About RuralCheck reports

About the reports

Every number is derived from official data.

The same plot gives the same figures every time, until the data behind them is updated. Each sentence in a report is fixed wording, chosen by rules written for that check. Some of the data a report reads was itself made with machine learning. Their publishers made the maps of woods behind Trees and Bites and stings from satellite images. So was the map of built-up land that People nearby spreads census counts over. The wild boar numbers in Wild animals are a statistical model fitted to hunting records.

Tree cover. deadtrees.earth: a deep-learning model run on satellite images.
Leaf type. Copernicus Dominant Leaf Type: supervised classification of Sentinel-2 images.
Tree type. Copernicus Global Land Service land cover: random-forest classification and regression (Buchhorn et al. 2020).
Population: GHS-POP. GHSL: census counts spread over built-up land that the JRC's own machine-learning classifier found in satellite images.
Full-leaf dates. The dates are fitted curves, read only inside ESA WorldCover's forest, which a gradient-boosted classifier drew.
Wild boar. ENETWILD for EFSA: hunting records across Europe fitted to land and climate by statistical models, then scaled to 77 places where boar were counted with camera traps.

This report is generated automatically from public data and is for information only. It is not a land survey, a valuation or legal advice, and it does not replace a site visit or a professional survey.

Each check in a report is calculated from public data for the point you select on the map. Open any check and choose “Notes” to see how the figure is produced and what it does not cover.

How a report is made

The ground around the plot is read from national elevation surveys, measured every 5 m, and from a satellite model for hills up to 40 km away. Sun hours, noise, slope, shelter and the view are calculated from that ground for the point you select. Trees and buildings are not included. The other checks read published datasets, listed below, for the same point.

Coverage

Reports are available for locations inside the highlighted area of the map. A few places inside it are not covered, such as open water. Coverage by country

AI assistants

Claude, ChatGPT and other AI assistants can run the checks through our MCP server. Connect an assistant

How the figures are checked

The two calculated headline figures are compared with published data that we did not produce. The comparison is repeated when the method changes. Last checked 22 September 2026.

Sun hours. The allowance for cloud was checked against 30 year records at 11 weather stations across Europe, from the Atlantic coast to the Alps and the Mediterranean. It was within 6% on average, 3.5% at the median and 17% at worst. It reads low in winter and high in summer. The effect of the surrounding hills has not been checked against measurements. In a narrow valley the winter figures can change over a short distance.
Road noise. Checked against the official noise maps published under the EU Environmental Noise Directive, at 140 points beside major roads in Germany and Luxembourg. On open ground the estimate came out about 1 dB below the official maps. Where a hill stands between the road and the plot, the official maps show no effect of the hill, so the estimate was checked instead against the EU standard noise method run on the same ground at about 3,400 plots in six countries. It typically agrees within 3 dB. Railway noise and plots quieter than 55 dB are not covered by the official maps and are unchecked. Traffic on each road is assumed from its class, which is the largest source of error.
The view. Calculated from the ground alone and not checked against measurements. A hedge or a wood can close a view the report calls open.
Other checks read published datasets for the point you select. Each check's notes in the report say what its dataset covers and at what resolution.

Changes to the checks

Every change to what a report checks, newest first. If a change affects what you can do with your plan more than slightly, we also email you before it takes effect.

19 October 2026. Access road takes every bridge and tunnel on the map as straight between its ends. A main road whose ground is steeper than such a road is built is laid straight between the ground on either side.
19 October 2026. Access road leaves out motorways and main roads whose ground is steeper than such a road is built. In Cyprus the town a drive starts from is on the same side of the Green Line as the plot.
19 October 2026. Bodies of water leaves out water in golf courses, campsites and hotel grounds, unnamed basins and tanks, and water parks and pools that are not mapped as one.
14 October 2026. Swimming is now Bodies of water. It includes the sea, and lists only water that a road or path on the map reaches.
4 October 2026. Every wild animal the card names can be drawn on the map, and the wild boar density is a picture.
4 October 2026. New check: coastal flooding and rising sea levels.
3 October 2026. New check: official avalanche zones and known avalanche paths.
3 October 2026. Lakes, rivers and pools carry drive times.
3 October 2026. Rockfall is no longer a check. Earthquake's figure is the shaking and how rarely it comes.
3 October 2026. Slope is now Terrain, with the slope's and the ground's ranges.
3 October 2026. Farmland prices is no longer a check. The change in population is part of People nearby.

