A2-Building Interpretation Guide - V5

Building interpretation guide
1
Contents
• Task content
• Building interpretation methods & typical cases
• Building interpretation methods
• Building categories
• Residential geography
• Condo / commercial / industrial geography
• Dense building block geography
• Farmland/rural geography
2
Task content
• Find all the buildings in the satellite imagery, then draw the
building roof outlines to generate the building footprints.
3
Building interpretation methods & typical cases
• Building interpretation methods

• To understand and distinguish each object on the property based
on context, shape, color, and texture.
• Building categories & samples
• Residential geography
a. single-family buildings
b. Townhouses
c. Dense buildings
• Condo / commercial / industrial geography
a. low-rise
b. high-rise
• Dense building block geography
• Farmland geography
4
1. Building interpretation overview
i. Overview - using visual features to distinguish objects on property
• To understand and distinguish each object on the property, use:
• Context: The relative location of each object on the property
• Shape: The geometric shape of each object.
• Color: The color of each object.
• Texture: The texture of each object (ie. smooth, rough)
5
ii. Context
• Context: The relative location of each object on the property

Private road: leads
from public road to
Primary building: in primary building
centre of property
Shadow: on side and
between levels and
adjoining buildings
Attached buildings
(such as shed and
deck) : at the side of
primary building
Solar panel: on
top of the roof
of the primary
building
Fences: line the boundaries
Pool: in the back 6
of the property
iii. Shape
• Shape: The geometric shape of each object
Private road: long

Primary building: rigid with parallel sides
and parallel lines, right-
angle edges
Attached buildings
(such as shed and Shadow:
deck) : right-angle follows shape
polygon, same as of roof
primary building
Solar panel: rigid and

parallel lines, right-
angle edges
Fences: straight, long, thin 7

Pool: oval or square
iv. Color
• Color: The color of each object

Private road: brown, grey, or
black
Shadow:
Primary building: black
brown, white, grey,
black and so on
Attached buildings
(such as shed and
deck) : most are white
and ivory, some are
Solar panel:
black, grey, or dark black or grey,
green there are white
lines on it
Fences: brown, white Pool: blue, dark blue, or light yellow 8

or black (based on the water depth)
v. Texture
• Texture: The texture of each object

Private road: slightly
rough but more
smooth than
Primary building:
primary building
slightly rough,
hunch-up feel
made by roof arch
Attached buildings Shadow:
(such as shed and
smooth
deck) :more smooth
than primary building,
no roof arch, flat, some
times has stripes.
Solar panel: grid
texture
Fences: continuous,
9
smooth Pool: continuous, smooth
Residential: Single-family buildings
a. Single-family buildings
i. Drawing rules - Draw primary building and other permanent structures
ii. Common errors
1. Attached building (shed and deck) missed or wrong
2. Small buildings missed (buildings lager than 36 pixels should be drawn)
3. Incorrect merging / separation
4. Road / walkway as building
5. Yard as building
6. Inner yards should be excluded
7. Trees cover causes part of the building missing
8. Shadow
9. Roof arch drawn
10. Incorrect multilayer structure
iii. Other drawing rules
1. Building under construction
2. Caravans
3. Tent/sunshed
4. Trampoline
10
Residential: a. Single-family buildings
i. Drawing rules - Draw primary building and other permanent structures,
merge if adjoining
Do not be tricked
by private road
Draw primary that is similar
building on property color as building
Do not be tricked
by shadow cast by
building
Draw the
Draw & merge any shadow cast by
adjoining buildings / building height
parts, such as shed difference
Use fences to guide property & Do not draw

