Access to data is based on a principle of full, open and free access as established by the Copernicus data and information policy Regulation (EU) No 1159/2013 of 12 July 2013. This regulation establishes registration and licensing conditions for GMES/Copernicus users.

Free, full and open access to this data set is made on the conditions that:

1. When distributing or communicating Copernicus dedicated data and Copernicus service information to the public, users shall inform the public of the source of that data and information.

2. Users shall make sure not to convey the impression to the public that the user's activities are officially endorsed by the Union.

3. Where that data or information has been adapted or modified, the user shall clearly state this.

4. The data remain the sole property of the European Union. Any information and data produced in the framework of the action shall be the sole property of the European Union. Any communication and publication by the beneficiary shall acknowledge that the data were produced “with funding by the European Union”.

The Urban Atlas is mainly based on the combination of (statistical) image classification and visual interpretation of Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite imagery. Multispectral SPOT 5 & 6 and Formosat-2 pan-sharpened imagery with a 2 to 2.5m spatial resolution is used as input data. The built-up classes are combined with density information on the level of sealed soil derived from the High Resolution Layer imperviousness to provide more detail in the density of the urban fabric. Finally, the Urban Atlas product is complemented and enriched with functional information (road network, services, utilities etc…) using ancillary data sources such as local city maps or online map services.

During the mapping campaign for the update of Urban Atlas 2018, the LCLU status product of Urban Atlas 2012 was revised.

Version 021 marks the new revised FUAs with the population estimates added as attribute Pop2012.

Typology:

11100 Continuous Urban Fabric (S.L. > 80%)

11210 Discontinuous Dense Urban Fabric (S.L. : 50% - 80%)

11220 Discontinuous Medium Density Urban Fabric (S.L. : 30% - 50%)

11230 Discontinuous Low Density Urban Fabric (S.L. : 10% - 30%)

11240 Discontinuous Very Low Density Urban Fabric (S.L. < 10%)

11300 Isolated Structures

12100 Industrial, commercial, public, military and private units

12210 Fast transit roads and associated land

12220 Other roads and associated land

12230 Railways and associated land

12300 Port areas

12400 Airports

13100 Mineral extraction and dump sites

13300 Construction sites

13400 Land without current use

14100 Green urban areas

14200 Sports and leisure facilities

21000 Arable land (annual crops)

22000 Permanent crops (vineyards, fruit trees, olive groves)

23000 Pastures

24000 Complex and mixed cultivation patterns

25000 Orchards at the fringe of urban classes

31000 Forests

32000 Herbaceous vegetation associations (natural grassland, moors...)

33000 Open spaces with little or no vegetations (beaches, dunes, bare rocks, glaciers)

40000 Wetland

50000 Water bodies

External Quality control realized by IGNFI.