Sources and credits

Every credit the licences require, whichever plot a report was made for.

The organisations in charge of the Copernicus programme by law or by delegation do not incur any liability for any use of the Copernicus WorldDEM-30.
Sunshine and radiation behind the PVGIS figures: Surface Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) Edition 3, EUMETSAT Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF), © EUMETSAT, CC BY 4.0 (Pfeifroth et al. 2023, doi:10.5676/EUM_SAF_CM/SARAH/V003).
River flood hazard: Copernicus Emergency Management Service (EFAS) river flood hazard maps for Europe and the Mediterranean Basin v3.1.1, © European Union, Joint Research Centre, CC BY 4.0 (Baugh et al. 2024, doi:10.2905/1D128B6C-A4EE-4858-9E34-6210707F3C81). Modified: read here for one location and simplified for display.
Coastal storm tides: Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), Global sea level change indicators from 1950 to 2050, GTSM v3 reanalysis 1985-2014 (Deltares), CC BY 4.0, doi:10.24381/cds.6edf04e0. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of this data. Modified: read at the nearest coast and spread over the measured ground by RuralCheck.
Sea level rise: IPCC AR6 sea level projections (Garner et al. 2021, Fox-Kemper et al. 2021), doi:10.5281/zenodo.6382554, CC BY 4.0. Modified: medians read for each plot and added to the storm tide by RuralCheck.
Airports, airfields and runways: OurAirports (ourairports.com), public domain.
Full-leaf dates: VIIRS VNP22Q2 land surface phenology 2013-2022, forest-masked with ESA WorldCover and composited by Mosig et al., CC BY 4.0 (doi:10.31223/X5B18W). Modified: reduced to four dates per cell.
Leaf type: this report has been prepared using European Union's Copernicus Land Monitoring Service information, High Resolution Layer Dominant Leaf Type (10 m, yearly from 2018). Modified: read here for one location.
Tree cover: deadtrees.earth Europe composite (10 m fractional canopy cover), CC BY 4.0 (Mosig et al. 2026, doi:10.31223/X5B18W). Modified: read here for one location.
Tree type: Copernicus Global Land Service land cover 100 m, collection 3, © European Union, produced by VITO, CC BY 4.0 (Buchhorn et al. 2020, doi:10.5281/zenodo.3939050). Modified: cropped to Europe and read here for one location.
Farmland prices, household income, population, unemployment and visitor nights, and flights at airports: Eurostat (apri_lprc, nama_10r_2hhinc, demo_r_gind3, demo_r_pjanaggr3, lfst_r_lfu3rt, tour_occ_nin3, tour_occ_nin2m, avia_paoa), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU. Modified: read here for one region and combined into ratios.
Landslide maps: ISPRA, PAI mosaic 2024, CC BY 4.0 (Italy); Géoportail de l'Urbanisme and GASPAR, Licence Ouverte 2.0 (France); Cantons AR, BE, BL, FR, GE, GL, JU, LU, SH, SO, SZ, TG, TI, VS, ZG, ZH, Gefahrenkarten via geodienste.ch (Switzerland); WLV Gefahrenzonenpläne, Land Niederösterreich CC BY 4.0, Land Oberösterreich doris.at CC BY 4.0 (Austria); Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt CC BY 4.0, Regierungspräsidium Freiburg - LGRB dl-de/by-2.0 (Germany); NVE under NLOD (Norway); SGU CC0, SGI CC BY 4.0 (Sweden); © Štátny geologický ústav Dionýza Štúra, CC BY 4.0 (Slovakia); Direkcija RS za vode, CC BY 4.0 (Slovenia); Česká geologická služba, CC BY 4.0 (Czechia); ICGC and IGME-CSIC (Spain); Service public de Wallonie CC BY 4.0, Databank Ondergrond Vlaanderen (Belgium). Modified: reprojected and read here for one location.
