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The Zamora and Leon wildfire, one of Spain's largest

EL PAIS ยท Aug 15, 2025

explainer
stack: [qgis, ai2html, remote sensing]

Context

A map-based explainer of the Zamora and Leon wildfire, focused on burned-area measurement and how agricultural and forest surfaces are counted.

My role

  • Cartography
  • Data analysis
  • Frontend development

I worked on the geospatial analysis and visual implementation of the story.

Data and methodology

The analysis combined EFFIS perimeter data, Sentinel-2 imagery, and additional processing to separate burned and unburned areas inside the fire boundary.

We compared agricultural and forest categories to place the event within Spain's historical large-fire records.

Key decisions

  • We highlighted the difference between near-real-time perimeter estimates and audited burned forest area.
  • We used simple maps and charts to explain why the same fire can produce different total-hectare readings.
  • The visual flow moved from local fire details to national seasonal context for easier interpretation.

Result

The final piece provides a clear explanation of the wildfire's scale and measurement limits.

Impact and learnings

  • The project supports consistent wildfire coverage by connecting operational data with readable public context.

Links