Madrid: land change, 2016–2025
Two Sentinel-2 satellite images of a 20 km square around Madrid, from 2016-07-23 and 2025-07-21, were classified by a ResNet18 model trained on EuroSAT. Every 640 m cell is put in one of four land-cover groups, and the two dates are compared cell by cell.
- Before
- 2016-07-23
- After
- 2025-07-21
- Area analysed
- 393 km²
Change
-8.6 km²net change in built-up area
In cells the model is sure of on both dates (confidence ≥ 0.8): 1.6 km² became built-up, 8.2 km² changed in total.
The model is undecided on this scene; treat the results with caution.
Land cover on both dates
| 2016 | 2025 | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture no notable change | 8.2% | 7.5% | -0.7 |
| Natural vegetation increased | 15.6% | 18.5% | +2.9 |
| Built-up decreased | 76.1% | 74% | -2.1 |
| Water no notable change | 0% | 0% | 0 |
Largest transitions (confident cells)
- Built-up → Natural vegetation2.5 km²
- Natural vegetation → Agriculture1.6 km²
- Agriculture → Natural vegetation1.6 km²
- Agriculture → Built-up0.8 km²
- Natural vegetation → Built-up0.8 km²
Limits
- Every value shown is a model estimate, not a measurement.
- Areas are not measurements but approximations counted from cells. The figures are always computed on 640 m cells; the scale only changes how the map is drawn.
- The model was trained on European images; results outside Europe are less reliable.
- Clouds, shadows and seasonal differences can show change that is not there.