GHSL-S2 plugin User guide (Englisch)

The GHSL-S2 Tool (version 1.0) is a visualization and download tool (QGIS plugin) developed in the frame of the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) project. It facilitates the access to the GHSL S2 products using a free and open-source cross-platform Geographic Information System software (QGIS v.3.8 or higher). It provides a handy way to explore the GHSL datasets, to classify the probabilistic built-up layer derived from Sentinel-2 image composite and to export user-defined subsets, while avoiding the download of large files. The GHS-S2 tool is developed in Python programming language as a QGIS plugin. It bridges the QGIS software to the Google Earth Engine (GEE) cloud-based platform, making use of the GEE plugin4, which integrates GEE and QGIS using the EE Python API5. It requires an active GEE account and an internet connection. This document contains the description of the GHS-S2 tool usage, the main features and functionalities. The GHSL-S2 plugin is part of the GHSL tools suite and issued with an end-user licence agreement, included in the download package.