Road Surface Classification for Ecuador from OSM and AI Predictions

Approximately 242,100 kilometers of roads are mapped in OpenStreetMap for Ecuador, with AI-derived estimates classifying 41,500 km as paved and 59,200 km as unpaved. The dataset, created by the Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology (HeiGIT), combines OSM data with deep learning predictions from Mapillary imagery and was last updated in March 2026. It is intended for transportation planning, infrastructure analysis, and climate emissions assessment.

Use Cases

• Transportation planning based on paved versus unpaved road classifications.
• Infrastructure analysis using road attributes like surface type, width, and lanes.
• Climate emissions assessment leveraging the spatial distribution of road surfaces.
• GIS applications for urban and rural classification using the urban attribute.
• Validating and augmenting OpenStreetMap data with AI-derived surface predictions.

Strengths

• Covers approximately 242,100 kilometers of roads in Ecuador.
• Provides AI-derived surface classifications for roads where OSM data is missing.
• Includes multiple classification schemes (OSM-priority and DL-priority) for flexibility.
• Augments OSM data with urban classification layers from GHSU and AFRICAPOLIS.

Limitations

• Approximately 141,400 kilometers (58.4%) of road surface information is missing in the base OSM data.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

OpenStreetMap (OSM), augmented with deep learning predictions from Mapillary imagery and urban layers from GHSU and AFRICAPOLIS.

Collection Method

Surface classification derived using a hybrid deep learning approach, as detailed in the referenced arXiv papers.

Time Range

Mean timestamp of predictions is provided in the DL_mean_timestamp field, but overall temporal coverage is not specified.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-02 17:15:45.130719.

Geography

Ecuador.