11
building separation the pool
ii. Common errors – 1.Attached building (shed and deck) missed or wrong
• Shed and deck should be drawn together with primary building as one building.
Interpretation based on these rules below,
• Context: Attached part (shed and deck) is located at the side and back of the primary
building, adjoining with the primary building.
• Shape: normalized shape, righ-angle and paralleled lines, simillar with primary building
• Color：most are white, light grey, sometimes are dark colors
• Texture：flat, no roof arch, sometimes has stripes
shed deck
• Shed and deck should be drawn together with primary building as one building
- Case 1
Color: ivory, Texture: flat, no
Context: located at the side Shape: similar with
or back and adjoining with primary building light grey roof arch
primary building
Primary and attached building
Attached building missed drawn as one building
Incorrect Correct 13
• Shed and deck should be drawn together with primary

building as one building - Case 2 Street view
Context: located at the
side or back and Shape: similar with Color: ivory,
adjoining with primary primary building light grey
building
Shed
missed
Blank image
Texture: flat, no roof arch, has
stripes Incorrect 14
• Shed and deck should be drawn together with primary building as one building - Case 2
Shed need draw
Blank image Correct
15
Draw shed and primary

building as one building
Incorrect Correct
16
Draw shed and primary Incorrect

Blank image building as one building
Correct
Street view 17
ii. Common errors – 2.Small building missed
• Small buildings larger than 36 pixels need drawn (this rule may change based
on different projects). Interpretation based on these rules below,
• Context: located at the back, near to fences
• Shape: most are rectangle
• Color: most are white, grey, brown, some are black or in black and white stripes.
• Texture: similar with primary building, some has roof arch
Blank image Correct 18

• Small buildings larger than 36 pixels need drawn – Case1

Context: located at the Shape: rectangle Color: grey, Texture: has roof
back, near to fences black arch, hunch-up
• Small buildings larger than 36 pixels need drawn – Case2
Context: located at the Color: grey, Texture: has roof

Shape: rectangle
back, near to fences white, black arch, hunch-up
Incorrect Street view
20
ii. Common errors – 3. Incorrect merging / separation
• Draw buildings on each property separately. Interpretation based on the rules below,
• Context:
a. Properties will be separated by fence-lines, and have a separated yard
b. Each separate property will have its own private road
• Color: The color of separate buildings will usually be different
• Parcels： means the boundaries of each property. Parcels can be used as additional guides
to verify separation suggested by visual features.
Parcel confirms need for
• Case1 separation
Context: (b)
Context: (b) Two
Backyard
separate driveways
separation
Color: Roof color

different
Incorrect drawing, Incorrect drawing,
21
parcel off parcel on
• Parcels：means the boundaries of each property. Parcels can be used to

verify separation suggested by visual features.
• Case2 Separate based on visual

features and parcels
Based on parcels, the adjoining

buildings belong to two
Blank image properties, need separation Correct 22
Incorrect
• Buildings not adjoining should draw separation
separately and leave the space
(based on the true situation)
• Case 3
Space between
buildings
Incorrect
Leave the
space
Black image
Correct
23
ii. Common errors – 4. Road / walkway as building
•Do not draw private road / walkway as building
•Context: (a) buildings do not come that close to the road. (b) the distance from
building to road is usually fairly consistent. (c) cars can park on the private road.
•Color: most are grey and black, while roof color changes more
•Texture: smooth, no arched feel
Color: grey
Context (b): the
distance from
building to road is
fairly consistent Texture:
smooth, no
arched feel
Context (c):
cars parking 24
Do not draw private road / walkway as building

- Case1
Context (a)
Texture: smooth buildings do not
come that close to
the road
Private road
drawn as building Street view
Context (b): the

distance from
building to road is
fairly consistent Incorrect
Correct 25
Do not draw private road / walkway as building

- Case2
Context (a)
buildings do not
Texture: smooth come that close to Private road
the road drawn as building
Context (b): the

distance from
building to road is
Blank image fairly consistent Incorrect 26
ii. Common errors – 5. Yard as building
•Do not draw surrounding area as building
• Context: (a) fence shows the yard boundary, building can not be built fill in the fence (b)
building shadow shows the building shape, (c) building sizes in one block are nearly the same
• Color: most are different from roof color, yard will be bare-land (brown, dard red) or grass
(green), not uniform
• Texture: yard is more rough, no arched feel, sometimes has objects on it (such as cars and
trees)
Context (b)
building shadow Color: green
shows the building
shape
Texture:
Context (a) fence
shows the yard rough, has
boundary, objects on it
building can not
be built fill in the
fence
27
•Do not draw surrounding area as building Street view

