A system could aid forensic searches and crime-scene mapping by detecting reflections from human materials
Volunteers sometimes spend months trudging through remote terrain to search for lost hikers or crime victims. But a new tool could soon pinpoint forensic evidence from the sky instead. By identifying how traces of blood and other human signs reflect light when found on various natural surfaces, the scientists say searchers will be able to quickly scour large areas for clues about missing persons—dead or alive—using images acquired by drones.
To build their tool, the researchers measured how human-related features, including blood, sweaty clothing and skin tones, reflect different wavelengths of light. Previous studies have examined such reflective “signatures” to identify blood, “but the signature depends on the surface itself and may change over time,” Krekeler says. He and his team analyzed thousands of samples, such as bloodstains on different rock types, recording how they changed as the blood dried.
The software estimates whether the target exists in any pixel in an image. It can distinguish between an animal and a human in dense forest, search a cityscape for evidence of a specific person in a blue cotton dress, or determine whether soil is stained by blood or diesel fuel, Krekeler says. His team was slated to present its work at the Geological Society of America’s meeting of the North-Central Section in April.
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