LandScan™ - Global High Resolution Population Data Available from ComputaMaps

Cape Town – 9 February, 2007 - ComputaMaps (Cape Town, South Africa) announced today the release of LandScan™, the highest resolution population dataset currently available with consistent global coverage.

Available national census data are collected and aggregated at varying scales and are of varying vintage, sometimes decades old. To address the need for a consistent global, high-resolution population database, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed a sophisticated algorithm to augment census data by incorporating factors known to affect settlement geography patterns.

Most national censuses count populations by measuring where people sleep (or reside) rather than where they work or travel. LandScan™ integrates daytime movements and collective travel habits into a single measure to produce a better representation of where people are located during an average day.

Probability coefficients are assigned to each value of each input variable, and a composite probability coefficient is calculated for each LandScan™ cell, independent of census data, which is then used to apportion shares of actual population counts within any particular area of interest.

Coefficients for all regions are based on the following input data:

• Best available population counts from latest national census data
• Roads, weighted by distance from major roads
• Elevation, weighted by the presence of favorable slope conditions
• Land Cover, weighted by type with exclusions for certain types
• Night-time lights, weighted by frequency gain

Updated annually, the resulting LandScan™ dataset provides global coverage of population at 1x1 kilometer resolution, the finest spatial resolution yet developed. Under license from ORNL, ComputaMaps has made the LandScan™ population data available for all or part of the world either as a stand-alone database or as an optional layer in our Regional and Urban Planner databases.

LandScan™ is available in UTM or Geographic projection, WGS84 datum, by individual country or continent, or as a single global coverage in common raster or vector formats.

Visit  the LandScan™ product page at www.computamaps.com for more information.

ComputaMaps is a leading global provider of geomatic products and services providing accurate, up-to-date and cost-effective geospatial data solutions to clients across six continents. In addition to our leading position in meeting the geodata requirements of the worldwide wireless telecommunication industry, ComputaMaps also serves diverse markets including 3D Visualization and Simulation, Aviation and Flight Safety, Navigation, Broadcast Weather, Oil and Gas, and Natural Resource Management. Our clients enjoy the benefits of our extensive off-the-shelf data catalog of products, one of the world‘s largest commercial archives of digital geodata. To date, ComputaMaps has produced multilayer databases integrating terrain, clutter, orthoimagery and vectors for 197 countries and over 3000 cities and towns. With offices on four continents, ComputaMaps is an international company with international experience, with a dedicated and highly responsive sales and support team to assist with pre-sales enquiries, commercial offers, and customer support.