The current resource was derived from original Copernicus High Resolution Layer Imperviousness Density 2015 product for the purposes of imperviousness indicator (LSI002) calculations within the EEA LEAC CUBE environment. The dataset is also input to the imperviousness indicator itself. The high resolution imperviousness products capture the percentage and change of soil sealing. Built-up areas are characterized by the substitution of the original (semi-) natural land cover or water surface with an artificial, often impervious cover. These artificial surfaces are usually maintained over long periods of time. A series of high resolution imperviousness datasets (for the 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015 reference years) with all artificially sealed areas was produced using automatic derivation based on calibrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This series of imperviousness layers constitutes the main status layers. They are per-pixel estimates of impermeable cover of soil (soil sealing) and are mapped as the degree of imperviousness (0-100%). Imperviousness change layers were produced as a difference between the reference years (2006-2009, 2009-2012, 2012-2015 and additionally 2006-2012, to fully match the CORINE Land Cover production cycle) and are presented 1) as degree of imperviousness change (100% - +100%), in 20m and 100m pixel size, and 2) a classified (categorical) 20m change product. The latest version (published: 15/01/2019) of 100m resolution imperviousness status layers represents a time series consistent with 100m resolution imperviousness change layers - the cell by cell difference of the degree of imperviousness status corresponds to the degree of imperviousness change. The production of the High Resolution Imperviousness products was coordinated by the European Environment Agency in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme.

The current resource was derived from original Copernicus High Resolution Layer Imperviousness Density 2012 product for the purposes of imperviousness indicator (LSI002) calculations within the EEA LEAC CUBE environment. The dataset is also input to the imperviousness indicator itself. The high resolution imperviousness products capture the percentage and change of soil sealing. Built-up areas are characterized by the substitution of the original (semi-) natural land cover or water surface with an artificial, often impervious cover. These artificial surfaces are usually maintained over long periods of time. A series of high resolution imperviousness datasets (for the 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015 reference years) with all artificially sealed areas was produced using automatic derivation based on calibrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This series of imperviousness layers constitutes the main status layers. They are per-pixel estimates of impermeable cover of soil (soil sealing) and are mapped as the degree of imperviousness (0-100%). Imperviousness change layers were produced as a difference between the reference years (2006-2009, 2009-2012, 2012-2015 and additionally 2006-2012, to fully match the CORINE Land Cover production cycle) and are presented 1) as degree of imperviousness change (100% - +100%), in 20m and 100m pixel size, and 2) a classified (categorical) 20m change product. The latest version (published: 15/01/2019) of 100m resolution imperviousness status layers represents a time series consistent with 100m resolution imperviousness change layers - the cell by cell difference of the degree of imperviousness status corresponds to the degree of imperviousness change. The production of the High Resolution Imperviousness products was coordinated by the European Environment Agency in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme.

Percentage of built-up area (PBA) measures how large the built-up areas are (in % of the landscape). PBA is a component of the new urban sprawl metric, named "Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP). WUP is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area is built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area is in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilisation intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas (PBA), the dispersion of the built-up areas (DIS), and land uptake per person (LUP). Values for landscapes of differing sizes can be directly compared because PBA is an intensive metric, i.e., the value does not depend on the size of the landscape. The PBA dataset is used in EEA's Urban Sprawl work indicating urbanisation impacts on the land system. It covers EEA39.

The current dataset was derived from original Copernicus High Resolution Layer Imperviousness Density 2009 product product for the purposes of imperviousness indicator (LSI002) calculations within the EEA LEAC CUBE environment. The dataset is also input to the imperviousness indicator itself. The high resolution imperviousness products capture the percentage and change of soil sealing. Built-up areas are characterized by the substitution of the original (semi-) natural land cover or water surface with an artificial, often impervious cover. These artificial surfaces are usually maintained over long periods of time. A series of high resolution imperviousness datasets (for the 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015 reference years) with all artificially sealed areas was produced using automatic derivation based on calibrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This series of imperviousness layers constitutes the main status layers. They are per-pixel estimates of impermeable cover of soil (soil sealing) and are mapped as the degree of imperviousness (0-100%). Imperviousness change layers were produced as a difference between the reference years (2006-2009, 2009-2012, 2012-2015 and additionally 2006-2012, to fully match the CORINE Land Cover production cycle) and are presented 1) as degree of imperviousness change (100% - +100%), in 20m and 100m pixel size, and 2) a classified (categorical) 20m change product. The latest version (published: 15/01/2019) of 100m resolution imperviousness status layers represents a time series consistent with 100m resolution imperviousness change layers - the cell by cell difference of the degree of imperviousness status corresponds to the degree of imperviousness change. The production of the High Resolution Imperviousness products was coordinated by the European Environment Agency in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme.

