We are pleased to announce that Nature has recently featured our GlobalBuildingAtlas dataset in a news article highlighting new advances in global-scale building mapping and Earth observation data products.
The Nature report recognizes GlobalBuildingAtlas as a major step toward comprehensive, high-resolution mapping of the built environment at the global scale, emphasizing its potential impact across urban studies, climate research, disaster risk assessment, and sustainability science.
👉 Nature coverage: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-04036-x
About GlobalBuildingAtlas
GlobalBuildingAtlas is an open, global dataset that provides consistent building footprint and height information for built-up areas worldwide. The dataset combines satellite Earth observation data with state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to generate detailed representations of buildings at an unprecedented spatial scale.
Unlike previous global products, GlobalBuildingAtlas offers building-level geometric and vertical information across diverse geographic regions, enabling large-scale analyses of urban form, population exposure, and infrastructure vulnerability.
Scientific and societal relevance
As highlighted by Nature, GlobalBuildingAtlas addresses a long-standing gap in global geospatial data availability. Reliable information on building distribution and structure is essential for:
- urbanization and land-use analysis,
- disaster risk and climate impact assessments,
- energy demand and emissions modeling, and
- monitoring progress toward sustainability and resilience goals.
By making this dataset openly available, GlobalBuildingAtlas aims to support both scientific research and evidence-based decision-making worldwide.