A population density grid of the European Union

This paper describes four methods used to produce dasymetric population density grids combining population data per commune with CORINE Land Cover, a map available for all countries of the European Union. An accuracy assessment has been carried out for five countries for which a very reliable 1-km population density grid exists; the improvement, compared with the choropleth map per commune, ranges between 20% for the weakest result in Finland and 62% for the best result in the Netherlands. The best results are obtained with a method using logit regression to integrate information from the point survey LUCAS (Land Use/Cover Area frame Survey); however, performance differences between methods are moderate. The dasymetric grid is distributed free of charge by the European Environment Agency, for non-commercial use.