The European Settlement Map 2017 (ESM2p5m) is the latest release of the European Settlement Map (ESM) produced in the frame of the URBA project (WPK 1193).
The ESM products have been financed by the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and exploit the Copernicus core 003 dataset made of satellite images SPOT5 and SPOT6 ranging from 2010 to 2013.
The first ESM product was released in July 2014, followed by peer-revived publication of a built-up layer with an unprecedented detailed resolution and a gap free European wall-to-wall coverage.
Two years later (in 2016), the ESM2016 was released. The built-up accuracy improved through a benchmarking process with population data (GEOSTAT 2011 v2), ensuring as much as possible consistency between residential population and built-up.
The 2017 ESM release is a new step ahead, with an augmented detail and higher resolution (2.5m), which includes 11 new classes in addition to built-up.
The new ESM2p5m classes complement the built-up landscape with new variables such as green, water, streets, and railways organized in two macro groups: in the built-up area and out of the built-up area.
The ESM2p5m offers new opportunities in Earth observation related research. The 2.5m resolution allows studying urbanisation and related features across Europe in urban and rural areas, from continental to country perspective, from regional to local, until single blocks.
The report describes ESM2p5m’s features and presents the results of the validation process.
FERRI Stefano;
SIRAGUSA Alice;
SABO Filip;
PAFI Maria;
HALKIA Stamatia;
2017-06-28
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC105679
978-92-79-69553-7 (print),
978-92-79-69554-4,
1018-5593 (print),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 28644 EN,
OP KJ-NA-28644-EN-C (print),
OP KJ-NA-28644-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC105679,
10.2760/41305 (print),
10.2760/780799 (online),
