Australian Buildings Data Available Via API

PSMA Australia, provider of Australia’s authoritative location datasets, has released an Application Programming Interface (API) that will allow access to data about any building in Australia.

The beta version of the Buildings API is based on the PSMA’s award-winning Geoscape dataset and is available for free via their developer portal. It contains data on over 8.8 million buildings with more to be added soon.

PSMA’s CEO, Dan Paull, said the company has nearly mapped every building at every address in Australia and expects to have captured all buildings with a roof area greater than nine metres square by mid-2018.

The API takes an address string query and matches it to a known address. The address identifier looks up buildings at the address and the building identifier looks up the attributes of each building. Building attributes include:

• Building footprint – 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional
• Building centre point
• Building height
• Building elevation
• Roof material
• Roof pitch/complexity
• Solar panels on roof
• Adjacent swimming pools

PSMA commissioned DigitalGlobe, a global leader in Earth imagery, to capture satellite imagery and extract built environment features for both Geoscape and the Buildings API.

“We’re in an age of data-as-a-service. New business models are required to increase accessibility of spatial data and that’s what PSMA is pursuing with our APIs. Through our APIs, customers connect our data to theirs and extract insights. We aim for spatial data to be included in all systems development – to bring location intelligence to business processes and solutions.” said Dan Paull.

The Buildings API is built using ReST principles with response output in JSON. To get a key, register at the PSMA Developer Portal and opt-in for the Beta Program.