Developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the WSF® Tracker provides the first globally consistent monitoring of settlement extent at 10 m resolution, with biannual updates from 2016 to the present.

Combining multispectral Sentinel-2 and radar-based Sentinel-1 satellite imagery with auxiliary geoinformation, including elevation models and road networks, it reveals the characteristics and dynamics of the built environment at unprecedented spatial detail and temporal frequency. The WSF® Tracker was implemented with support from Google Earth Engine, and co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), and the World Bank. The next generation of the WSF® Tracker is being developed jointly by DLR and the company MindEarth.

As settlements expand and transform, understanding where and how this growth occurs is critical. New development may increase exposure to environmental and geophysical hazards, while settlement changes can also reflect reconstruction, displacement, and broader socio-economic transformations. The WSF® Tracker turns satellite observations into actionable insights, providing a consistent basis for assessing settlement dynamics, mapping exposure, planning infrastructure and services, reducing disaster risk, and informing policy and development decisions. By integrating settlement data with hazard, population, infrastructure, and socio-economic information, it supports evidence-based analysis from local to global scales.