19/10/2016 (Agence Europe) – At the UN's Habitat III conference in Quito, Ecuador, on Wednesday 19 October, the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) launched its new satellite image database, mapping the dynamics of human presence on earth. The Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) developed by the JRC with the support of the Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) makes it possible to analyse in a consistent and detailed manner the development of built-up areas, population and settlements of the whole planet over the past 40 years. The Commission explained that datasets are based on more than 12.4k billion of individual image data records collected by different satellite sensors over the past 40 years. (PH)