Bayan Obo rare earths
The world's largest rare earth mine and its tailings pond.
340.8 hectares changed — new water / flooding · Before: 1 May 2017 – 31 Aug 2017 · After: 1 May 2023 – 31 Aug 2023 · 41.770, 109.970
BEFORE 2017-08
AFTER 2023-08
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340.8 haarea changed
91areas flagged
6,416 haarea examined
2satellites used
What changed, by type
199.3 haNew water / flooding
106.2 haNew construction / earthworks
33.5 haunclassified
1.8 haVegetation cleared
Land changes in both directions at once. SCOPE reports every type it measured, not only the one that makes the better headline.
What SCOPE found
New water / flooding — 32.7 ha
2.8 km north · 80% sure
2.8 km north · 80% sure
New water / flooding — 23.6 ha
4.2 km north-east · 83% sure
4.2 km north-east · 83% sure
New water / flooding — 23.3 ha
3.1 km north · 80% sure
3.1 km north · 80% sure
New water / flooding — 18.6 ha
3.2 km north-east · 83% sure
3.2 km north-east · 83% sure
New construction / earthworks — 17.1 ha
2.1 km west · 86% sure
2.1 km west · 86% sure
How sure is this?
The strongest area (#1) has 80% confidence. It appears in 3 of 3 later clear images, so it is not a one-day artefact. Radar could not confirm or rule them out (normal for vegetation changes), so the result rests on repeated clear optical views and the seasonal comparison. Only 0% of the area had clear optical views, so some change may be hidden by cloud. Note: Optical imagery was unusable (cloud); results rely on Sentinel-1 radar only. Confidence measures how strong the evidence for real surface change is; it does not identify the cause or who did it.
How it was measured
SCOPE used Sentinel-2 optical imagery at 10 m, cloud-masked and combined over each
period, Sentinel-1 radar as an independent check
.
The analysis took 13 seconds.
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