The SOS Children’s Villages organisation plans to reconstruct its Children’s Village in Aleppo, Syria, evacuated in 2012, and thus launch a third village in Syria that will accommodate 80 war orphans. A fast and safe way to determine the current state of the deserted SOS Children’s Village in Aleppo and whether it will be possible to return in the near future is through the capture and evaluation of high-resolution satellite images.
IABG, an expert in remote sensing and automated image recognition, generated the geo data required for the analysis of the current state of the area from a cloud-based geo portal. State-of-the-art photogrammetry and image analysis methods were applied to create an accurate data foundation.
For the purpose of this assignment, IABG was able to access and analyse up-to-date, highest-resolution satellite images created by the American Earth-imaging company Planet. “We are happy to be of assistance to SOS Children’s Villages International”, says Dr. Jörg Schäfer, Head of the IABG Geodata Factory. Dr. Wilfried Vyslozil, board chairman of SOS Children’s Villages International, visited the Children’s Village in Damascus in March: “Having just returned from Syria I can confirm that IABG’s image evaluation has boosted our courage to pick up the pieces and launch a fresh start in Aleppo. Unfortunately, however, the current security situation is such that we cannot speak of an immediate start to the renovation work. But we do hope to be able to begin as soon as possible.”
In September 2012 the SOS Children’s Village in Aleppo had to be evacuated due to the continued fighting in the immediate vicinity. After a car bomb exploded right next to the Children’s Village and a tank broke through the enclosing wall of the village, and continuous gunfire and shell bursts were to be heard, the children and mothers were taken to shelter in the SOS Children’s Village 360 km away in Damascus.
