How to distinguish land cover from present-day buildings in Haiti

A land-cover map can explain an area’s context without describing the construction visible today. When researching property in Haiti, first establish what the layer classifies and which date it represents.

Separate observation from publication

The Occupation des sols Haïti 2018 project page, involving CNES, SERTIT and CNIGS, was published in 2021 to present information concerning 2018. The publication year and represented year are therefore not interchangeable.

Record both dates, the layer title and its legend. Check the stated scale or resolution before connecting a surface category to a small building. A class describing an area does not identify every dwelling, its current use or occupants. Keep the original French resource names alongside translations so that the source remains easy to find again.

Compare without inventing a change

If a more recent image looks different, preserve both references and any available observation dates. Visual differences may result from scale, method or content. They do not by themselves demonstrate that construction appeared or disappeared between two particular years.

Prepare a checkable question: “The 2018 layer classifies this surface in this way; what does a current observation show at the same location?” Do not derive a land boundary, dwelling price or safety condition from that class. The useful outcome is a dated comparison with a stable location and explicit uncertainties. A current observation or additional document can then address the question left open by the historical map, without erasing the distinction between past land cover and present property characteristics.

A building for practising the distinction

The verified Terraes record represents a 35.46 m² footprint at 18.54354, -72.33938. The query on 22 September 2026 returned this Overture record, release 2026-08-19.0. This is footprint area; it does not identify an apartment or establish rights over the land. Use the example to recognise which object you are reading before applying the official query to your property.

Continue with the other local guide or the country hub. The methodology explains evidence concepts; its specific models do not automatically transfer to this case.