Originally a research project of the University of California , San Diego in 2010 , Tomnod ( Mongolian for " big eye " ) was founded by Shay Har-Noy , Luke Barrington , Nate Ricklin and Albert Yu Min Lin . Three years later , Tomnod was acquired by the company DigitalGlobe while incubating at EvoNexus . Tomnod uses online map interfaces that engage many people to each view and tag a small section of a large area on the planet . In 2011 Tomnod cooperated with the UNHCR to locate refugee camps in Somalia . Users were asked to use satellite images to count the shelters of refugees . Other projects include searching for the tomb of Genghis Khan , mapping damage after Typhoon Haiyan , and searching for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370
Tomnod