# Remote Sensing for International Peace and Security: Its Role and Implications
## 3 Results
### Remote Sensing in Armed Conflicts
Poaching and deforestation in unprotected forests tend to  
Figure 6: The Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite sensor (NPP-VIIRS) night-time light images of Sana, Yemen, during the years 2014 and 2019. Figure 7: **False-color composite (FCC)** of Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) night-time data acquired in October 2012 (red band), October 2015 (green band), and October 2018 (blue band) in Arabian countries. increase during the conflict and, thus, threaten terrestrial biodiversity [50]. High spatial resolution satellite data can help determine forest cover change, a change in biodiversity, and species distribution. For instance, [PERSON] et al. [48] used multi-temporal Landsat imagery to determine forest cover change as a result of the Darfur crisis and Uganda clash. The study developed a disturbance index to monitor changes in South Sudan-based Imatong Central Forest Reserve (ICFR) located around Dongotana hills, and Uganda-based Agoro-Agu Forest Reserve (AFR) during the conflict (the 1980s-2001) and post-conflict (2003-2010). The study discovered there was more forest cover loss during the conflict period and that unprotected forests (Dongotana hills) experienced a huge loss compared to reserved forests [48]. Severe conflicts often result in attacks with bombs and firearms. Fires detected with the help of images from the satellite. It can be potentially utilized as an early warning signal, indicating humanitarian crisis like human-rights violations [46]. Armed conflicts disrupt human settlement and economic activities, as many people flee their homes to seek refuge. The refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) reduce environmental pressure in places of origin and increase pressure in places of destination. Remote sensing is a valuable tool in assessing these environmental pressures instigated by an influx of IDPs and refugees. In Sudan, Landsat data were used to locate burned structures among habitations around the ethnic violence periods [51; 52; 53]. In the Rift Valley province of Kenya, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) used Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images to identify the areas showing signs of violence occurrences following Kenyan National Elections [54]. Remote sensing has also been used to detect macro-level transformations like land cover changes due to human displacement as well as to setup an association among the land tenure and land use land cover (LULC) classification [55]. If remote sensing techniques are cautiously applied within the limits of measurement validity and selection biases, then it is also possible to estimate the cultural loss, agricultural losses, land degradation and rehabilitation, disruption of water resources, and change in vegetation [33; 35; 56]. Using multiple satellite images and other explanatory variables, [PERSON] et al. [57] indicated that more than 5% of 1073 World Heritage Sites (WHS) were in danger because of severe internal conflicts in which 25 are caused by armed conflicts. Previously, in the context of monitoring of damage to the cultural heritage sites, manual satellite image interpretation techniques were used to assess the changes in the affected sites/area. These manual interpretation techniques were laborious and time-consuming. However, the automatic classification of satellite imagery and the change detection methods are promising to monitor the changes recently [58]. In other studies, high-resolution multi-temporal satellite imagery was used to understand the impact on environment at the Sudanese Zam Zam IDP camp, which was established as a result of the Darfur crisis [59]. Figure 8 shows the satellite images of burned sites damaged in the 2011 Sudan conflicts. Figure 8 clearly shows the damaged and non-damaged structures in the Tajalei region of Sudan. Figure 9 shows another case study in the conflict zones of Syria, where an archaeological site was damaged during the Syrian civil war.