Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0 1.0The eye that never sleeps
Satellite images make it possible to compare a site over the months and detect changes: looting pits, vehicle tracks, new construction. They reveal from a distance what no patrol could see over thousands of square kilometres.
OIMAP monitors 1,200 sites in thirty-three States, in partnership with satellite operators and research laboratories. Each site is observed every month, or every week in case of alert.
This page presents the principle, the results and the limits.
Satellite monitoring in figures
Source: OIMAP Heritage Protection Department.
How it works
High-resolution images are acquired regularly and automatically compared with earlier ones. An algorithm spots the changed areas: pale patches of turned earth, aligned craters, new tracks. Analysts then examine the alerts to confirm or rule out false positives.
The results are cross-checked with other sources: local reports, police reports, BIOP database alerts. Confirmed looting triggers an alert to the State concerned and, if needed, a request for intervention.
Concrete results
In 2024, monitoring detected ninety-six recent cases of looting, of which sixty-three were confirmed on the ground. In eleven cases, a rapid intervention stopped the digging and seized objects. Sites protected by active guarding have a looting rate half as high.
The images also serve as evidence: they make it possible to date a looting and link an object to a precise site. Several legal proceedings rely on these data.
Limits and precautions
Satellite detection does not cover looting under dense vegetation, small isolated tombs or underground digs. It also has a cost and requires skills to interpret the images. Alerts can be false positives: a quarry or farm work resembles looting.
Images of sensitive sites are handled with caution. They are not published, so as not to show looters the unprotected sites. Results are passed only to the competent authorities.
Outlook
Satellite monitoring is moving towards machine learning, which improves the detection of small-scale looting, and towards radar imagery, which can see through clouds and under vegetation. Tests show promising results.
It is accompanied by work on returning data to local communities, as maps and simple tools, so that they too can report the changes they see.
Stages of monitoring
| Step | Content | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition | High-resolution images | Monthly |
| Comparison | Automatic detection | Monthly |
| Analysis | Verification by an analyst | Within 7 days |
| Alert | Informing the State | Within 48 h |
| Follow-up | Intervention, seizure | As the case requires |
Landmarks
- Pilot
50 sites.
- Automation
Assisted detection.
- 300 sites
Extension.
- 1,200 sites
Regional coverage.
The images are confidential
Satellite monitoring or ground monitoring
Satellite
Remote observation- Wide coverage
- Detects changes
- Does not replace the field
To detect.
On the ground
Guards and patrols- Immediate reaction
- Deterrence
- Limited coverage
To act.
Using the results
- Receive
Receive the alert.
- Check
Send a team.
- Protect
Secure the site.
- Investigate
Find those responsible.
- Prevent
Strengthen monitoring.
Conditions for success
An analyst
« When you see a line of holes appear on a site you have followed for two years, you know you must act at once. That is what motivates us. »
Vocabulary of remote sensing
- Remote sensing
- Remote observation.
- False positive
- Alert that proves unfounded.
- High resolution
- Very detailed image.
- Algorithm
- Automatic calculation procedure.
Frequently asked questions
Are the images public?
No, for sensitive sites.
Can my site be followed?
On request of a Member State.
What cost?
Covered by the Protection Fund for eligible States.
What accuracy?
A few tens of centimetres.
Useful documents
Contacts
Related pages
Archaeological sitesAgainst looting: satellite monitoring, good management practices and action with the communities that live near sites.›
Archaeological lootingCauses, actors, methods, consequences and responses: understanding the looting of sites in order to fight it better.›
Good practices for protecting sitesManagement, guarding, documentation, community and showcasing: the measures that durably protect an archaeological site.›
See good practices
Image credits (16)
- View of the Château of Pierrefonds, François-Louis Français (c. 1870) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Red-Figure Column Krater (Mixing Vessel): Satyrs Pursuing Maenads, Naples Painter (440–430 BCE) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Landscape with Castle and Shepherds, Achille Etna Michallon (1814) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Two Poplars in the Alpilles near Saint-Rémy, Vincent van Gogh (1889) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Album with Views of Rome and Surroundings, Landscape Studies, page 23a: Castle Saint Angelo, Rome, Franz Johann Heinrich Nadorp (c. 1830s-70s) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Head of Bearded Banqueter (525–500 BCE) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Egypt and Nubia, Volume I: The Great Sphinx, Pyramids of Gezeeh, Louis Haghe (1846) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- A Calm Watering Place—Extensive and Boundless Scene with Cattle, Alvan Fisher (1816) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Egypt and Nubia: Volume I - No. 4, Slave Boats on the Nile, View Looking Towards the Pyramids of Dashour and Saccara, Louis Haghe (1838) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Red-Figure Stamnos (Mixing/Storage Vessel): Komos (Musicians and Revelers), Kleophon Painter (c. 435–425 BCE) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Vue générale prise à l'angle sud-ouest, Philoe, Maxime Du Camp (1849–50) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- A Palace with an Arched Bridge (A Roman Villa), Hubert Robert (1760) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Châteauvieux-sur-Suran, Antoine-Claude Ponthus-Cinier (1848) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Egypt & Nubia, Volume III, No. 8: Mosque of Sultan Hassan, Cairo, Louis Haghe (1842–49) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Two Boats with Female Mourners (c. 667–647 BCE) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0
- Breton Landscape, Jan Verkade (1891–92) — Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 1.0