GHSL/UA Integration: Feasibility Report. Application of the JRC GHSL Image Information Extraction Protocol in the frame of the Urban Atlas product specifications

Abstract

JRC started the design of the global human settlement layer (GHSL) concept during 2010-2011, together with the development of an image query (IQ) system able to generate and manage geoinformation in an integrated way. The IQ system aggregated the experiences related to automatic information extraction from meter and sub-metre resolution satellite image data in the disaster and crisis management scenarios supported by JRC since 2003-2004. The first alpha-test of the IQ system was delivered in Dec 2011, performing a GHSL image information query task over high and very-high resolution satellite image data covering more than 615 billions of square kilometres of global earth surface, mostly placed in populated regions of Europe, Africa, Asia and South America. During 2011, first contacts with DGREGIO were made in order to understand if the JRC IQ technology and the derived GHSL information layers may be of interest in the context of the “European Urban Atlas” (UA) implementation and in general, in pan-European mapping and characterization of European settlements. This feasibility report describes the application of the GHSL protocol according to the Urban Atlas product specifications and more specifically the comparison between SSL output information with the GHSL built-up information extraction in the context of the Urban Atlas 2012-2013. The objectives of the work described in this report were i) to test the processing capacity of the JRC IQ system in order to assess the feasibility of a pan-European GHSL coverage or “built-upareas detection” using the image data prepared for the UA 2012-2013, ii) to assess the reliability and added value of the automatic image information retrieval by systematic comparison of the automatic output with a known reference layer reporting about similar information, namely, the European soil sealing layer.