Satellite image search tool

[Matt W.]

I don't know if this already exists, if not someone tech savvy please invent it! The idea is a computer program that searches satellite images for signs of neglected properties.  Signs like tarps on roofs, black/brown pools, and cars parked all over the yard.  The pool especially is a dead giveaway that a house is abandoned, in my experience. 

My county has very up to date aerial images. I think a computer could scan millions of images each day and spit out a list of potentially distressed properties. 

I'm not that knowledgable about programming, but this seems pretty doable.  If you've ever watched Silicon Valley, it's like Jin Yang's "Hotdog" app.

[Taylor L.]

Careful, if you build this it could turn into something other than what you'd intended. Like it did for Jin Yang! But that only negatively impacted Dinesh...

I haven't seen anything like this but it is a good idea. The main counterpoint I can see is that the publicly available satellite imagery (like on Google) can be years out of date. So you may end up chasing down a lot of old problems that had already been fixed.