{"id":1202,"date":"2026-06-30T09:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T09:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coamav.org\/?p=1202"},"modified":"2026-07-01T09:45:48","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T09:45:48","slug":"field-update-june-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coamav.org\/uk\/2026\/06\/30\/field-update-june-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Field Update June 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hello everyone,

A while back, I promised you a look at the technology behind what we do. Today I am finally delivering on that promise \u2014 and I have quite a bit of other news to share as well, so let\u2019s get into it.

How we use drones and machine learning in demining
—
Before anyone physically searches for mines, you first need to figure out where to search. This is the purpose of a Non-Technical Survey, or NTS \u2014 a process of gathering information about a potentially contaminated area through interviews with local residents, historical records, satellite imagery, and aerial observation, in order to define the boundaries of the hazard zone. It is the first and arguably most important step in demining: a precise NTS means that physical clearance teams are deployed to the right places, rather than spending months searching fields that were never contaminated to begin with.
This is where drones come in. We fly unmanned aircraft over suspected hazard areas to capture high-resolution aerial imagery. From the air, you can see things that are invisible at ground level: disturbed soil, unusual crater patterns, destroyed equipment, vegetation anomalies, and the scatter patterns of ordnance \u2014 all of which serve as indicators that explosive ordnance (EO) may be present.

Analyzing that imagery manually would be prohibitively slow. A single flight can produce thousands of images covering dozens of hectares, and the indicators we are looking for are often subtle. This is where automated analysis comes in: software tools examine the imagery and flag anomalies for review by our deminers, who then classify each detection as a confirmed or suspected find. The analytical software that makes this possible was generously donated to us by Safe Pro, our technology partner, and we are grateful for it.

The combined effect is significant. Rather than tasking a clearance team with physically searching an entire 761-hectare forest, we can direct their work to the specific locations where the data suggests ordnance is present. To give you a concrete sense of scale: in our Izium Forest survey site, 41 drone surveys have been conducted covering 328 hectares of survey effort, with aerial imaging completed over 105 hectares of the most critical ground. The result is a detailed map of confirmed and suspected EO finds \u2014 giving our team and the Ukrainian mine action authorities a precise picture of what is there and where.

This approach makes demining faster, cheaper, and safer. It reduces the physical exposure of our deminers, lowers the cost per cleared hectare, and allows us to prioritize the land that communities most urgently need returned to productive use.


UTTC \u2014 demonstrating the technology near Lviv
—
Earlier this month, we attended UTTC, a demining technology conference held near Lviv, where we had the opportunity to demonstrate how drone-collected imagery and automated analysis can be integrated directly into the NTS process. It was a valuable chance to connect with other organizations working on the same problems, and to show what this workflow looks like in practice. The interest from other attendees was encouraging \u2014 the field is moving quickly, and Ukraine is very much at the center of where this technology is being developed and tested under real conditions.

New software for managing the demining process
—
One challenge in mine action work is keeping track of everything: flight plans, survey coverage, EO finds, land release documentation, and the dozens of other data points that accumulate across a multi-month operation. Over the past several weeks, I have been building custom software to manage this process \u2014 a web application that gives our team a live map of each survey site, tracks confirmed and suspected finds over time, logs survey coverage, and helps us plan and document the land release workflow.

Accreditation update
—
On the accreditation front: we have now submitted two rounds of documentation to the Mine Action Center in Chernihiv. After our initial submission trip, the authorities reviewed the materials and requested additional documents, which we prepared and submitted. We are now waiting for a date for the field assessment \u2014 the practical demonstration that is the final step before certification is granted. We still expect to receive our accreditation in mid-to-late summer, and the submission of the second document package keeps us on that timeline.

A personal milestone
—
In the meantime, I completed my personal level 2 sapper training. This stage of the curriculum was largely hands-on: practical field work covering demining techniques and live explosives handling. The focus was on translating theoretical knowledge into real field skills \u2014 the kind that allow you to work safely and effectively in a contaminated environment rather than just understand it on paper. I came into this training with a solid foundation in the concepts; I came out of it with the practical experience to back that up.

That is the update for now. As always, none of this happens without your support, and I am genuinely grateful for it. If you know someone who might want to follow along or contribute, please share the fundraiser:

https:\/\/send.monobank.ua\/jar\/65THSzzHMy<\/a>

With gratitude,
Kevin Raison
Director<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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