Advancing conflict research and response through satellite-derived data
Abstract With armed conflicts at a historic high and attacks on civilians rising 1 , understanding the evolving nature of conflict is a critical research priority. The current paradigm in conflict research relies heavily on text-based data, using fatalities as the primary—and often sole—proxy for violence intensity. Although these data have expanded our ability to study armed conflict, they exhibit inherent limitations due to uneven human reporting 2–6 . War damage assessments based on satellite data 7–13 offer a complementary perspective. Satellite-derived data have their own limitations, but these arise from different mechanisms, creating distinct, complementary strengths that can be leveraged through data integration. Here we propose three concrete approaches to integration: improvement, enrichment and fusion. Each bridges a different gap in the underlying data sources. We use case studies from Ukraine and Myanmar to illustrate how integration can be implemented in practice and the novel analytical insights that emerge. Prioritizing data integration enables a paradigm shift away from fatality-centric research towards a broader spectrum of violence, revealing the complexity of conflict dynamics.
Authors
- Emanuele Dalsasso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7170-9015)
- Devis Tuia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0374-2459)
- Konrad Schindler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3172-9246)
- Valerie Sticher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0827-8958)
- Corey Scher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6435-839X)
- Corinne Bara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9831-0573)
- Jenniina Kotajoki (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9952-4626)
- Karsten Donnay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9080-6539)
- Jamon Van Den Hoek (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8074-0022)
- Jan Dirk Wegner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0290-6901)
- Lars Bromley
- Olivier Dietrich (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8530-2650)
- Xi Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0788-5692)
- Mikael Hiberg Naghizadeh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5923-7502)
- Filip Dorm
- Thierry Crevoisier
- Manuel Fiol
Institutions
- Institut polytechnique de Grenoble (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- World Food Programme (IT)
- Oregon State University (US)
- German Institute for Global and Area Studies (DE)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- Wuhan University (CN)
- Centre Inria de l'Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
- State Key Laboratory of Information Engineering in Surveying Mapping and Remote Sensing (CN)
- Laboratoire Jean Kuntzmann (FR)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Université Grenoble Alpes (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature
- Published
- 2026-09-09
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11004-6
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Transboundary Water Resource Management
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 15.81