The current resource was derived from original Copernicus High Resolution Layer Imperviousness Density 2006 product for the purposes of imperviousness indicator (LSI002) calculations within the EEA LEAC CUBE environment. The dataset is also input to the imperviousness indicator itself. The high resolution imperviousness products capture the percentage and change of soil sealing. Built-up areas are characterized by the substitution of the original (semi-) natural land cover or water surface with an artificial, often impervious cover. These artificial surfaces are usually maintained over long periods of time. A series of high resolution imperviousness datasets (for the 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2015 reference years) with all artificially sealed areas was produced using automatic derivation based on calibrated Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). This series of imperviousness layers constitutes the main status layers. They are per-pixel estimates of impermeable cover of soil (soil sealing) and are mapped as the degree of imperviousness (0-100%). Imperviousness change layers were produced as a difference between the reference years (2006-2009, 2009-2012, 2012-2015 and additionally 2006-2012, to fully match the CORINE Land Cover production cycle) and are presented 1) as degree of imperviousness change (100% - +100%), in 20m and 100m pixel size, and 2) a classified (categorical) 20m change product. The latest version (published: 15/01/2019) of 100m resolution imperviousness status layers represents a time series consistent with 100m resolution imperviousness change layers - the cell by cell difference of the degree of imperviousness status corresponds to the degree of imperviousness change. The production of the High Resolution Imperviousness products was coordinated by the European Environment Agency in the frame of the EU Copernicus programme.

The new urban sprawl metric, named "Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area is built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area is in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilisation intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas (PBA), the dispersion of the built-up areas (DIS), and land uptake per person (LUP). Besides WUP and its components, the other indicator was calculated: Utilisation Density (UD). UD measures the number of people living and working per km2 of built-up area.

The degree of urban dispersion (DIS) characterizes the settlement pattern in a geometric perspective and is based on the distances between any two points within built-up areas (average taken over all possible pairs of points, up to a maximum distance called the horizon of perception). DIS is input to the Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric, which has three components: the percentage of built-up areas (PBA), the dispersion of the built-up areas (DIS), and land uptake per person (LUP). The new urban sprawl metric, named "Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area is built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area is in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilisation intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. The DIS dataset is used in EEA's Urban Sprawl work indicating urbanisation impacts on the land system. It covers EEA39.

Percentage of built-up area (PBA) measures how large the built-up areas are (in % of the landscape). PBA is a component of the new urban sprawl metric, named "Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP). WUP is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area is built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area is in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilisation intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas (PBA), the dispersion of the built-up areas (DIS), and land uptake per person (LUP). Values for landscapes of differing sizes can be directly compared because PBA is an intensive metric, i.e., the value does not depend on the size of the landscape. The PBA dataset is used in EEA's Urban Sprawl work indicating urbanisation impacts on the land system. It covers EEA39.

The degree of urban dispersion (DIS) characterizes the settlement pattern in a geometric perspective and is based on the distances between any two points within built-up areas (average taken over all possible pairs of points, up to a maximum distance called the horizon of perception). DIS is input to the Weighted Urban Proliferation (WUP) metric, which has three components: the percentage of built-up areas (PBA), the dispersion of the built-up areas (DIS), and land uptake per person (LUP). The new urban sprawl metric, named "Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP) is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area is built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area is in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilisation intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. The DIS dataset is used in EEA's Urban Sprawl work indicating urbanisation impacts on the land system. It covers EEA39.

Urban Permeation (UP) is a measure of the permeation of a landscape by built‑up areas; it describes the degree to which the landscape is permeated by patches of built-up area. It is calculated from the new urban sprawl metric "Weighted Urban Proliferation“ (WUP). Weighted Urban Proliferation is based on the following definition of urban sprawl: the more area is built over in a given landscape (amount of built-up area) and the more dispersed this built-up area is in the landscape (spatial configuration), and the higher the uptake of built-up area per inhabitant or job (lower utilisation intensity in the built-up area), the higher the degree of urban sprawl. The WUP metric has three components: the percentage of built-up areas (PBA), the dispersion of the built-up areas (DIS), and land uptake per person (LUP). UP is a product of PBA and DIS. It represents the spread of the built-up areas in the landscape. UP is expressed in urban permeation units per m2 of land (UPU/m2). The UP dataset is used in EEA's Urban Sprawl work indicating urbanisation impacts on the land system. It covers EEA39.