Vanuatu Arterial Road Surface and Passability with 2020-2024 Change Data

HeiGIT produced this dataset covering approximately 300 km of arterial roads in Vanuatu using AI analysis of PlanetScope satellite imagery from 2020 and 2024. It provides road surface types, width classifications, and a Humanitarian Passability Index (HPI) to supplement OpenStreetMap (OSM) data. The analysis focuses on motorway, trunk, primary, and secondary road classes.

Use Cases

• Logistics planning using the Humanitarian Passability Index (HPI) to identify routes suitable for heavy trucks
• Infrastructure development monitoring by tracking Road Surface Change (2020-2024) from unpaved to paved
• Emergency response routing based on Road Width Class to avoid high blockage risk areas

Strengths

• 89.2% surface prediction accuracy
• Multi-temporal change detection (2020-2024)
• Standardized Humanitarian Passability Index (HPI)

Limitations

• Restricted to arterial road classes (motorway to secondary)
• Small total road length of ~300 km
• AI-derived predictions may contain errors in areas with heavy canopy cover

Provenance

Source

HeiGIT (Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology)

Collection Method

Deep learning analysis of PlanetScope satellite imagery integrated with OpenStreetMap road geometries.

Time Range

2020-2024

Freshness

Last updated March 2026; contains imagery-derived data from 2020 and 2024.

Geography

Vanuatu