The amount of new people using Sentinel-2 satellite imagery to try map the frontlines in Ukraine and getting everything wrong has massively increased recently.
The vast majority of posts I see of newer mappers showing Sentinel-2 imagery, and claiming it supports their analysis of a given frontline change are completely incorrect in their assessments.
I've been using it for this purpose for over two years now - since well before it was commonly used for mapping frontline changes - and I didn't properly implement it into my map updates until a little over a year ago when I was fully confident in my abilities, and had observed enough changes to confirm my hypotheses on what each oddity on the imagery could mean. There are also a lot of limitations to using such low resolution satellite imagery, and a lot of the time you will simply be forced to ignore certain oddities shown just because there is no conclusive evidence. One of the strongest and most important things an analyst can say is "I don't know".
I understand that due to the increased centralisation of the Russian and Ukrainian information spaces, there is a desperate need for additional sources to keep maps up to date, but I sincerely ask those trying to use satellite imagery to actually learn how it works and what each oddity means, BEFORE using it for their mapping. I've lost count of the number of times people mix up Ukrainian artillery shelling craters with Russian KAB glide-bomb craters; grass fires caused by summer heat or individual drone strikes with large MLRS suppressive fire; and trees losing their leaves or changing colour due to changing seasons, with artillery shelling.
Your lack of experience is resulting in a massive new wave of misinformation, that influences what is being spread in the information space, resulting in complete hallucinations of counteroffensives or advances. I estimate that up to 50% of the false posts made by accounts that copy-paste reports from others can be traced back to mappers "misusing" satellite imagery. You are responsible for the information you put out, and a lack of prior knowledge is not an excuse for spreading misinformation.
The vast majority of posts I see of newer mappers showing Sentinel-2 imagery, and claiming it supports their analysis of a given frontline change are completely incorrect in their assessments.
I've been using it for this purpose for over two years now - since well before it was commonly used for mapping frontline changes - and I didn't properly implement it into my map updates until a little over a year ago when I was fully confident in my abilities, and had observed enough changes to confirm my hypotheses on what each oddity on the imagery could mean. There are also a lot of limitations to using such low resolution satellite imagery, and a lot of the time you will simply be forced to ignore certain oddities shown just because there is no conclusive evidence. One of the strongest and most important things an analyst can say is "I don't know".
I understand that due to the increased centralisation of the Russian and Ukrainian information spaces, there is a desperate need for additional sources to keep maps up to date, but I sincerely ask those trying to use satellite imagery to actually learn how it works and what each oddity means, BEFORE using it for their mapping. I've lost count of the number of times people mix up Ukrainian artillery shelling craters with Russian KAB glide-bomb craters; grass fires caused by summer heat or individual drone strikes with large MLRS suppressive fire; and trees losing their leaves or changing colour due to changing seasons, with artillery shelling.
Your lack of experience is resulting in a massive new wave of misinformation, that influences what is being spread in the information space, resulting in complete hallucinations of counteroffensives or advances. I estimate that up to 50% of the false posts made by accounts that copy-paste reports from others can be traced back to mappers "misusing" satellite imagery. You are responsible for the information you put out, and a lack of prior knowledge is not an excuse for spreading misinformation.