LandScan

LandScan: Mapping where people are

ORNL’s LandScan program provides high-resolution population distribution data that helps researchers and decision-makers understand where people are likely to be-across the world, across the United States, and through time.

Explore LandScan

Global reach

Population distribution data for worldwide insights

25+ years

A legacy of population dynamics data at ORNL

Built for decisions

Leveraged to inform planning, response, and recovery

Diverse data sources

Large-scale data fusion integrates building, POl, land use, and remote sensing information

More than a map

ORNL researchers developed LandScan in the late 1990s to address a fundamental problem: Census totals alone could not provide a consistent, realistic view of population distribution around the world. LandScan Global launched in 1998, and the program has evolved with advances in geospatial science, remote sensing, computing, and population modeling.

Today, LandScan supports research and operational analysis across government, academia, and emergency response organizations. It has been used to estimate populations at risk and inform response and recovery following major disasters and during complex geopolitical crises.

Celebrating 25 years

For more than 25 years, ORNL has produced LandScan datasets, high-fidelity models of global population distribution. Learn about this data’s impact on global disaster response and how researchers are now integrating Al to provide rapid updates and future population simulations.