São Paulo from space: 1988 to 2026
South America's largest city, still spreading. Drag the handle to compare 1988 (Landsat) with 2026 (Sentinel-2).
19882026
Explore São Paulo in the satellite tool → Every year since 1988, radar, temperature, change maps and more.
Land cover around the centre
1988-09-12
- Dense vegetation24%
- Healthy vegetation27%
- Sparse vegetation32%
- Bare ground17%
- Water / built-up0%
2026-11-03
- Dense vegetation36%
- Healthy vegetation14%
- Sparse vegetation31%
- Bare ground20%
- Water / built-up0%
Plant-health classes (NDVI) over roughly 10 km around the centre, clouds removed. Landsat and Sentinel-2 differ slightly in resolution; read the shares as a trend, not a survey.
How to read it
The left image is a Landsat scene from 1988-09-12, 30 metres per pixel. The right is a Sentinel-2 scene from 2026-11-03, 10 metres per pixel. Both are true colour: what a person would see from orbit. Sand is pale, water dark, vegetation green, cities grey.
In the satellite tool you can step through every year in between, switch to plant health, water, burn or surface temperature, draw an area to measure what changed, and watch the place for new passes.
More places from space
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026 · Landsat courtesy USGS · via Microsoft Planetary Computer.