Between June 21 and September 21, 2024, I analyzed the surface temperatures of all 2,123 registered playgrounds in Madrid using Landsat 8/9 imagery (Level-2 Surface Temperature products). This investigation, an extension of my previous reflection on urban heat and environmental justice in Geovisualization.net (May 2025), highlights how thermal exposure is patterned by geography, planning legacies, and demographic vulnerability in the Spanish capital.
Category Archives: monitoring
Urban delineation methods beyond administrative boundaries
As a geographer working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), I am particularly interested in exploring urban delineation methods that move beyond the constraints of administrative boundaries. Instead of relying on official municipal limits—which can often be outdated or misaligned with functional realities on the ground—I focus on delineating urban areas based on physical indicators such as built-up surface, population density, and spatial continuity. This approach allows for a more accurate and dynamic understanding of urban space.
Urban Heat Islands, Trees, and Climate Justice in the Anthropocene: A Remote Sensing-Based Reflection
In recent years, the need to understand the urban environment has grown more urgent than ever. Climate change is not an abstract future scenario; it is already here, reshaping our cities day by day. Among the many phenomena that demand our attention, the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect stands out—not only for its environmental and public health impacts but also for its socio-political implications. Through satellite imagery and remote sensing, we can now visualize and quantify these dynamics with increasing precision. This post reflects on such an analysis I conducted using LANDSAT 8 imagery (Scene ID: LC08_L2SP_201032_20250328_20250401_02_T1, Date Acquired: 2025/03/28), and discusses the findings in the broader context of urban planning, climate justice, and the urgent need to protect urban vegetation.
Mapping My 10-Year Adventure: Running Madrid to Ulaanbaatar 10,127 km
In August 2014, I laced up my running shoes for the first time, with no grand expectations — just a simple desire to move, to feel better, to take control. I was far from athletic: weighing nearly 80 kilograms (almost 20 kg more than today), with no endurance, no rhythm, and definitely no running background (exception made of some runs in my mid 20’s :-)). But I made myself a promise: I would be stubborn, consistent, and patient. No matter the weather — rain, wind, snow, scorching heat, storms — I would run, three times a week, every week.
Visualizing Los Angeles wildfires 2025 in Copernicus interface using Pierre Markuse’s script +GOES 10min imagery
Pierre Markuse’s wildfire visualization script is a notable tool in this regard, as it effectively enhances the identification of burned areas and active fire zones using Sentinel-2 imagery. Below, we delve into how this script works and its practical applications for wildfire analysis.
LOS ANGELES WILDFIRES 2025: Sentinel 2 +Overpass Turbo (OSM)
En Los Ángeles, la combinación de condiciones meteorológicas, como los vientos secos de Santa Ana y las altas temperaturas, crea un entorno propenso a incendios forestales. Estos fuegos, a menudo cercanos a áreas urbanas, representan un gran desafío para la gestión de emergencias. Aquí es donde Sentinel-2 se convierte en una herramienta crucial. Utilizando la combinación de bandas 12, 8, 4, Sentinel-2 permite detectar rápidamente focos de calor y evaluar la extensión de las áreas quemadas, lo que es vital para coordinar respuestas eficaces. Esta capacidad de monitoreo casi en tiempo real es fundamental para mitigar el impacto de los incendios y proteger tanto a las comunidades como a los ecosistemas.
Palestine 2023-2024
The 7th of October will forever be remembered in our collective memory as a day of tragedy and senseless violence, an operation that would shatter the dream of Israel’s inviolability. The attacks by Hamas were unequivocally condemnable. The targeting of civilians (+1200 dead and +250 kidnappings) is never acceptable, and those responsible for such acts must be held accountable. However, the response that followed has escalated into something far worse, a state-driven campaign of violence by Israel that has, in just one year, claimed over 42,000 lives, a staggering number of whom are women and children. This is not defense; this is mass murder. GENOCIDE.
Water Quality Viewer (UWQV) for Sentinel -2
The Ulyssys Water Quality Viewer harnesses the power of Sentinel-2 satellite data to provide comprehensive and accurate water quality assessments. Its intuitive legend and visualization capabilities significantly enhance the user’s ability to interpret and act on environmental data, contributing to better water management and conservation efforts worldwide, particularly in ecologically and economically significant areas like La Mata and Torrevieja salt lagoons.
CADALSO DE LOS VIDRIOS: MELANCOLÍA DE TIEMPOS MEJORES
Enclavado en un entorno rural de gran belleza natural (Latitud: 40° 18′ 3” Norte Longitud: 4° 26′ 37” Oeste) Cadalso de los Vidrios se enfrenta a una realidad económica marcada por la fragilidad y la dependencia. Con un tejido industrial prácticamente inexistente, el pueblo se sustenta principalmente en dos pilares: el ínfimo sector agrario y el sector de la construcción y los servicios. Esta dependencia económica limita las oportunidades de desarrollo y aumenta la vulnerabilidad frente a situaciones adversas, entre ellas, la explotación descontrolada de los recursos mineros y forestales.
The Remarkable Visibility of Almeria’s Greenhouses from Space
In the sphere of Earth observation and remote sensing, the Almeria greenhouses stand out as an astonishing spectacle visible even from the edge of space, defined by the Kármán line at approximately 100 kilometers in altitude. This unique visibility is not only a testament to the vast scale of human agricultural activity but also a captivating example of the power of satellite-based remote sensing technologies.
Geovisualization.net 