Avalanche maps: Cantons AR, BE, BL, FR, GE, GL, JU, LU, SH, SO, SZ, TG, TI, VS, ZG, ZH, Gefahrenkarten via geodienste.ch (Switzerland); WLV Gefahrenzonenpläne, BML (Austria); NVE under NLOD (Norway); Géoportail de l'Urbanisme and GASPAR, Licence Ouverte 2.0 (France); Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt, Lawinenkataster, CC BY 4.0 (Germany); Autonome Provinz Bozen - Südtirol CC0, Provincia autonoma di Trento CC0, Arpa Piemonte - Geoportale CC BY 4.0 (Italy); Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya CC BY 4.0 (Spain). Modified: reprojected and read here for one location.
Earthquake hazard: ESHM20, EFEHR / ETH Zurich, CC BY 4.0 (Danciu et al. 2021, doi:10.12686/a15).
Climate indicators for Europe (ERA5 and EURO-CORDEX): Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store, CC BY 4.0. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of this data.
Daily temperatures behind the growing season: ERA5-Land hourly data (Munoz-Sabater et al. 2021, doi:10.5194/essd-13-4349-2021), generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information 1991-2020, CC BY 4.0. Modified: reduced to daily minimum and maximum and adjusted to each plot by RuralCheck. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of this data.
Rain and snow by month: ERA5-Land monthly averaged data (Munoz-Sabater et al. 2021, doi:10.5194/essd-13-4349-2021), generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information 1991-2020, CC BY 4.0. Modified: averaged by calendar month and read for each plot by RuralCheck. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of this data.
Air quality: Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) European air quality reanalysis, ECMWF, CC BY 4.0.
Pollen: Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) European air quality forecasts, ECMWF, CC BY 4.0 (doi:10.24381/a4005cee). Modified: averaged by month over 2024 to 2026 and compared across Europe.
Recorded sightings: GBIF.org occurrence records under CC0 1.0 and CC BY 4.0 (doi:10.15468/dd.3thjrq), from the datasets listed at https://ruralcheck.eu/about/sightings. Modified: filtered and measured from each plot by RuralCheck.
Large carnivores: Kaczensky, P., Ranc, N., Hatlauf, J., Payne, J.C. et al. (2024), Large carnivore distribution maps for Europe 2017 - 2022/23, IUCN/SSC Large Carnivore Initiative for Europe for the European Commission, Dryad, doi:10.5061/dryad.3xsj3txrc, CC0 1.0.
Wild boar: ENETWILD consortium et al. (2024), Modelling wild boar abundance at high resolution, EFSA supporting publication, Zenodo doi:10.5281/zenodo.10809293, CC BY 4.0. Modified: read at the plot and compared with the countries RuralCheck covers.
Night-time lights: VIIRS VNL V2 annual composite, Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, CC BY 4.0 (Elvidge et al. 2021).
Population: GHS-POP R2023A, Global Human Settlement Layer, © European Union, Joint Research Centre, CC BY 4.0 (Schiavina et al. 2023, doi:10.2905/2FF68A52-5B5B-4A22-8F40-C41DA8332CFE). Modified: summed here within 1 km and 5 km. Kind of place: GHS-SMOD R2023A, the degree of urbanisation, © European Union, Joint Research Centre, CC BY 4.0 (Schiavina et al. 2023, doi:10.2905/A0DF7A6F-49DE-46EA-9BDE-563437A6E2BA).
Wind speed obtained from the Global Wind Atlas version 4.0, a free, web-based application developed, owned and operated by the Technical University of Denmark (DTU), released in partnership with the World Bank Group, utilizing data provided by Vortex, using funding provided by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP); CC BY 4.0 (Davis et al. 2023, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-21-0075.1).
Wind direction: generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information (ERA5, 2005-2024); neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. Modified: reduced here to a twelve-sector wind rose.
Phone signal and internet, Austria: Breitbandatlas, Breitbandbuero (Bundesministerium fuer Finanzen), CC BY 3.0 AT. Modified: the published 100 m cells are held here as a raster on the same grid.
