Integrating Microsoft Building Footprints and OpenStreetMap to Improve Building Representation

Abstract. This paper investigates whether integrating the Microsoft Building Footprints (MBF) dataset with building footprints contributed by the OpenStreetMap (OSM) community can improve the spatial quality of building data. Specifically, we assess whether the resulting hybrid dataset enhances completeness and positional accuracy relative to the original MBF and OSM datasets. The evaluation was conducted in a study area encompassing both urban and rural environments, using 1:5,000 topographic cartography as the reference dataset. The merged MBF+OSM dataset successfully captured 87% of the buildings represented in the reference cartography, outperforming the standalone MBF and OSM datasets, which captured 81% and 70%, respectively. These results demonstrate that combining MBF and OSM footprints provides a more comprehensive representation of buildings and can offer a valuable alternative for applications requiring detailed, up-to-date building information.