Breaking new ground in mapping human settlements from space – The Global Urban Footprint

ISPRS Journal of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing

Volumn 134, Issue , 2017, Pages 30-42

  Esch, Thomas ^a,b   Heldens, Wieke ^a   Hirner, Andreas ^a   Keil, Manfred ^a   Marconcini, Mattia ^a   Roth, Achim ^a   Zeidler, Julian ^a   Dech, Stefan ^a,b   Strano, Emanuele ^a,c  

^a GERMAN AEROSPACE CENTER DLR   (Germany)

^b UNIVERSITY OF WÜRZBURG   (Germany)

^c Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge   (United States)

Author keywords

Automation; Global mapping; Human settlements; Image analysis; Processing; TanDEM X; TerraSAR X; Texture; Urbanization

Indexed keywords

AUTOMATION; IMAGE ANALYSIS; MAPPING; POPULATION STATISTICS; QUALITY CONTROL; REMOTE SENSING; SATELLITES; SPACE-BASED RADAR;

GLOBAL MAPPING; GLOBAL URBANIZATION; GROUND TRUTH DATA; HUMAN SETTLEMENTS; IMAGE-ANALYSIS; PROCESSING; RURAL SETTLEMENT; TANDEM-X; TERRASAR-X; URBANIZATION;

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT;

AUTOMATION; DATA PROCESSING; GLOBAL CHANGE; HUMAN SETTLEMENT; IMAGE ANALYSIS; IMAGERY; MAPPING METHOD; POPULATION GROWTH; RADAR; SPATIAL RESOLUTION; TANDEM-X; TERRASAR-X; TEXTURE; URBAN AREA; URBANIZATION;

EID: 85032216915     PISSN: 09242716     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2017.10.012     Document Type: Article

References (60)

