Credit where the pixels come from: Strata data sources, licences and attribution

Every dataset Strata uses, who produces it, its licence and the exact attribution line we display. Living register, checked 29 October 2026.

Strata is built entirely on open data produced by public bodies and researchers, and each source carries its own terms. The table below lists every input, its licence and the attribution line displayed wherever its data appears; the notes that follow cover the terms that shape what we can publish.

Source register

DatasetProducerUsed forLicenceAttribution displayed
Copernicus Sentinel-2 Level-2AEuropean Union, Copernicus programme, via ESAFootprint, vegetation, water, land conversionFree, full and open access under Regulation (EU) 377/2014 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 1159/2013 (Sentinel Data Legal Notice)Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data [year]
Copernicus Sentinel-1 GRDEuropean Union, Copernicus programme, via ESAWater and tailings surfaces under cloudAs aboveContains modified Copernicus Sentinel data [year]
European Ground Motion Service (Basic and Ortho)Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, European Environment Agency (product page, DOI 10.2909/cc459e76-a40f-4b8e-9a66-6da4acbbf239)Ground motionCopernicus data policy, free and openGenerated using European Union's Copernicus Land Monitoring Service information
ESA WorldCover 10 m 2021 v200ESA WorldCover consortium (download, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.7254221)Baseline land coverCC BY 4.0© ESA WorldCover project / Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021) processed by ESA WorldCover consortium
JRC Global Surface WaterEuropean Commission Joint Research Centre with Google (dataset); Pekel et al. (2016), Nature 540, 418-422, DOI 10.1038/nature20584Historical water presence since 1984Produced under the Copernicus programme, free of charge without restriction of useSource: EC JRC/Google
Global-scale mining polygons, version 2Maus et al., IIASA and WU Vienna (record, DOI 10.1594/PANGAEA.942325; paper Scientific Data 9:433)Validation and site placementCC BY-SA 4.0Maus, V. et al. (2022). Global-scale mining polygons (Version 2). PANGAEA
Global mining footprintTang and Werner, University of Melbourne (data, DOI 10.5281/zenodo.7894216; paper Communications Earth and Environment 4:134)Validation and site placementCC BY 4.0Tang, L. and Werner, T. T. (2023). Global mining footprint mapped from high-resolution satellite imagery
Natura 2000 sites (vector)European Environment Agency, copyright holder DG Environment (catalogue)Protected area overlap in the EUCC BY 4.0Natura 2000 data © European Union, DG Environment, distributed by the EEA
CRMA Strategic Projects listEuropean Commission (IP/26/2113 and linked project list)Site registerCommission reuse policy (Decision 2011/833/EU)Source: European Commission
BasemapOpenStreetMap contributorsMap displayODbL 1.0© OpenStreetMap contributors

Terms that shape what we publish

Copernicus. Sentinel data and Copernicus service information may be reproduced, distributed, adapted and combined free of charge, provided the source is stated, adaptations are declared, and the use does not suggest endorsement by the European Union. Strata states the source on every map and chart and never presents its indicators as official EU figures.

Share-alike. The Maus et al. polygons are licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, so any polygon set derived from them must be released under the same licence. Strata uses them for validation and placement checks; where a published site outline is derived from them, that outline is released under CC BY-SA 4.0 and labelled as such.

Sources we reference but do not redistribute. The Global Tailings Portal by GRID-Arendal holds company-disclosed data on more than 1,800 tailings dams, and is currently available on request rather than as an open download, so Strata links to it and does not republish its records. Protected area data outside the EU from the World Database on Protected Areas carries non-commercial terms and is not used in paid products without a licence.

Comparable open work. Amazon Mining Watch by Earth Genome, the Pulitzer Center and Amazon Conservation publishes Sentinel-2 detections of artisanal gold mining under CC BY 4.0 and shows that open, repeated satellite monitoring of mining can be sustained and used by journalists and authorities.

Strata's own outputs

Indicator tables and site pages are published under CC BY 4.0 unless they include share-alike material, in which case CC BY-SA 4.0 applies to that layer. Please cite as: Transitions Lab (2027). Strata: satellite baselines for critical raw materials sites, method version [x], accessed [date], transitionslab.org/strata.

The Lab is an independent research team, not an advocacy organisation. We do not campaign, endorse products, or accept commissions where a finding is expected in advance. Where a partner's own theory of change is what needs testing, that is a legitimate engagement, and the Lab tests it honestly.