Author(s)

J. Weichselbaum, F. Petrini-Monteferri, M. Papathoma, W. Wagner & N. Hackner

Abstract

Information about population distribution is important for planning purposes and geomarketing. Census data are often only available for large administrative units with arbitrary boundaries that convey a wrong impression of homogeneous population density leading to analytical and cartographic problems. To refine census data dasymetric methods can be used, which disaggregate them to finer scales by incorporating information on land use and land cover. In this study, census data from Vienna, Austria, are disaggregated by means of a dasymetric method, which uses as input land use/land cover data and sealing intensity information derived from very high resolution Earth Observation data as well as digital infrastructure data from Tele Atlas. This method employs a calibration procedure to assign meaningful population densities to the land use/land cover classes. The final results are ‘sharpened’ population density maps on the basis of regular grid cells or building blocks, the latter derived from Tele Atlas digital road network data. Such maps provide a more realistic representation of the actual population distribution than traditional coropleth maps. Keywords: earth observation, land use, land cover, dasymetric mapping, data disaggregation, population density, census, coropleth maps.

Keywords

earth observation, land use, land cover, dasymetric mapping, data disaggregation, population density, census, coropleth maps.