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Census-independent population mapping in northern Nigeria.

Submitted by karopka on Tue, 2019/11/26 - 18:01
TitleCensus-independent population mapping in northern Nigeria.
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2018
AuthorsWeber, EM, Seaman, VY, Stewart, RN, Bird, TJ, Tatem, AJ, McKee, JJ, Bhaduri, BL, Moehl, JJ, Reith, AE
JournalRemote Sens Environ
Volume204
Pagination786-798
Date Published2018 Jan
ISSN0034-4257
Abstract

Although remote sensing has long been used to aid in the estimation of population, it has usually been in the context of spatial disaggregation of national census data, with the census counts serving both as observational data for specifying models and as constraints on model outputs. Here we present a framework for estimating populations from the bottom up, entirely independently of national census data, a critical need in areas without recent and reliable census data. To make observations of population density, we replace national census data with a microcensus, in which we enumerate population for a sample of small areas within the states of Kano and Kaduna in northern Nigeria. Using supervised texture-based classifiers with very high resolution satellite imagery, we produce a binary map of human settlement at 8-meter resolution across the two states and then a more refined classification consisting of 7 residential types and 1 non-residential type. Using the residential types and a model linking them to the population density observations, we produce population estimates across the two states in a gridded raster format, at approximately 90-meter resolution. We also demonstrate a simulation framework for capturing uncertainty and presenting estimates as prediction intervals for any region of interest of any size and composition within the study region. Used in concert with previously published demographic estimates, our population estimates allowed for predictions of the population under 5 in ten administrative wards that fit strongly with reference data collected during polio vaccination campaigns.

DOI10.1016/j.rse.2017.09.024
Alternate JournalRemote Sens Environ
PubMed ID29302127
PubMed Central IDPMC5738969
Grant List / / Wellcome Trust / United Kingdom
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