- Case1
Context (a) fence

shows the yard Color:
boundary, inconsistent
building can not Texture: no brown, bare-
be built fill in the arched feel land
fence
Incorrect
Yard as
building 28
•Do not draw surrounding area as building Street view

- Case2
Blank image
Context (a) fence
shows the yard
boundary,
building can not
be built fill in the
fence
Incorrect Correct
Context (b)
building shadow
shows the building
shape
Context (c)
building sizes in
one block are
nearly the same 29
ii. Common errors – 6. Inner yards should be excluded
• Visable inner yards on the roof top should be erased

•- Case1
Inner yards show the Inner yards should
ground, do not draw be excluded
Incorrect Correct
30
ii. Common errors – 7. Trees cover
•Trees cover causes part of the building

missing. Should draw based on the
common sense. Interpretation based on the
rules below,
• Context:trees cover appears arround
the building and above the roof
• Shape: buildings do not have strange
shape and strange corners
-Case1 Shape: strange
Context:trees cover appears shape and strange
arround the building and above Incorrect
corners
the roof
Draw based on
Blank image the common
Correct sense31
ii. Common errors – 7. Trees cover
•Trees cover causes part of the

building missing. Should draw
based on the common sense. Shape: strange
•- Case 2 shape and strange
corners
Context:trees
cover appears
arround the
building and Incorrect
above the roof
Blank image
Draw based on
the common
32
sense Correct
ii. Common errors – 8. Shadow
• Tricked by shadows causes wrong separation and shape. Interpretation

based on the rules below,
• Context: no narrow alley or inlet in the center of the building
• Shape: buildings will not have unrealistic shapes and strange corners
• Color: roof color is consistent, the black narrow gap is caused by roof
shadow, need to draw
- Case1 Unrealistic
narrow gap
Blank image Incorrect Correct

33
- Case2 Street view

Color: black narrow
Blank image gap caused by roof
shadow
Context：
unrealistic Shape：reasonable Correct
alley or inlet shape without strange
Incorrect corners
34
• Shadow caused by chimney

• - Case3
• Context: located at the roof
edge, higher than roof, small
shadow
Unreason
• Shape: small square
able
• Texture: slightly heave corners
Chimney
Incorrect
Shape:
realistic
building shape
Blank image
35
Correct
• Shadows inside the building

need draw – Case4
Be careful about the Color: black

difference between narrow gap caused
height shadows and by height shadow
wall shadows
interpretated as
two buildings and incorrect
separate
Blank image correct

draw as one building 36
•Do not draw shadows caused by wall. Interpretation based on rules below,
• Context: shadows are located at the same direction in one imagery
(example, all the shadows are located on the left side of the objects)
• Color: black, darker than roof color
- Case 5
Wrong: Shadow draw
as part of the building
•Do not draw shadows on the sides of

building.
• – Case6
Wrong: Shadow draw
as part of the building
Incorrect
Color:
black
Context: Black image
shadows have
same direction
Correct 38
ii. Common errors – 9. Roof arch drawn
•Do not draw the roof arch, draw a straight line
• Context：Visable roof arch cased by the image shoot angle
• Shape: Roof arch shape is not the real building shape. Building
boundaries are straight lines.
Incorrect Correct
Roof arch shape is not Building boundaries are

the real building shape straight lines 39
ii. Common errors – 9. Roof arch drawn
•Do not draw the roof arch, draw a straight line

