over time.
Open sourceLocation and map verification
Google Earth
Use to compare visible clues with maps, terrain, sun position, and street-level imagery.
Open sourceSatellite imagery
Google Earth Engine Data Catalog
Use to compare terrain, infrastructure, and changes over time.
Open sourceLocation and map verification
Google Maps
Use to compare visible clues with maps, terrain, sun position, and street-level imagery.
Open sourceSatellite imagery
LandsatLook
Use to compare terrain, infrastructure, and changes over time.
Open source