Phone signal and internet, France: Mon Reseau Mobile and Ma connexion internet, ARCEP, Licence Ouverte 2.0. Modified: the published coverage polygons and per-building eligibility are reduced here to a 100 m grid.
Phone signal and internet, Germany: © BNetzA. Datenstand: 06.2026. Modified: the published cells are reduced here to a 100 m grid.
Groundwater, France: BRGM, Banque du sous-sol (BSS) and BDLISA v3; ADES groundwater levels via Hub'Eau (OFB, BRGM); Licence Ouverte 2.0. Modified: monitored levels reduced to the latest reading and a ten-year range, the aquifer map to the layers under each point.
Groundwater, Spain: © Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (red de seguimiento del estado cuantitativo); IGME, inventario de puntos de agua, IGME free licence. Modified: levels reduced to the latest reading and a ten-year range.
Groundwater, North Rhine-Westphalia: Landesamt für Natur, Umwelt und Klima NRW (LANUK), OpenHygrisC, Datenlizenz Deutschland Zero 2.0. Modified: levels reduced to the latest reading and a ten-year range.
Groundwater, Saxony: Quelle: Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt, Landwirtschaft und Geologie; Grundwassermessnetze (https://geoportal.sachsen.de/md/d52fda30-a6e3-416e-b773-82f3618119f2) and aktueller Grundwasserstand (https://geoportal.sachsen.de/md/b3798815-f90c-42f1-bb70-9b5f7718bcf3); Datenlizenz Deutschland Namensnennung 2.0 (www.govdata.de/dl-de/by-2-0). Modified: reduced to the latest reading.
Groundwater, Germany (Bavaria): Datenquelle: Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt, www.lfu.bayern.de (Gewässerkundlicher Dienst Bayern), CC BY 4.0. Modified: levels reduced to the latest reading and a ten-year range, and turned into a depth below the ground.
Groundwater, Germany (Brandenburg): © Landesamt für Umwelt Brandenburg, Datenlizenz Deutschland Namensnennung 2.0 (www.govdata.de/dl-de/by-2-0). Modified: levels reduced to the latest reading and a ten-year range.
Groundwater, Germany (Schleswig-Holstein): LfU-SH, Landesamt für Umwelt Schleswig-Holstein, Datenlizenz Deutschland Namensnennung 2.0 (www.govdata.de/dl-de/by-2-0). Modified: levels reduced to the latest reading and a ten-year range, and turned into a depth below the ground.
Groundwater, Flanders: Databank Ondergrond Vlaanderen, groundwater wells, filters and water levels of VMM and the other network managers, consulted at https://www.dov.vlaanderen.be on the build date; Modellicentie voor gratis hergebruik v1.0. Modified: levels reduced to the shallowest filter, its latest reading and a ten-year range.
Groundwater, Estonia: Keskkonnaagentuur (Estonian Environment Agency), well register (EELIS, puuraugud) and environmental monitoring data (KESE), CC BY 4.0. Modified: levels reduced to the latest reading and a ten-year range.
Groundwater, Netherlands: Basisregistratie Ondergrond (BRO), groundwater monitoring wells and groundwater level dossiers, via PDOK and the BRO public services, CC0 1.0. Modified: each well reduced to its shallowest monitoring tube with readings, and its levels to the latest reading and a ten-year range.
Groundwater bodies and their quantity status: WISE Water Framework Directive database and groundwater body horizons 2022, © European Environment Agency and Directorate-General for Environment, CC BY 4.0. Modified: simplified, and read here for one location.
Country names in search results: Natural Earth, public domain.
Planning zones, France: Geoportail de l'urbanisme (Ministry for planning and IGN), from the plans each commune publishes, Licence Ouverte. Modified: reduced to the zones and simplified for display.
