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Independent science, spatial data, visual storiesEvery map has a source

A different view of our planet

The world is more interesting when you map it.

SpatialStat turns satellite images and open data into clear maps, visual investigations and stories about how our planet is changing.

Explore the storiesOpen the atlas

Curiosity, grounded in evidence. Every map has a source.

Map of the Week: Three months of fire on Earth, seen from spaceLive map

Read the story and explore the map. Drag to turn the globe. Data: NASA FIRMS, VIIRS NOAA-20; GHSL Degree of Urbanisation, European Commission; NASA Blue Marble imagery; Natural Earth. Map: SpatialStat.
We look closer atWaterClimateSatellitesLandNatural hazardsCities

The latest investigations

Stories hidden in the landscape.

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A dark globe with glowing orange and pink points where NASA satellites detected fires over three months, densest across central and southern Africa and in Brazil.
Map of the Week19 October 2026

Three months of fire on Earth, seen from space

NASA satellites detected 5.6 million vegetation fires between late July and mid-October. 50% of them burned in Africa, most of them set on purpose.

Satellite-based map of the Aral Sea basin with shorelines from several decades.
Deep Dive12 min read

The Aral Sea, 60 years later

Mapping one of the largest human-made environmental disasters, decade by decade, with satellite images and the stories of the people who live on its former shore.

Map highlighting Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein, each surrounded only by other landlocked countries.
Blank Spots23 October 2026

Only two countries are doubly landlocked

To reach the ocean from Uzbekistan or Liechtenstein, you have to cross at least two borders. Here is what that looks like on a map.

The SpatialStat atlas

Explore the planet yourself.

Start with a place, follow a pattern, ask a better question. Each point opens a research question we are working on.

Research map

Select a point on the map to read its research question.

Follow your curiosity

Big questions. Grounded answers.

The Earth does not fit into one discipline. Neither should the stories we tell about it.

Hydrology

Water

Rivers, lakes, glaciers, irrigation and the systems connecting them.

Climate science

Climate

Heat, drought, extremes and the long patterns behind the weather.

Earth observation

Satellites

What remote sensing reveals about a changing surface.

Spatial analysis

Patterns

Spatial statistics, hidden relationships and the geography of change.

Trust the process

Beautiful maps are only the beginning.

We show our sources, explain our methods and make uncertainty visible. Every map should help you understand not just what the data says, but how we know.

Our approach

Field notes

See the world a little differently.

Field notes: one map a week, the story behind it and the data used to make it. Free.

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