Introducing Populace: Mapping Humanity in Unprecedented Detail
Planet Labs, Microsoft, and the University of Washington’s IHME have released Populace, a quarterly-updated global population density map at 40-meter resolution, addressing gaps in outdated census data.
For decades, global population maps have relied on infrequent censuses that often miss rapidly growing urban areas, leaving vulnerable communities uncounted. Populace addresses this by combining satellite imagery, AI, and demographic modeling to provide a continuously updated view of where people live. The initiative was launched in early 2024 through a partnership between Planet Labs, Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab, and the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. The result is a dataset that fills critical gaps in humanitarian planning, public health, and infrastructure development.
Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab processed trillions of satellite pixels to detect human settlements and track changes in built environments over time. These AI-derived signals were then combined with traditional census and survey data by IHME researchers to estimate population densities. The collaboration leverages Planet’s daily satellite imagery, Microsoft’s machine learning models, and IHME’s spatial demography expertise to produce the most detailed and current population data available. The dataset is designed to remain reliable even in regions lacking recent or accurate census data.
Populace enables public health officials to target vaccination campaigns, model disease spread, and assess heat and air pollution exposure with greater precision. Urban planners can use the data to guide infrastructure investments, while national statistical offices preparing for the 2030 Census Round can refine enumeration strategies. Humanitarian organizations can overlay the data with post-disaster imagery to estimate affected populations within hours rather than weeks.
The dataset is freely available to nonprofits and researchers under noncommercial licensing, while governments and businesses can access it under commercial terms with more frequent updates. Hosted at populace.healthdata.org, Populace aims to ensure no community is left uncounted amid rapid urbanization, migration, and climate-related risks. The partners emphasize its potential to inform anticipatory action and protect vulnerable populations through improved risk assessment.