• Case2 building boundaries are
straight lines
Incorrect Correct
Context: visable roof arch
40
ii. Common errors – 10. Multilayer structure
•Buildings with visible wall should draw 3D structures to get correct footprint
location. Do not draw different layers as one layer --- it will lead to incorrect building
shape.
3D drawing method
•Case1
refers to video tutorial
Incorrect Correct
Visible Wrong: not drawing 3D Draw correct 3D structure
sidewall
structure will lead to a
incorrect footprint shape. 41
ii. Common errors – 10. Multilayer structure
•Buildings with visible wall should draw 3D structures to get correct footprint
location. Do not draw different layers as one layer --- it will lead to incorrect building
shape.
•Case2 Visible 3D drawing method
sidewall refers to video tutorial
incorrect correct
Wrong: draw different Draw correct 3D structure

layers as one layer lead to
a unreasonable corner 42
iii. Other drawing rules – 1. Building under construction
•Buildings under construction need to draw

• Context : located at bare-land
• Shape: same as common buildings, has right angles and parellel lines
• Color: lighter than common buildings, most are sand color
• Texture: rough
blank image correct 43

iii. Other drawing rules – 1. Building under construction
•Buildings under construction need to draw

• Visable foundation outlines (prepared to build) need to draw
blank image correct

44
iii. Other drawing rules – 2. Caravan
•Do not draw caravans

•Context：parking in the yard, bare-land and road
•Shape：small narrow rectangles
•Color：white
•Texture：Top of the caravans has vents and windows,
front of the caravans has hooks
45
iii. Other drawing rules – 3. Tent/sunshed
•Do not draw tent and sunshed

• Context: (a) in the back yard. (b) on the grass of the
park (c) collective and uniform
• Color：white, ivory, blue
• Shape：circle, square, diamond and so on
• Texture：flat and smooth
Do not draw
46
iii. Other drawing rules – 4. Trampoline
• Do not draw trampoline

• Context: appear most commonly in the
back yard of single-family residential
buildings
• Shape: small circle
• Color: Dark, has light color edge
• Texture: not smooth
47
Residential: b. Townhouses
b. Townhouses
i. Drawing rules - Draw townhouses as one building, only merge
adjoining additional buildings
ii. Common errors
1. Incorrect separation
2. Confused with single-family buildings
48
i. Drawing rules – Draw townhouses as one building, only merge adjoining
additional buildings
•Townhouses are to be drawn as a single building
•Context: (a) has similar height and built adjoining with each other (b) often have separate
additional buildings in front or back
•Shape：(a) townhouses consist of the same building shape wil be repeated many times (b)
roof top seems like one structure
•Color：usually be one consistent color
•Texture：roof has consistent texture
If attached Primary
sturcture is buildings
separate, then draw as one
draw separately building
Adjoining
attached
structure should
merge as one
building 49
•Townhouses are to be drawn as a single building
•Case1
Shape
Context (a) similar
(a)repeated Color: Texture：
height and built consistent consistent
building shape
adjoining
Primary
buildings
draw as one
building
Adjoining
attached
structure should
merge as one
building
50
• Townhouses are to be drawn as
a single building
• Case2&3
Context (a) similar
height and built
adjoining
Shape (a)repeated Draw as one

building shape building
Shape (b) roof top
seems like one structure
Color:
consistent
Texture：
consistent
51
•– Case4
•If attached structures are separate from primary building, draw separately
•If attached structures are separate from each other, draw separately
Context (b) attached structures Draw separate structures separately

Shape
(a)repeated
building
shape
Color：
Consistent
Texture：
Consistent
Context (a) similar Blank image Correct

height and built adjoining
Primary building draw as one
52
ii. Common errors – 1. Incorrect separation
• Townhouses are to be drawn as a single building

• Although parcels show that the buildings belongs to different properties,
but these buildings are townhouses, need to draw as a single building
• - Case1
Shape Wrong: separate
Context (a) similar (a)repeated based on parcels
height and built adjoining building shape
Draw as one building
Blank image
Color： Texture： Incorrect Correct