Planning zones, Austria: Land Oberoesterreich (DORIS), Land Salzburg (SAGIS), Land Steiermark, Land Kaernten (KAGIS), Land Tirol, Land Vorarlberg (VOGIS), Stadt Wien, Land Niederoesterreich; municipal boundaries BEV. All CC BY 4.0. Modified: reduced to the zones and reprojected.
Planning zones, Belgium: Service public de Wallonie, Plan de secteur, CC BY 4.0; Departement Omgeving Vlaanderen, Digitaal Stedenbouwkundig Informatiesysteem, Modellicentie Gratis Hergebruik; urban.brussels, PRAS, CC BY 4.0. Modified: reprojected, and in Flanders later plans cut out of earlier ones.
Planning zones, Denmark: Plan- og Landdistriktsstyrelsen, Plandata.dk, CC BY 4.0. Modified: the rural zone is the municipal plan area outside town and summer-house zones.
Planning zones, Estonia: Republic of Estonia Land and Spatial Development Board, planning information system, open data licence (CC BY 4.0 equivalent), data as of the date on the card.
Planning zones, Germany: Daten aus dem Geoportal Raumordnung Baden-Wuerttemberg (dl-de/by-2.0); Land Berlin, Flaechennutzungsplan (dl-de/zero-2.0); Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, Behoerde fuer Stadtentwicklung und Wohnen (dl-de/by-2.0).
Planning zones, Italy: Regione Lombardia, PGT Tavola delle previsioni di piano, CC BY 4.0; Autonomous Province of Bolzano, urban plans, CC0; Citta metropolitana di Torino, Mosaico dei PRGC, CC BY 4.0; Regione del Veneto, Direzione Pianificazione Territoriale, Zonizzazione P.R.C., IODL 2.0 (Regione del Veneto, L.R. n. 28/76, Formazione della Carta Tecnica Regionale); Provincia di Biella, Osservatorio urbanistico, CC BY 4.0; Citta metropolitana di Bologna, Mosaico PSC, CC BY 3.0. Modified: reduced to the zones and reprojected.
Planning zones, Luxembourg: Ministere des Affaires interieures, PAG geometries (data.public.lu), CC0.
Planning zones, Slovenia: Ministrstvo za naravne vire in prostor, PIS; municipal boundaries Geodetska uprava Republike Slovenije. Both CC BY 4.0.
Planning zones, Spain: Sistema de Informacion Urbana, Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana, data of 2025-12-02; Planeamiento 2026 CC BY 4.0, Generalitat Valenciana. Modified: reprojected.
Planning zones, Switzerland: cantonal land-use plans via geodienste.ch (AG, AI, AR, BE, BL, BS, FR, GE, JU, LU, SH, SO, SZ, UR, VS, ZG); Bauzonen Schweiz, Bundesamt fuer Raumentwicklung ARE and the cantonal planning offices; municipal boundaries (c) swisstopo.
Aerial imagery on the map and in the 3D view, for paid plans: Esri World Imagery - Esri, Vantor, Earthstar Geographics and the GIS user community. Powered by Esri. Streamed from Esri and not stored here.
Basemap: OpenFreeMap, tiles on the OpenMapTiles schema (CC BY 4.0) built from OpenStreetMap data (ODbL). Relief shaded from the same national elevation surveys and Copernicus GLO-30 the report's terrain uses.
Cadastral parcels: (c) Administration du cadastre et de la topographie, CC BY 4.0
Cadastral parcels: (c) Agenzia delle Entrate, CC BY 4.0
Cadastral parcels: (c) BEV - Bundesamt fur Eich- und Vermessungswesen, CC BY 4.0
Cadastral parcels: (c) CUZK, CC BY 4.0
Cadastral parcels: (c) Direccion General del Catastro, CC BY 4.0
Cadastral parcels: (c) GeoBasis-DE / Geobasis NRW, LGB Brandenburg, SenStadt Berlin, LGL Baden-Wurttemberg, GeoBremen, LGV Hamburg, GeoBasis-DE/M-V, LGLN Niedersachsen, LVermGeo Rheinland-Pfalz, LVermGeo Schleswig-Holstein, GeoSN Sachsen, LVermGeo Sachsen-Anhalt and TLBG Thuringen - dl-de/by-2.0, dl-de/zero-2.0 or CC BY 4.0, by state
Cadastral parcels: (c) Geodetska uprava Republike Slovenije (GURS), CC BY 4.0
Cadastral parcels: (c) IGN / DGFiP, Licence Ouverte 2.0
Cadastral parcels: (c) Maa- ja Ruumiamet, Estonian open data licence (CC BY 4.0 in substance)
Cadastral parcels: (c) Maanmittauslaitos (National Land Survey of Finland), CC BY 4.0

