Satellite data can provide a remote view of developments into often dangerous
conflict zones. Nighttime lights imagery from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program
(DMSP) Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) satellite was used to detect the effects of
war in the Caucasus region of Russia and Georgia. To assess changes over time, the data were
radiometrically normalized using cities with a relatively stable nighttime lights signature over the
course of the study period, 1992-2009. Buffers were created around these stable cities to select
the pixels which were then used to normalize cities and towns whose nighttime lighting
fluctuated over time. The results show that conflict-related events such as large fires that burn
for weeks and large refugee movements are possible to detect, even with the relatively course
spatial resolution (2.7 km) of the DMSP-OLS imagery