European Commission logo
JRC Data Catalogue
DATASETCompleted

GHS-SMOD R2016A - GHS settlement grid, following the REGIO model 2014 in application to GHSL Landsat and CIESIN GPW v4-multitemporal (1975-1990-2000-2015) - OBSOLETE RELEASE

QR code

OBSOLETE RELEASE

Get the latest release at https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/download.php

The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) project is supported by European Commission, Joint Research Center and Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy. The GHSL produces new global spatial information, evidence-based analytics, and knowledge describing the human presence in the planet.

The GHSL relies on the design and implementation of new spatial data mining technologies allowing to process automatically and extract analytics and knowledge from large amount of heterogeneous data including: global, fine-scale satellite image data streams, census data, and crowd sources or volunteering geographic information sources. Spatial data reporting objectively and systematically about the presence of population and built-up infrastructures are necessary for any evidence-based modelling or assessing of i) human and physical exposure to threats as environmental contamination and degradation, natural disasters and conflicts, ii) impact of human activities on ecosystems, and iii) access to resources.

This dataset presents an assessment of the REGIO degree of urbanization model using as input the population GRID cells generated by the JRC in four epochs (1975, 1990, 2000, 2015). It has been generated by integration of built-up areas extracted from Landsat image data processing, and population data derived from the CIESIN GPW v4.

Contributors

Martino Pesaresi; Sergio Freire

How to cite

Pesaresi, Martino; Freire, Sergio (2026): GHS-SMOD R2016A - GHS settlement grid, following the REGIO model 2014 in application to GHSL Landsat and CIESIN GPW v4-multitemporal (1975-1990-2000-2015) - OBSOLETE RELEASE. European Commission, Joint Research Centre [Dataset] doi: 10.2905/JRC.9M1K6KG PID: http://data.europa.eu/89h/jrc-ghsl-ghs_smod_pop_globe_r2016a

Keywords

degree of urbanizationGHS-SMODGHSLglobal mapGPWhigh density clusterslow density clustersSettlement modelurban centerurban clusterurban-rural population

Data access

GHS_SMOD_POP_GLOBE_R2016A
TIFF

TIFF – Tagged Image File Format – is a computer file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry and photographers. TIFF is widely supported by scanning, faxing, word processing, optical character recognition, image manipulation, desktop publishing and page-layout applications. The format was created by Aldus Corporation for use in desktop publishing.
Downloadable file

A downloadable file for the dataset.

Use conditions
European Commission reuse notice

According to the European Commission reuse notice, reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by the Decision of 12 December 2011. The general principle of reuse can be subject to conditions which may be specified in individual copyright notices. Therefore users are advised to refer to the copyright notices of the individual websites maintained under Europa and of the individual documents. Reuse is not applicable to documents subject to intellectual property rights of third parties.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

  • The data are organised in several datasets, i.e., one GHS settlement grid per each epoch 1975, 1990, 2000 and 2015; HDC and LDC layers for 2015 with unique identifier per each cluster. All datasets are offered at low resolution (1km, World Mollweide projection). Each dataset is distributed in a compressed ZIP file, that contains TIF file with pyramids and documentation.

Other resources

GHSL website
HTML

HTML is the standard markup language used to create web pages and its elements form the building blocks of all websites.

Use conditions
European Commission reuse notice

According to the European Commission reuse notice, reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by the Decision of 12 December 2011. The general principle of reuse can be subject to conditions which may be specified in individual copyright notices. Therefore users are advised to refer to the copyright notices of the individual websites maintained under Europa and of the individual documents. Reuse is not applicable to documents subject to intellectual property rights of third parties.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

  • Project Web site

GHSL Data Packages. Instructions for data access. V1.0
PDF

PDF – Portable Document Format – is a file format developed to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware and operating systems. Based on the PostScript language, each PDF file encapsulates a complete description of a fixed-layout flat document, including the text, fonts, vector graphics, raster images and other information needed to display it. PDF was standardized as an open format and does not require any royalties for its implementation.

Use conditions
European Commission reuse notice

According to the European Commission reuse notice, reuse is authorised, provided the source is acknowledged. The reuse policy of the European Commission is implemented by the Decision of 12 December 2011. The general principle of reuse can be subject to conditions which may be specified in individual copyright notices. Therefore users are advised to refer to the copyright notices of the individual websites maintained under Europa and of the individual documents. Reuse is not applicable to documents subject to intellectual property rights of third parties.

Access conditions
No limitations

Anybody can directly and anonymously access the data, without being required to register or authenticate.

Publications

Publication
Regional Working Paper 2014. A harmonised definition of cities and rural areas: the new degree of urbanisation

Temporal coverage

From date To date
1975-01-01 2014-12-30

Additional information

Published by
European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Contact email
jrc-ghsl-data (at) ec.europa.eu
Update frequency
irregular

The event occurs at uneven intervals.

Language(s)
English

English is a member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages. It is an official language of almost 60 sovereign states and is now a global lingua franca.It is the third-most-common native language in the world and it is widely learned as a second language.

Data theme(s)
Regions and cities

dataset theme covering the domains of regions and cities, where regions is defined by political geography units including sovereign states, subnational administrative areas, and multinational groupings, and cities are characterised as large human settlements
Science and technology

dataset theme covering the domains of science and technology, with science being the systematic pursuit of knowledge through testable explanations and predictions across natural, social, and formal disciplines, and technology encompassing the collective techniques, skills, methods, and processes used in producing goods, providing services, or achieving objectives like scientific research

Geographical name(s)
World
Issued date
2016-01-12
Created date
14 Dec 2018 10:41
Modified date
07 Aug 2025 15:29
Landing page
https://ghsl.jrc.ec.europa.eu/ 
Dataset identifier
http://data.europa.eu/89h/jrc-ghsl-ghs_smod_pop_globe_r2016a
Other identifiers
Rate this page
Please vote (optional).
An unhandled error has occurred. Reload 🗙