1. Ban, Y., Gong, P., Giri, C., Global land cover mapping using Earth observation satellite data: recent progresses and challenges. ISPRS J. Photogramm. Rem. Sens. 103 (2015), 1–6.
2. Ban, Y., Jacob, A., Gamba, P., Spaceborne SAR data for global urban mapping at 30 m resolution using a robust urban extractor. ISPRS J. Photogramm. Rem. Sens. 103 (2015), 28–37.
3. Batty, M., The size, scale, and shape of cities. Science 319:5864 (2008), 769–771.
4. Birch, E.L., Wachter, S., Global Urbanization. 2011, University of Pennsylvania Press.
5. Bontemps, S., Defourny, P., Bogaert, E.V., Arino, O., Kalogirou, V., Perez, J.R., 2011. GLOBCOVER 2009-Products Description and Validation Report.
6. Böttcher, M., Reißig, R., Mikusch, E., Reck, C., 2001. Processing Management Tools for Earth Observation Products at DLR-DFD. Data Systems in Aero-Space (DASIA).
7. Chang, F., Chen, C.-J., Lu, C.-J., A linear-time component-labeling algorithm using contour tracing technique. Comput. Vis. Image Underst. 93:2 (2004), 206–220.
8. Chen, J., Chen, J., Liao, A., Cao, X., Chen, L., Chen, X., He, C., Han, G., Peng, S., Lu, M., Zhang, W., Tong, X., Mills, J., Global land cover mapping at 30 m resolution: a POK-based operational approach. ISPRS J. Photogramm. Rem. Sens. 103 (2015), 7–27.
9. Cieslewicz, D.J., The environmental impacts of urban sprawl. Squires, G.D., (eds.) Urban Sprawl. Causes, Consequences & Policy Responses, 2002, The Urban Institute Press, Washington, DC, 23–38.
10. Clauset, A., Shalizi, C.R., Newman, M.E.J., Power-law distributions in empirical data. SIAM Rev. 51:4 (2009), 661–703.
11. COPERNICUS, 2012. Copernicus Land Monitoring Services – Imperviousness 2012. URL < http://land.copernicus.eu/pan-european/high-resolution-layers/imperviousness/imperviousness-2012/view>.
12. Daily, G.C., Ehrlich, P.R., Population, sustainability, and Earth's carrying capacity. Bioscience 42:10 (1992), 761–771.
13. DLR, 2016. TanDEM–X Science Plan. URL < https://tandemx-science.dlr.de/pdfs/TD-GS-PL-0069TanDEM-X-Science-Plan-V1-300610.pdf>.
14. DLR, 2017. Exploiting the Mass Data Perspective of Modern Earth Observation Missions – The TimeScan Processing Framework.
15. Dye, C., Health and urban living. Science 319:5864 (2008), 766–769.
16. EEA, 2016. GIO Land (GMES/Copernicus Initial Operations Land) High Resolution Layers (HRLs) – Summary of Product Specifications. URL < https://cws-download.eea.europa.eu/pan-european/hrl/HRL_Summary_for_publication_v13.pdf>.
17. Esch, T., Asamer, H., Boettcher, M., Brito, F., Hirner, A., Marconcini, M., Mathot, E., Metz, A., Permana, H., Soukup, T., et al., 2016. Earth Observation-Supported Service Platform for the Development and Provision of Thematic Information on the Built Environment–the TEP-Urban Project.
18. Esch, T., Felbier, A., Heldens, W., Marconcini, M., Roth, A., Taubenbock, H., 2013a. Spatially detailed mapping of settlement patterns using SAR data of the TanDEM-X mission. In: Urban Remote Sensing Event (JURSE), 2013 Joint, pp. 041–044.
19. Esch, T., Marconcini, M., Felbier, A., Roth, A., Heldens, W., Huber, M., Schwinger, M., Taubenböck, H., Müller, A., Dech, S., Urban footprint processor; fully automated processing chain generating settlement masks from global data of the TanDEM-X mission. IEEE Geosci. Rem. Sens. Lett. 10:6 (2013), 1617–1621.
20. Esch, T., Marconcini, M., Marmanis, D., Zeidler, J., Elsayed, S., Metz, A., Müller, A., Dech, S., Dimensioning urbanization – an advanced procedure for characterizing human settlement properties and patterns using spatial network analysis. Appl. Geogr. 55 (2014), 212–228.
21. Esch, T., Schenk, A., Ullmann, T., Thiel, M., Roth, A., Dech, S., Characterization of land cover types in TerraSAR-X images by combined analysis of speckle statistics and intensity information. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Rem. Sens. 49 (2011), 1911–1925.
22. Esch, T., Taubenböck, H., Heldens, W., Thiel, M., Wurm, M., Geiß C., Dech, S., 2010a. Urban remote sensing – how can earth observation support the sustainable development of urban environments? In: Schrenk, Manfred, Popovich, Vasily, Zeile, Peter (Eds.), Real CORP, pp. 1–11.
23. Esch, T., Taubenböck, H., Roth, A., Heldens, W., Felbier, A., Thiel, M., Schmidt, M., Müller, A., Dech, S., TanDEM-X mission—new perspectives for the inventory and monitoring of global settlement patterns. J. Appl. Rem. Sens., 6(1), 2012 061702–1–061702–21.
24. Esch, T., Thiel, M., Schenk, A., Roth, A., Muller, A., Dech, S., Delineation of urban footprints from TerraSAR-X data by analyzing speckle characteristics and intensity information. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Rem. Sens. 48:2 (2010), 905–916.
25. Felbier, A., Esch, T., Heldens, W., Marconcini, M., Zeidler, J., Roth, A., Klotz, M., Wurm, M., Taubenböck, H., 2014. The global urban footprint; processing status and cross comparison to existing human settlement products. In: 2014 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, pp. 4816–4819.
26. Fomferra, N., Bottcher, M., Zuhlke, M., Brockmann, C., Kwiatkowska, E., 2012. Calvalus: Full-mission EO cal/val, processing and exploitation services. In: IGARSS 2012 – 2012 IEEE International Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, pp. 5278–5281.
27. Gamba, P., Herold, M., (eds.) Global Mapping of Human Settlement: Experiences, Datasets, and Prospects, 2009, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA.
28. Gamba, P., Lisini, G., 2012. A robust approach to global urban area extent extraction using ASAR wide swath mode data. In: Advances in Radar and Remote Sensing, pp. 1–5.
