Discover WorldPop’s comprehensive learning resources and build your geospatial skills with free, expert-led, self-paced materials.
WorldPop Book of Methods
This online ‘book’ details the innovative methods we use to create our open gridded population estimates. These methods involve integrating diverse data sources such as satellite imagery, census data, and surveys with machine learning algorithms. Each chapter explores specific aspects of the methodology, including data collection, processing, spatial modelling, and validation.
Online Learning Portal
In collaboration with GRID3, we offer this free, online platform focused on building geospatial and GIS skills for development. It features structured training programmes (from beginner to intermediate levels) led by WorldPop’s Training Manager on tools like QGIS, data management, coordinate reference systems, and real-world applications (such as health microplanning).
All training programmes are delivered self-paced with certification and community or trainer support.
WorldPop Population Modelling Training Manual, Vol. I
A freely available, open-access guide, which takes you from the basics of the R programming language through to advanced spatial and statistical techniques used in creating small-area population estimates. It covers modules on data manipulation, geospatial data handling, statistical and Bayesian modelling, model validation, prediction, uncertainty quantification and age-sex disaggregation, all with practical examples and exercises.
Whether you’re new to population modelling or already experienced, it gives a structured walk-through of how the underlying methods are implemented in real-world contexts.
Step-by-step: QGIS plugin for population prediction and dasymetric mapping
A step-by-step guide to using our QGIS pypopRF plugin for population prediction and dasymetric mapping using machine learning techniques. The plugin provides a comprehensive toolkit for processing geospatial data, training models, and generating high-resolution population distribution maps.
