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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is SAS?​

SAS (Situational Awareness System) is a modular AI-powered platform designed to detect, classify, and map real-world events (like crimes, accidents, disasters) in real-time from social media sources. It helps decision-makers and citizens stay informed and responsive.

What kind of events does SAS detect?​

SAS detects various types of events, including but not limited to:

  • Crimes (thefts, assaults, etc.)
  • Natural disasters (earthquakes, floods)
  • Public accidents
  • Fires
  • Political and social events

The system is customizable and can be extended to support more event types.

Which social media platforms are supported?​

Currently, the system supports:

  • Twitter / X
  • Telegram
  • News websites

Data from other sources can be added by extending the scraping module.

How does the system infer the location of an event?​

SAS uses multiple methods for location inference:

  • Direct use of geotags if available
  • Named Entity Recognition (NER) to extract place names
  • Location inference through large language models (LLMs)
  • Geocoding services to convert place names to coordinates

Can users receive notifications?​

Yes. Registered users can:

  • Subscribe to specific geographic regions
  • Receive notifications when an event occurs in those regions
  • Choose to receive notifications via the UI or email (if configured)

What technologies does SAS use?​

  • Backend: ASP.NET Core 9, Python (for ML pipelines)
  • Frontend: Angular
  • Messaging: Apache Kafka
  • Database: PostgreSQL
  • Authentication: ASP.NET Identity
  • ML/NLP: Transformers, NER, clustering algorithms, BERT-based models

Is the system scalable?​

Yes. The platform is built using a microservices architecture and supports:

  • Horizontal scaling of scrapers and detection services
  • Distributed processing via Kafka
  • Independent service deployment

How can I contribute to SAS?​

You can contribute by:

  1. Forking the repository
  2. Submitting pull requests with bug fixes or enhancements
  3. Reporting issues or suggesting improvements

Where can I view the detected events?​

Events are displayed on the interactive map in the web frontend. You can:

  • Filter by region or date
  • View timelines
  • Read the source messages
  • Access statistical dashboards

Is the platform open source?​

Yes. The SAS platform is open source and intended for research, public safety, and smart city applications.