GLAMOUR: GLobAl building MOrphology dataset for URban hydroclimate modelling

Abstract

Understanding building morphology is crucial for accurately simulating interactions between urban structures and hydroclimate dynamics. Despite significant efforts to generate detailed global building morphology datasets, there is a lack of practical solutions using publicly accessible resources. In this work, we present GLAMOUR, a dataset derived from open-source Sentinel imagery that captures the average building height and footprint at a 100 m resolution across urbanized areas worldwide. Validated in 18 cities, GLAMOUR exhibits superior accuracy with median root mean square errors of 7.5 m and 0.14 for building height and footprint estimations, indicating better overall performance against existing published datasets. The GLAMOUR dataset provides essential morphological information of 3D building structures and can be integrated with other datasets and tools for a wide range of applications including 3D building model generation and urban morphometric parameter derivation. These extended applications enable refined hydroclimate simulation and hazard assessment on a broader scale and offer valuable insights for researchers and policymakers in building sustainable and resilient urban environments prepared for future climate adaptation.