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cjacobscrisioni edited this page Jan 13, 2026 · 25 revisions

With the GeoDMS, the 2BURP project scripts, and geographic source data, one can recalculate the global projections for built-up areas and population on a 1km Mollweide projection and view and adjust the applied calculation rules and chosen parameters. Users can also update source data, such as population projections per UN member state.

Installing components

GeoDMS software

We recommend to use the GeoDMS 15.10.2 version.

For information on how to install GeoDMS and load a configuration, look here.

2Burp project scripts

For cloning the 2BURP project scripts and other configuration files, type in a git command

git clone https://github.com/ObjectVision/2BURP.git

Or use a Git browser such as TortoiseGit and clone the repository using the same link. Or download the project in a .zip from here.

Source Data

The required geographic source data can be downloaded from here.

Model Configuration

Several settings are available in the /ModelParameters, such as the study area. The model is usually run per continent, which can be chosen in the StudyArea_manually parameter.

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National projection data

The 2BURP model can be used to disaggregate built-up area and population projections. It is set up so that projections per functional area, created in the NetworkModel_World repo, are read in from a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file, which can be found in /SourceData/Claims/Read_CSV.

How to run the model

  1. First, choose your study area in the ModelParameters. If changed, reload the configuration (alt + r)

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  1. Generate pre-processed data in /SourceData/MakeUnlinkedData/CreateFiles. The MakeUnlinkedData location manages buttons by which pre-processed data can be created or recreated (see prior variable preparation). The CreateFiles container shows all buttons for which pre-processed data can be generated, given prior dependencies. To generate the requisite pre-processed data, double click any items that are available in the CreateFiles container. When all items are ready (the screen will show 'True' for every parameter), reload the configuration (alt + r)

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  1. When this process has been repeated a number of times, the d1_Allocation button will become available in the CreateFiles folder. And the actual model can be run. Make sure the ModelParameter/Use_TempTifFiles_manually is set to FALSE.

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  1. double-click /SourceData/MakeUnlinkedData/CreateFiles/d1_Allocation or /Analysis/Future/Store_Results/Generate_All to generate all model outcome files and write them to tiff files. This will generate population, built-up, and degree of urbanisation grid files for all decades. The buttons in both locations start the same calculations.

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  1. When finished, if you want to analyse the different indicators, it would be efficient to set ModelParameter/Use_TempTifFiles_manually to TRUE and reload. The generated TIFF files are now used instead of running the model again.
  2. The /Analysis/Future/Indicators container can assess a range of indicators.

Hardware requirements

  • GeoDMS 15.10.2 and its models run on Windows 10 or later versions.
  • The 2BURP model, when used to project per continent, requires at least 64GB of RAM.
  • To download and keep SourceData and store (intermediate) results, an HDD or SSD with at least 1TB free space is required.

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