Adding Value to the Urban Data Value Chain With the Urban-TEP

Abstract

Urbanization is among the most relevant global trends related to the human presence on the planet. As such, it poses a major challenge for the current urban population and the well-being of the next generation. To fully understand and properly mitigate the impact of this change, we need precise and up-to-date information of the urban areas. The Urban Thematic Exploitation Platform (U-TEP) focuses on delivering multi-source information on trans-sectoral urban challenges. In 2019, U-TEP functionalities and user-interface of were streamlined, new products and services added. With these developments, the platform entered the operational phase. The U-TEP is developed to provide end-to-end and ready-to-use solutions for a broad spectrum of users (experts and non-experts) to extract unique information/ indicators required for urban management and sustainability. Key components of the system are an open, web-based portal connected to distributed high-level computing infrastructures and providing key functionalities for i) high-performance data access and processing, ii) modular and generic state-of-the art pre-processing, analysis, and visualization, iii) customized development and sharing of algorithms, products and services, and iv) networking and communication. Besides the product portfolio, that provides access to the archives of Copernicus and Landsat missions, as well as products like the World Settlement Footprint (WSF), the on-demand processing of new data products and the possibility of developing and deploying new processors, U-TEP allows analyzing and visualizing project-related geospatial content with the VISAT tool. Multiple visualizations (scopes) are available for registered users, but can also be newly set up. One available scope exemplary illustrates the exploitation of the WSF-Evolution dataset by analyzing the settlement and population development for South-East Asian countries from 1985 to 2015 in the context of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.3.1 indicator (Fig. 1). Other accessible scopes focus on green public space (SDG 11.7) or the interactive urban heat island modelling by entering new land-use scenarios by the user.