Ground Pulse

Ground Pulse shows you where development is actually happening using satellite-measured maps of new construction, market acceleration, and land that’s been cleared but not yet built, delivered metro by metro as analysis-ready GIS data.

Ground Pulse eliminates the gap between “everyone says this market is growing” and knowing exactly where it’s growing. By differencing USGS satellite land-cover data across two four-year periods and cross-referencing the result against a 104-million-building footprint inventory, Ground Pulse maps every patch of ground that converted from field to hard surface — classed by intensity, compared period over period, and tied to the individual buildings that rose on it. Open the included ArcGIS Pro project and you’re looking at your market’s development pattern in under a minute.

The key differentiator is that Ground Pulse is measured, not modeled:  “Every development polygon is observed land-cover change, every new-construction flag is anchored to ground that measurably converted — never to database dates — and every caveat is documented in the deliverable, so your analysts know exactly what the data can and cannot claim.”

Its signature layer is the Construction Frontier: land converted during the current period with no buildings on it yet — graded subdivisions and prepped commercial pads. This is the visible construction pipeline, on a map, 12–36 months before it shows up as rooftops in anyone’s closing data. Across our 198-metro library the Frontier covers 1,700 square miles.

Get more information on Ground Pulse.

Key Features

Development Measurement
  • New-development polygons for two four-year periods (2017–2021 and
      2021–2025), extracted from USGS Annual NLCD impervious-surface change and
      classed by gain intensity
  • 30 m change rasters for pixel-level analysis
  • Period-over-period comparison built in: county acceleration tables and
      side-by-side maps show where the boom front moved
  • Current-period development classified by building presence: FRONTIER (no
      buildings yet), ACTIVE (partly built), BUILT (built out)
  • Building-count, coverage, and shape attributes on every polygon to
      separate graded subdivisions from roads and parking
  • Point layer included for density and heat-map rendering
  • Complete Overture Maps building inventory for the metro — footprints with
      height, floors, and source attributes
  • New-construction buildings flagged per period because the ground under
      them changed, not because a database said so
  • 458,000+ buildings flagged nationwide in the current period
  • Census-tract rollup with development acres, new-building counts, frontier
      share, and within-metro intensity quintiles
  • Standard 2020 GEOID join key — connects directly to ACS demographics,
      Census Studio outputs, or your own tract data
  • ArcGIS Pro project with four authored maps, heat-map symbology, and a
      print-ready hot-spots layout
  • Branded PDF report: headline stats, county tables, heat maps, frontier
      analysis, county detail maps
  • FGDC metadata on every dataset, a field dictionary, and a “How to Use
      This Product” guide — all delivered as a single zip
  • None beyond a GIS. All layers are standard shapefiles, GeoTIFFs, and a file
    geodatabase; the included project opens in ArcGIS Pro 3.0+, and every layer
    loads directly in QGIS or any modern GIS. No API keys, no plugins, no code.
  • Land acquisition and homebuilding teams, retail and commercial site
    selectors, appraisers and market analysts, economic development
    organizations, city and regional planners, and utilities or school districts
    planning capacity around observed growth — anyone who needs to know where
    development is actually happening rather than where it’s predicted to.
  • Data sources: USGS Annual NLCD (public domain). Building data © Overture
    Maps Foundation, © OpenStreetMap contributors, Microsoft. ODbL.
  • Large metros (over 1M people) – $2495, yearly update $995
  • Medium metros (400K – 1M) – $1495, yearly update $595
  • Small metros (under 400K) – $795, yearly update $295
Purchase below
After purchase you will be asked to email your metro name to us.  We’ll then send you a link to download the dataset along with instructions for using the data.
Purchase large metro
$2495

 

