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Non-technical summaryPolice searches for murder victims' graves or buried artefacts rely on recognising visual signs of ground disturbance and discarded items undertaken by costly, often unproductive, ground searches and excavations. This proposal aims to evaluate the needs of organizations such as forensic laboratories, prosecution services, and police forces, through a network of users of research, and representatives from different scientific disciplines. The activities of the network will be to review and evaluate existing and new technologies in the topics of analytical 'fingerprinting' of soils and vegetation, non-invasive measurement, data and image analysis, and links with geographic databases for aiding in limiting areas of search associated with evidence from a crime scene. The work of the project will address the following topics:1. Creation of an network of experts with a use, or scientific interest in forensic applications with respect to soils and vegetation.2. Development of a plan of communicating the activities and results of the porject to different audiences.3. Reading and reporting on existing and new technologies in the topics of analysing soils and vegetation, with measurement techniques, image interpretation, and links to geographic databases.4. The writing of proposals for further funding, guided by the expertise of a group within the project working on forensic science.The network will meet at regular intervals with general discussions for all memebers, and specialist group meetings to address topics under the following headings: forensic science, analysis of the characteristics of soils and vegetation, image analysis (e.g. by remote sensing using aircraft, satellites, or pulled across the ground) and measurement tools, computer software, databases and communications of results. The nature of the meetings will be to exchange opinions on the value of, and prioritise improvements in, different types of methods for analysing soils and vegetation, the value of image measurement and analysis for identifying buried features, and the use of geographic databases which can be used to help target areas of search by, for example, identifying sites with a combination of soil and vegetation characteristics derived from analysis of evidence.It is anticipated that the principal beneficiaries of the network activities will be Police Forces, forensic laboratories (such as the Forensic Science Service and police laboratories), and legal institutions, as well as private companies offering forensic analysis. From the beginning, representatives from these parties will be invited to form part of an advisory group, the role of which will be to ensure that the research is appropriately designed. The group will also advise on criteria for the selection of methods, examples of the environment at the scene of a crime, the ways in which evidence has to be submitted in court, and the standards required to meet the requirements of forensic investigators and analysts. Towards the end of the project work will be done on raising understanding of the activities of the project for other groups with an interest in the topic, including recommendations for materials for training for relevant experts. A task of the network will be to develop proposals for further funding from the European Union, national government and industry to develop the science behind the requirements of the forensic activities, and to develop commercial applications of the methods used.
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