GHS-SMOD ARCTIC R2025A – degree of urbanisation settlement model for the Arctic region (1975-2030)

This dataset is part of GHSL-Arctic, the Arctic edition of the Global Human Settlement Layer. GHS-SMOD ARCTIC represents the application of the Degree of Urbanisation methodology endorsed by the UN Statistical Commission, for the epochs 1975 to 2030, in 5-year intervals, for the Arctic region. The Degree of Urbanisation method categorizes the Earth's surface into either three broad classes (level 1) or seven more detailed classes (level 2), capturing the spectrum from rural to urban areas. For instance, level one differentiates between urban centres, peri-urban or semi-dense areas, and rural areas. The Degree of Urbanisation method is based on segmentation of gridded population data (GHS-POP_ARCTIC_R2025A) and gridded built-up surface estimates from GHS-BUILT-S_ARCTIC_R2025A) in the North Pole LAEA Europe (EPSG:3575) spatial reference system. These datasets represent the Degree of Urbanisation settlement model at the detailed level 2. The level-1 classification can be obtained by class aggregation.