Large metro annual update (must purchase a metro first)
$995
 

Purchase medium metro
$1495
 

Medium metro annual update (must purchase a metro first)
$595
 

Purchase small metro
$795
 

Small metro annual update (must purchase a metro first)
$295
 

Check your metro size below

Contact us at location3x.gis at gmail.com for more information

Large Metros

– Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA
– Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX
– Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD
– Birmingham, AL
– Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
– Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY
– Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC
– Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN
– Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN
– Cleveland, OH
– Columbus, OH
– Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
– Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO
– Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI
– Fresno, CA
– Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI
– Greenville-Anderson-Greer, SC
– Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT
– Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX
– Indianapolis-Carmel-Greenwood, IN
– Jacksonville, FL
– Kansas City, MO-KS
– Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV
– Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA
– Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN
– Memphis, TN-MS-AR
– Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL
– Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI
– Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
– Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN
– New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ
– Oklahoma City, OK
– Omaha, NE-IA
– Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL
– Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
– Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ
– Pittsburgh, PA
– Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
– Providence-Warwick, RI-MA
– Raleigh-Cary, NC
– Richmond, VA
– Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA
– Rochester, NY
– Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA
– Salt Lake City-Murray, UT
– San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX
– San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
– San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA
– San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
– Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
– St. Louis, MO-IL
– Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL
– Tucson, AZ
– Tulsa, OK
– Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
– Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV

– Akron, OH
– Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY
– Albuquerque, NM
– Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
– Asheville, NC
– Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC
– Bakersfield-Delano, CA
– Baton Rouge, LA
– Boise City, ID
– Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT
– Brownsville-Harlingen, TX
– Canton-Massillon, OH
– Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL
– Charleston-North Charleston, SC
– Chattanooga, TN-GA
– Colorado Springs, CO
– Columbia, SC
– Corpus Christi, TX
– Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH
– Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL
– Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
– Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
– El Paso, TX
– Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR
– Flint, MI
– Fort Wayne, IN
– Greensboro-High Point, NC
– Gulfport-Biloxi, MS
– Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA
– Huntsville, AL
– Jackson, MS
– Killeen-Temple, TX
– Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY
– Knoxville, TN
– Lafayette, LA
– Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL
– Lancaster, PA
– Lansing-East Lansing, MI
– Lexington-Fayette, KY
– Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
– Madison, WI
– Manchester-Nashua, NH
– McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX
– Mobile, AL
– Modesto, CA
– Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC
– Naples-Marco Island, FL
– New Haven, CT
– New Orleans-Metairie, LA
– North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL
– Ocala, FL
– Ogden, UT
– Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
– Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL
– Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, FL
– Port St. Lucie, FL
– Portland-South Portland, ME
– Provo-Orem-Lehi, UT
– Reading, PA
– Reno, NV
– Salem, OR
– Salinas, CA
– Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
– Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA
– Savannah, GA
– Scranton–Wilkes-Barre, PA
– Spartanburg, SC
– Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA
– Springfield, MA
– Springfield, MO
– Stockton-Lodi, CA
– Syracuse, NY
– Toledo, OH
– Vallejo, CA
– Visalia, CA
– Waterbury-Shelton, CT
– Wichita, KS
– Wilmington, NC
– Winston-Salem, NC
– Worcester, MA
– York-Hanover, PA
– Youngstown-Warren, OH

– Amarillo, TX
– Ann Arbor, MI
– Appleton, WI
– Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ
– Beaumont-Port Arthur, TX
– Bend, OR
– Binghamton, NY
– Boulder, CO
– Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA
– Cedar Rapids, IA
– Clarksville, TN-KY
– College Station-Bryan, TX
– Columbus, GA-AL
– Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, FL
– Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL
– Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL
– Duluth, MN-WI
– Erie, PA
– Eugene-Springfield, OR
– Evansville, IN
– Fargo, ND-MN
– Fayetteville, NC
– Fort Collins-Loveland, CO
– Gainesville, FL
– Greeley, CO
– Green Bay, WI
– Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV
– Hickory-Lenoir-Morganton, NC
– Hilton Head Island-Bluffton-Port Royal, SC
– Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH
– Kalamazoo-Portage, MI
– Kennewick-Richland, WA
– Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA
– Lake Charles, LA
– Laredo, TX
– Lincoln, NE
– Longview, TX
– Lubbock, TX
– Lynchburg, VA
– Merced, CA
– Montgomery, AL
– Norwich-New London-Willimantic, CT
– Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA
– Peoria, IL
– Prescott Valley-Prescott, AZ
– Roanoke, VA
– Rockford, IL
– San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA
– Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
– Shreveport-Bossier City, LA
– Sioux Falls, SD-MN
– Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA
– South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI
– Tallahassee, FL
– Trenton-Princeton, NJ
– Tuscaloosa, AL
– Tyler, TX
– Utica-Rome, NY
– Waco, TX
– Yakima, WA