High-resolution (100m x 100m) population grid for Spain

Given that the National Statistics Institute (INE) has already completed the georeferencing procedure for the Electoral Census (INE 2022) in Spain, the 2021 census grid is anticipated to have highly accurate data. Based on this information, the project will disaggregate the census grid into 100m × 100m cells with a precision of one hectare. This means that spatial information provided by the new INE census grid is multiplied by 100 to obtain a cell resolution of 100m x 100m.

The statistical and data processing techniques currently in use must be updated in order to meet this goal. Additionally, the existing auxiliary data must be fully utilized in order to perform the spatial disaggregation process. To develop this process, population data is combined with land use, population (building sector) and building height data using appropriate statistical methods, which has proven to be very useful for this type of exercise (Goerlich 2016) but is not generally available. However, thanks to the National Plan for Aerial Orthography, it is now available for Spain.