Consistent Consistent Parcels on 53
ii. Common errors – 2. Confused with single-family buildings
•Do not confuse townhouses with single-family buildings. Interpretation based on rules below,
•Context：single-family buildings are not adjoining, there are visable gaps between two buildings
•Shape：shapes of single-family buildings are similar but not repeated, actually, the shapes are different
Case 1
Context： Shape：similar but

visable gaps not repeated Draw separately
blank image incorrect correct

54
Condo / Commercial / Industrial：a. Low-rise
a. Low-rise
i. Drawing rules – draw multi-layer structures --- including layers with area
larger than 10 * 10 pixels， OR can see obvious side-wall（no less than 3 pixels）.
(refer to video tutorial for more details)
ii. Common errors
1. Missing multi-layer structures
3. Inner yards are not excluded
iii. Other drawing rules
1. Pavements between buildings need to draw and draw together with
connected buildings as a single building
2. Pavement cross the road lager than 3 meters (6-10 pixels) need to
draw
3. Structures not permanent such as containers should not draw
55
Condo/Commercial/Industrial: a. Low-rise
i. Drawing rules – Draw multi-layer structures
•Draw multi-layer structures --- including rooftop building layers with area larger than 10 *
10 pixels， OR can see obvious side-wall（no less than 3 pixels）
• Context：(a) close to the road (b) not very high (c) larger floor area
• Shape：most are uniform and rectangle, some has irregular shape
• Color：different buildings has different colors
• Texture: (a) roof texture is more complicate than residential roof texture (there are some vents,
turnels and wires on the roof of commercial buildings) (b) some buildings have complex rooftop
building structures.
Only one layer, and no visible sidewall

ii. Common errors – 1. Missing multi-layer structures
Draw multi-layer structures --- layers with area larger than 10 * 10 pixels should be
included.
Case 1： There some significant rooftop structures with area larger than 10 * 10 pixels --- need to
draw. The lower layer with visible side-wall should be drawn as 3D structure. Refer to video tutorial
for more details.
Draw multi-layers
57
57
Blank image Correct
ii. Common errors – 1. Missing multi-layer structures
• Case 2: sometimes there are some

small structures on rooftop, with
area smaller than 10 * 10 pixels,
and without visible side-wall, then
DO NOT DRAW (see purple circle).
And small stuffs, such as water
tubes and ventilation devices, DO
NOT DRAW (see blue circle).
58
•Shadows cased by different building

heights should be drawn. There is no gap,
do not separate
•Case 1
Wrong: shadows
cased by different
heights
incorrect
This top layer

should be included
blank image correct59

•Shadows cased by different building

heights should be drawn. There is no gap,
do not separate
•Case 2 Wrong: shadows
cased by different
heights
incorrect
draw as one
building
blank image
correct60
Condo/Commercial: a. Low-rise
ii. Common errors – 3. Inner yard are not excluded
• Inner yard should be excluded

• Context：inner yard is located inside of the building, no roof top, shows the ground
• Shape：different kinds of shape, most are rectangles
visable trees on the exclude the inner

inner yard, do not draw yard
This rooftop layer

should be included
blank image incorrect correct
61
Condo/Commercial/industrial：a. Low-rise
iii. Other drawing rules – 1. Undercover walkways would be drawn
• Undercover walkways joining multiple buildings would be represented as a

single building
• Context：some buildings are linked by undercover walkways
• Shape：long and thin
• Color：similar as building rooftop
• Texture：similar as building rooftop
Draw undercover
walkways

iii. Other drawing rules – 2. pedestrian bridges larger than 3m in width would
be drawn
• pedestrian bridges larger than 3m (6 to 10 pixels) in width would be
represented
• Context：above the road
• Shape：long
• Color：light colors, usually pure white, ivory white, grey
• Texture：similar as building rooftop
Pedestrian bridges above

the road would be drawn
63
iii. Other drawing rules – 3.don’t draw artificial objects
• Don’t draw artificial objects（tubes & pipes,

