This video examines the amount of location information carried by inaudible background sounds, using the Doppler effect to locate a reference recording within ~100m, and only needing (in some cases) less 1-min of audio. This video raises awareness of these capabilities and closes by discussing preventative measures one could take.
Methodology:
Aircraft position, altitude, and velocity data were sourced from ADS-B data and filtered in Python using ICAO type-code classification for propeller vs jet types. For each candidate location on a 200m grid, the closest point of approach (CPA) and sound propagation delay were computed from 3D slant distance, using a digital elevation model (DEM).
Doppler curve spectrogram measurements constrained each event's velocity and CPA slant distance. Candidates were then filtered by the 920-second offset between two flyovers, plus a silence constraint. The exact Doppler curve each candidate would hear was modelled, using emission-time radial velocity from interpolated ADS-B data.
Modelled doppler curves were scored against the observed spectrogram using a locked two-event scoring method. This corrected for measurement error on CPA time & fundamental frequency, while preserving the purely physics-derived temporal offset between the two events.
The pipeline was repeated again for a single 1-min clip of known time, US-wide search, and again, successfully scored the true location 1st.
Lastly, preventative measures were assessed, including rationale behind why common signal processing fixes fail (high-pass filtering, drowning out, and phone call compression/noise reduction).
I didn't watch the video because I'm terrified of things like this. However, I'd imagine adding random samples of varying frequency and dBi into the audio stream sort of like those AI-spoofing object tracking sweaters may work.
At least I don't have to worry too much, I never post videos of my surroundings on teh intertubes.
Well, at least there isn’t a microphone in every single device ever ;P
Don’t watch the last three minutes of that video then, it gets even more terrifying :))
This's very cool.
I love this discovering new detection methods from things we already have around. I know we have still a lot of these methods left under our nose!
It's using ADS-B data.
I've been contributing plane tracking data to ADS-B network via project Wingbits for about 2 years now. Comes w/ a free API plan w/ 30K/m API calls since I'm a contributor to the network. If anybody would like to try such thing.
I know this company w/ product named Raven, they've been doing geolocation using their own proprietary model specialized on geolocating from images. Access is gated though only law enforcement agencies, government entities, public safety bodies, intelligence groups.
Tipped w/ monerochan wallet. Look at how easy it's to use on stasher now it has legacy monero uri detection:
Above video has audio enabled if anybody would like to try to geolocate me via the ADS-B doppler method mentioned in the video, lol.
Will be sharing this video w/ Wingbits people as well.
Wingbits Discord AMA: Oct 29th, 2026:Wingbits Discord AMA: Oct 29th, 2026:
Same channel also has that dog-abuse video where they geolocate purely from images via manual OSINT. Raven looks like the scaled-up, trained, automated version of that. If tools like that already exist and are in LE/gov/intel hands, any crime with CCTV/video or photo evidence that stays unsolved starts to look unsolved on purpose... Thanks for the Raven link and the Wingbits mention. And why I’m not surprised you’ve been feeding the ADS-B network for years now lol: at this point any cool project that surfaces, it somehow always turns out SoulReaver has already been there for a while :)) ...and you’re likely the first @spirobel’s wallet user too =))