National elevation surveys

The ground near the plot is read from the national survey for that country. A report names the one it used. All of them are credited here.

ATKIS-DGM 1 © Hessisches Ministerium für Umwelt, Klimaschutz, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz (Datenlizenz Deutschland - Zero - Version 2.0).
DGM - Digitales Geländemodell © Landesamt für Vermessung und Geoinformation Sachsen-Anhalt (LVermGeo) (Datenlizenz Deutschland - Namensnennung - Version 2.0).
DTM e DSM passo 1 metro dei centri urbani interni della Sardegna volo 2013 © Regione Autonoma della Sardegna (CC-BY 4.0).
Digital Terrain Model of the Czech Republic, 4th generation (DMR 4G), INSPIRE theme Elevation (EL) - GRID 5 m © cuzk.gov.cz. Land Survey Office (CC-BY 4.0).
Digitale Geländemodelle - ATKIS DGM © Senatsverwaltung für Stadtentwicklung, Bauen und Wohnen Berlin (Datenlizenz Deutschland - Zero - Version 2.0).
Digitales Geländemodell (DGM 2,5m) © Amt für Landesplanung und Kartografie, Autonome Provinz Bozen (Creative Commons CCZero).
Digitales Geländemodell - Rasterweite 1 m © Ministerium des Innern des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (Datenlizenz Deutschland - Zero - Version 2.0).
Digitales Geländemodell 1m (DGM1) © Landesamtes für Geoinformation und Landesvermessung Niedersachsen (LGLN) (CC BY 4.0).
Digitales Höhenmodell Hamburg DGM 1 © Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, Landesbetrieb Geoinformation und Vermessung (LGV) (Datenlizenz Deutschland - Namensnennung - Version 2.0).
Elevation Data Estonia 1m © Elevation data 2021-2024, Republic of Estonia Land and Spatial Development Board (Republic of Estonia Land and Spatial Development Board opendata licence 2025).
Elevation model 2 m © National Land Survey of Finland 2025. Downloaded via GeoCubes. (Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)).
LiDAR PAT 2014 integrato con voli 2018 ed il LiDAR 2011 di Campolongo © Provincia Autonoma di Trento - Ufficio Sistemi Informativi - Servizio autorizzazioni e valutazioni ambientali (CC BY 2.5).
Modello Digitale del Terreno (DTM) © Dati estratti dal Modello Digitale del Terreno (DTM) della Regione Autonoma Valle d'Aosta (CC BY 4.0).
Modello digitale del terreno (MDT) 2m - Volo ATA 2012 2013 © Regione Siciliana - Assessorato del Territorio e dell'Ambiente - Area 2 Interdipartimentale - Nodo Regionale S.I.T.R (CC-BY 4.0).
RGE ALTI® 5m Corsica © Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière IGN (Licence Ouverte / Open Licence version 2.0).
RGE ALTI® 5m Metropolitan France © Institut national de l'information géographique et forestière IGN (Licence Ouverte / Open Licence version 2.0).
RIPRESA AEREA ICE 2009-2011 - DTM 5 © Regione Piemonte - A1613B - Sistema informativo territoriale e ambientale (CC BY 4.0).
TINITALY, a digital elevation model of Italy with a 10 meters cell size (Version 1.1) © Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) (Creative Commons Namensnennung 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)).