materials for construction, wagon box, big
container）
• Context：（1）usually appear on bare land in
industrial area （2）concentrated
• Color：colors vary, usually light colors
• Shape：long & thin
Tubes & pipes Materials for construction
Wagon box
64
Big container
Condo/Commercial/industrial：b.High-rise
b. High-rise
i. Drawing rules – Draw multi-layer structures. Draw rooftops
of high-rise commercial buildings, then shift to base of building.
Including layers with area larger than 10 * 10 pixels， OR can
see obvious side-wall（no less than 3 pixels）（refer to video
tutorials for more details）
ii. Common errors
2. incorrect side-wall dragging
65
i. Drawing rules – Draw multi-layer structures
• Context：（1）close to road（2）sometimes side-wall visible（3）appear in downtown

• Color：（1）colors vary, usually have white, grey, brown（2）uneven color, one rooftop
might have more than 1 color (don’t do redundant separation)
• Shape：usually symmetrical shape, rarely irregular shape
• Texture： Commercial buildings will generally have a rougher texture than residential
buildings (more objects on roof such as heating unit, antenna, etc.)
Draw 3D structure: first 3D drawing rules refer
Texture:
draw rooftops, then shift to video tutorials
rougher texture
to base of building
Color:
various
colors

66
i. Common errors – 1. Incorrect merging / separation
• Rules of merging / separation：
（1）don’t draw “landlocked” buildings
（2）separate properly based on color
（3） separate properly based on texture(don’t do redundant separation)
（4）parcel information should be used only as additional guide
• Case 1 Separate properly based
color（1）different colors on color & texture
for different rooftops
Texture：block texture, don’t

67
Blank image do redundant separation Correct 67
i. Common errors – 2. incorrect side-wall dragging
• Drag rooftop to the base of building accurately

• Case 1
Incorrectly drag to ground Drag to the base of building
Incorrect Correct
68
Dense Building Block
i. Drawing rules – draw as one, then separate where appropriate. Remember to exclude
any ground or yard. Draw multi-layers, Including rooftop building layers with area larger than
10 * 10 pixels， OR can see obvious side-wall（no less than 3 pixels） (Refer to video tutorial
for more details.)
ii. Common errors
1. Incorrect merging/separation
2. Missing some buildings
3. Leave space between buildings adjoining with each other
4. Forget to drag side-wall

5. Missing multi-layers
6. Backyard/ground not excluded
69
i. Drawing rules - draw as one, then separate where appropriate
• Draw as one, then separate where appropriate.

• context：（1）Has similar height and built adjoining with each other
（2） the block is large（3）collectively appear
• shape：similar fashion & size
• color：color might vary
• texture：（1）dense but similar rooftop（2）inward areas might be
backyard and ground
70
i. Drawing rules - draw as one, then separate where appropriate
•Correct separation based on rules below：

（1）avoid ‘dead lock’ buildings – buildings have no link to road.
（2）separate appropriately based on different roof colors
（3）separate appropriately based on different roof textures, do not separate
redundant
（4）parcels can be used as additional reference all the buildings should
Case 1 – “dead lock” buildings have path to enter
dead lock
Incorrect
Correct
71
ii. Common errors – 1. Incorrect merging/separation
Cutting rules:
• Cut reasonably based on visible building boundaries
• Cut reasonably based on different roof colors (with
sharp color transition)
• Cut reasonably based on different roof textures
• Don’t cut too much
Case 1: Cut too roughly. Need more separation based

on the cutting rules.
Cut too roughly
Blank
image
incorrect correct 72
ii. Common errors – 1. Incorrect merging/separation
• Cut reasonably based on visible building

boundaries
• DO NOT cut randomly
• DO NOT cut as a chess board
Case 2 DO NOT cut buildings without

visible building boundaries
Incorrect
Bland image Correct 73

ii. Common errors – 2. Missing some buildings
• Draw the adjoining building block as one, and then cut appropriately to avoid missing
buildings.
• DO NOT draw buildings one by one.
Case 1: Some buildings are missing in the dense building block.
Drawing dense building one by one will easily omit
some buildings, and draw gaps between buildings.
Blank image incorrect correct 74

