Tearline

At Tearline, we work with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to produce intelligence reports on a variety of topics which we publish and distribute to NGA, ODNI, and the general public.

Every 60-90 days we start work on a new report with a research question that connects ongoing global events with a plan to provide provide critical intelligence to NGA and allies who our intelligence can benefit. We use Maxar’s G-EGD platform to view the latest high-resolution satellite imagery over our project’s area of interest. We combine this imagery analysis with open-source intelligence (OSINT) gathered from social media and local news sources. Putting all that together we write our report and work with NGA on any final details and fact-checking before sharing our findings with the general public as well as decision makers within NGA, DoD, and USG.

Task Team Leaders: Zauch Daum, Raghav Aggarwal, Varij Shah

Faculty Advisor: Sam Rosenberg

Our project began in early Spring 2022 and in May 2022 we published our first report with NGA on www.tearline.mil about refugee movements in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In December 2022, we published a second article featuring the research done in fall 2022 on Russia’s movement of temporary accommodation centers (TACs) and the existence of filtration sites in Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine. And this past summer, we published a third report with NGA on China’s activities in Papua New Guinea.

• We are currently working with the entire team to develop 2-4 active projects for the fall 2023 semester. Once finalized, we will add much more detail here!

• Writing intelligence reports accessible to decision makers and the general public.
• Satellite imagery analysis using Maxar’s G-EGD platform. As well as preparing that imagery for publication.
• OSINT gathering and analysis using automated tools.
• Programming/language skills are not required, but as we seek to expand our impact these skills will become more important and we’re always looking for people interested in learning more!

Team Tearline

“Trust but Verify:” Analyzing Refugee Vehicle Movements in Eastern Ukraine
Published May 2022

Russia Reallocates Resources to Filtration Operations Based on Anticipated Flow of Displaced Ukrainian Civilians
Published December 12, 2022

Analyzing Strategic Value of Chinese-Built Infrastructure Projects in Papua New Guinea
Published August 29, 2023