In land system science, many analyses rely on satellite-based reconstructions of land-cover change. While the reconstructions themselves have become more detailed and of higher quality, they do not represent land-change processes, for example fast vs. slowly progressing agricultural frontiers. I develop new ways of using satellite imagery to describe land-change processes, to better link land-use changes to the underlying mechanisms (e.g., different land-use actors engaged at a place) as well as to environmental outcomes (e.g., biodiversity loss).