ii. Common errors – 3. Leave space between buildings adjoining with each other
• Don’t leave space for buildings adjoining with

each other
• Using “draw a block as a whole, then cut”
technique can avoid this error.
Using “draw a block as a whole, then
Case 1 cut” technique can avoid this error.
Blank image
Incorrect
Correct
75
ii. Common errors – 4. Forget to drag side-wall
• Shift building to the reasonable bottom, otherwise, building footprints location

will be wrong. Even worse, building footprints might overlap with road.
• We can analyze road shape to help speculate the real building footprint.
Case 1
Drag 3D buildings when see the sidewall, and
make sure the footprints DO NOT overlap the road
76
ii. Common errors – 4. Forget to drag side-wall
• Shift building to the reasonable bottom, otherwise, building footprints location will be
wrong. Even worse, building footprints might overlap with road.
Case 2: before dragging the side-wall, building footprints are overlapped with road
incorrectly. After shifting footprints to the bottom, the footprints have much more accurate
location.
Yellow dash lines show the correct

See side-wall here location of building footprints.
No overlap
Yellow lines show the location
of road, which is overlapped
Correct
with building footprints.
Incorrect
77
Dense 密集房屋群
Building Block
ii. 常见错误
ii. Common – 6.
errors 未画出多层结构
– 5. Missing multi-layers
• If the dense buildings have significant

different heights, draw those significant
multi-layers.
• Including rooftop building layers with
area larger than 10 * 10 pixels，OR can
see obvious side-wall（no less than 3
pixels）
• Refer to video tutorial for more details. Incorrect
Draw multi-layers for

buildings with significant
different height & rooftop
structures
Blank image Correct

78
ii. Common errors – 6. Backyard/ground not excluded
• Usually dense building block have all buildings are adjoining with each other. However, for some
area, there are some ground and inner yards which need to be excluded.
• From Google image, we can find out there are ground in dense building block. See arrows below.
79
• Rules for identifying backyard/ground:

1. Ground is lower than buildings. You can see dark
shadow on ground area.
2. Sometimes there are some fence around the
backyard. You can see inward shadow which
indicates that the backyard is lower than
surrounding buildings.
3. Sometimes you can even see trees inside or
cars parking on it.
Google image
The inward shadow indicates the inner yard
satellite image 80
Street view
• Rules for identifying backyard/ground:

1. Ground is lower than buildings. You can see dark
shadow on ground area.
2. Sometimes there are some fence around the backyard.
You can see inward shadow which indicates that the
backyard is lower than surrounding buildings.
3. Sometimes you can even see trees inside or cars
parking on it.
Case 1: exclude ground/backyard. Don’t draw as “chess board”
Ground is very dark and you can see inward
shadow caused by the fence around the backyard Incorrect
Correct
Blank image 81
• The inward shadow caused by surrounding buildings

indicates that the area is inner yard.
• There are some cars or grass on ground (no building
roof texture).
Case 2: This dense building block has all low-rise

buildings. And these buildings have similar roof texture.
So the areas even lower than the buildings should be
ground.
Inward shadow means No roof texture

this area is lower than & has car on it Blank image
buildings  ground  ground
incorrect correct
82
• The narrow white stuff in the red circles are vehicles, which indicates that these areas
are ground or backyard.
• Tips: some vehicles have dark color. Those narrow grey or black stuff are also vehicles.
Case 3: The areas with vehicles parking on it are ground or backyard, should be
excluded.
Correct 83
Farmland/rural area
i. Drawing rules:
1. Draw green houses
2. Draw silos (diameter ≥11 pixels)
• Tips for drawing round shape
3. Do not draw bushels of hay入
84
Farmland/rural area
i. Drawing rules – 1. Draw greenhouses
• Draw greenhouses - Greenhouses are
structures that are used to grow plants and crops
• Context: greenhouses appear in fields
• Color：white, grey
• Texture: greenhouses have a rough texture
• Shape: greenhouses appear as squares or rectangles

