The High Resolution Settlement Layer (HRSL) provides estimates of human population distribution at a resolution of 1 arc-second (approximately 30m) for the year 2015. The population estimates are based on recent census data and high-resolution (0.5m) satellite imagery from DigitalGlobe. The population grids provide detailed delineation of settlements in both urban and rural areas. The data were developed using computer vision techniques to classify blocks of optical satellite data as settled (containing buildings) or not. Proportional allocation was used to distribute population data from subnational census data to the settlement extents. The data are distributed as a GeoTIFF file with three bands. Band 1 represents the population estimates (in persons). Band 2 represents settlement extents and has a value of 1 where buildings were detected in the imagery. It is possible for buildings to be detected in pixels but no population values assigned in cases where the census data show a unit as uninhabited. Band 3 has a value of 1 where cloud was present in the source imagery.
Provide detailed population estimates for research in humanitarian, disaster response, sustainability, and infrastructure planning fields.
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CIESIN strives to disseminate quality Data and to provide accurate metadata and documentation consistent with best practices and accepted standards. This includes appropriate version control and archiving so that users understand changes to Data and can obtain previous versions for comparison purposes. Nevertheless, CIESIN, Columbia University, and their sponsors offer Data on a where is, as is basis and do not offer an express or implied warranty regarding quality, applicability, or accuracy.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Users are free to use, copy, distribute, transmit, and adapt the work for commercial and non-commercial purposes, without restriction, as long as clear attribution of the source is provided.
Connectivity Lab at Facebook. Center for International Earth Science Information Network - CIESIN - Columbia University. Source imagery provided by DigitalGlobe. Census data collected as part of the Gridded Population of the World project.