TerraPop is Coming Our Way

The Minnesota Population Center--the organization that already brings us census microdata samples from around the world through IPUMS.org--announced today that it has embarked on a new project called "Terra Populus" (TerraPop, for short). This is a very nice implementation of spatial demography, with the aim of spatially integrating data on populations and the environments in which people live.

To understand the dramatic transformation of the earth’s inhabitants and their environment, we must have data that are interoperable across time, space, and scientific domain. Accordingly, TerraPop will integrate IPUMS data with environmental data, including land cover information from remote sensing, climate records from weather stations, and land use records from statistical agencies. Further information about the project appears on our website, http://www.terrapop.org/.

I encourage you to visit the website, sign up to be supportive, and keep checking back for some innovative ways of viewing the world demographically.