Farmland/rural area
i. Drawing rules – 2. Draw silos
• Draw silos (diameter ≥11 pixels)

• Context: silos will can appear in residential,
commercial, or farmland geographies
• Shape: silos have a round shape
• Color：usually white, grey, sometimes dark color
• Don’t draw round objects look like ground
Draw Draw
Don’t draw
≥11个pixels
86
Farmland/rural area
i. Drawing rules – 2. Draw silos
• Tips for drawing round shape：

• Use arc tool
• （1）draw 2 points on the edge of silo. These 2 points must be very
close to each other.（2）drag the arc，press “space” button to finish. The
circle can be drawn accurately.
Incorrect
（1）draw 2 points
close to each other
（2）drag the arc

Correct 87
Farmland/rural area
i. Drawing rules – 3. Do not draw bushels of hay
• Do not draw bushels of hay:

• Context: Bushels of hay are found in
fields
• Color: Bushels of hay will be a light
yellow or brown color
• Shape: Bushels of hay appear as
small squares with slightly rounded
edges
Don’t draw
88
Summary
• Usually buildings have right angle corners, please use right angle tool to
draw reasonable shape. Drawings of building rooftops must be accurate
within 3 pixels
• Don’t draw road/walkway, backyard, tent, pool, container, caravan,
bushels
• Don’t miss shed, small buildings, and other additional structures.
• Pay more attention to shadows. Don’t draw abnormal corners or do
incorrect separation.
• Townhouses would be drawn as one building
• Separate dense buildings properly. Don’t draw “deadlock” buildings
• Draw multi-layer structures for Condo/commercial/industrial & dense
building block.
89
90

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A2-Building Interpretation Guide - V5

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Building interpretation guide

• Building interpretation methods

• Context: The relative location of each object on the property

• Shape: The geometric shape of each object

Private road: long

Solar panel: rigid and

Fences: straight, long, thin 7

• Color: The color of each object

Fences: brown, white Pool: blue, dark blue, or light yellow 8

• Texture: The texture of each object

Use fences to guide property & Do not draw

• Shed and deck should be drawn together with primary

Shed need draw

Blank image Correct

Draw shed and primary

Draw shed and primary Incorrect

Blank image Correct 18

• Small buildings larger than 36 pixels need drawn – Case1

• Small buildings larger than 36 pixels need drawn – Case2

Context: located at the Color: grey, Texture: has roof

Incorrect Street view

Color: Roof color

• Parcels：means the boundaries of each property. Parcels can be used to

• Case2 Separate based on visual

Based on parcels, the adjoining

Do not draw private road / walkway as building

Context (b): the

Do not draw private road / walkway as building

Context (b): the

•Do not draw surrounding area as building Street view

Context (a) fence

•Do not draw surrounding area as building Street view

• Visable inner yards on the roof top should be erased

•Trees cover causes part of the building

•Trees cover causes part of the

• Tricked by shadows causes wrong separation and shape. Interpretation

Blank image Incorrect Correct

- Case2 Street view

• Shadow caused by chimney

• Shadows inside the building

Be careful about the Color: black

Blank image correct

•Do not draw shadows on the sides of

Roof arch shape is not Building boundaries are

•Do not draw the roof arch, draw a straight line

Wrong: draw different Draw correct 3D structure

•Buildings under construction need to draw

blank image correct 43

•Buildings under construction need to draw

blank image correct

•Do not draw caravans

•Do not draw tent and sunshed

• Do not draw trampoline

Shape (a)repeated Draw as one

Context (b) attached structures Draw separate structures separately

Context (a) similar Blank image Correct

• Townhouses are to be drawn as a single building

Color： Texture： Incorrect Correct

Context： Shape：similar but

blank image incorrect correct

Only one layer, and no visible sidewall

• Case 2: sometimes there are some

•Shadows cased by different building