29. GDAL, 2016. Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (gdaldem). Tools to Analyze and Visualize DEMs. URL < http://www.gdal.org/gdaldem.html>.
30. Gessner, Ursula, Esch, T., Tillack, A., Naeimi, V., Kuenzer, C., Dech, S., Multi-sensor mapping of West African land cover using MODIS, ASAR and TanDEM-X/TerraSAR-X data. Rem. Sens. Environ. 164 (2015), 282–297.
31. Grimm, N.B., Faeth, S.H., Golubiewski, N.E., Redman, C.L., Wu, J., Bai, X., Briggs, J.M., Global change and the ecology of cities. Science 319:5864 (2008), 756–760.
32. Habermeyer, M., Marschalk, U., Roth, A., 2009. W42-a scalable spatial database system for holding digital elevation models. In: 2009 17th International Conference on Geoinformatics, pp. 1–6.
33. Johnson, M.P., Environmental impacts of urban sprawl: a survey of the literature and proposed research agenda. Environ. Plann. A 33:4 (2001), 717–735.
34. Kaufmann, R.K., Seto, K.C., Schneider, A., Liu, Z., Zhou, L., Wang, W., Climate response to rapid urban growth: evidence of a human-induced precipitation deficit. J. Clim. 20:10 (2007), 2299–2306.
35. Kennelly, P.J., Stewart, A.J., A uniform sky illumination model to enhance shading of terrain and urban areas. Cartogr. Geogr. Inform. Sci. 33:1 (2006), 21–36.
36. Klotz, M., Kemper, T., Geiß C., Esch, T., Taubenböck, H., How good is the map? A multi-scale cross-comparison framework for global settlement layers: evidence from Central Europe. Rem. Sens. Environ. 178 (2016), 191–212.
37. Krieger, G., Moreira, A., Fiedler, H., Hajnsek, I., Werner, M., Younis, M., Zink, M., TanDEM-X: a satellite formation for high-resolution SAR interferometry. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Rem. Sens. 45:11 (2007), 3317–3341.
38. Marconcini, M., Marmanis, D., Esch, T., Felbier, A., 2014. A novel method for building height estimation using TanDEM-X data. In: 2014 IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, pp. 4804–4807.
39. Miyazaki, H., Shao, X., Iwao, K., Shibasaki, R., An automated method for global urban area mapping by integrating ASTER satellite images and GIS data. IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Obs. Rem. Sens. 6:2 (2013), 1004–1019.
40. Moore, M., Gould, P., Keary, B.S., Global urbanization and impact on health. Int. J. Hyg. Environ. Health 206:4–5 (2003), 269–278.
41. MRLC, 2016. Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium – National Land Cover Database 2011 – NLCD 2011. URL < http://www.mrlc.gov/nlcd2011.php>.
42. NASA, 2012. National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Night Lights 2012. URL < http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=79803>.
43. NASA, 2016a. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory – ASTER Global Digital Elevation Map Announcement. URL < https://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/gdem.asp>.
44. NASA, 2016b. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory – Shuttle Radar Topography Mission – U.S. Releases Enhanced Shuttle Land Elevation Data. URL < http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm>.
45. OpenStreetMap, 2016. URL < http://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/MainPage>.
46. Pesaresi, M., Ehrlich, D., Ferri, S., Florczyk, A.J., Freire, S., Halkia, M., Julea, A., Kemper, T., Soille, P., Syrris, V., 2016. Operating Procedure for the Production of the Global Human Settlement Layer from Landsat Data of the Epochs 1975, 1990, 2000, and 2014.
47. Potere, D., Schneider, A., A critical look at representations of urban areas in global maps. GeoJournal 69:1 (2007), 55–80.
48. Potere, D., Schneider, A., Angel, S., Civco, D.L., Mapping urban areas on a global scale: which of the eight maps now available is more accurate?. Int. J. Rem. Sens. 30:24 (2009), 6531–6558.
49. Schneider, A., Friedl, M., David, Potere, Mapping global urban areas using MODIS 500-m data: new methods and datasets based on ‘urban ecoregions’. Rem. Sens. Environ. 114:8 (2010), 1733–1746.
50. Seto, K.C., Fragkias, M., Güneralp, B., Reilly, M.K., A meta-analysis of global urban land expansion. PLOS ONE 6:8 (2011), 1–9.
51. Tilman, D., Balzer, C., Hill, J., Befort, B.L., Global food demand and the sustainable intensification of agriculture. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 108:50 (2011), 20260–20264.
52. UN, 2001. Cities in a Globalizing World: Global Report on Human Settlements 2001. Earthscan.
53. UN, 2004. The State of the World Cities 2004/5 – Globalization and Urban Culture. Routledge.
54. UN, 2006. The State of the World Cities 2006/7 – The Millennium Development Goals and Urban Sustainability. Routledge.
55. UN, 2014. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision.
56. Werninghaus, R., Buckreuss, S., The TerraSAR-X mission and system design. IEEE Trans. Geosci. Rem. Sens. 48:2 (2010), 606–614.
57. Wieland, M., Pittore, M., Large-area settlement pattern recognition from Landsat-8 data. ISPRS J. Photogramm. Rem. Sens. 119 (2016), 294–308.
58. Zhou, L., Dickinson, R.E., Tian, Y., Fang, J., Li, Q., Kaufmann, R.K., Tucker, C.J., Myneni, R.B., Evidence for a significant urbanization effect on climate in China. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 101:26 (2004), 9540–9544.
59. Zhou, Q., Relief shading using digital elevation models. Comput. Geosci. 18:8 (1992), 1035–1045.
60. Zipf, G., Human Behavior and the Principle of Least Effort. 1949, Addison-Wesley, Cambridge, Massachusetts.