mlsanityData to 14 Oct 2026

Generate Your Own Scotland: Satellite Image Generation Conditioned on Maps

arXiv 2308.16648 ↗First posted 31 Aug 2023cs.CV cs.LGcited by 30

On the map: Diffusion models → Inverse problems and image restoration

Abstract (arXiv)

Despite recent advancements in image generation, diffusion models still remain largely underexplored in Earth Observation. In this paper we show that state-of-the-art pretrained diffusion models can be conditioned on cartographic data to generate realistic satellite images. We provide two large datasets of paired OpenStreetMap images and satellite views over the region of Mainland Scotland and the Central Belt. We train a ControlNet model and qualitatively evaluate the results, demonstrating that both image quality and map fidelity are possible. Finally, we provide some insights on the opportunities and challenges of applying these models for remote sensing. Our model weights and code for creating the dataset are publicly available at https://github.com/miquel-espinosa/map-sat.

Key facts. Cited by 30 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026). Placed in Inverse problems and image restoration, one of 14 directions in Diffusion models. Builds on 16 of its 36 references that are in the map. First posted on arXiv 31 Aug 2023.

Builds on

16 of 36 references.

References · 16

  1. 2020Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Modelscited by 21,076
  2. 2021High-Resolution Image Synthesis with Latent Diffusion Modelscited by 18,863
  3. 2015Deep Unsupervised Learning using Nonequilibrium Thermodynamicscited by 7,058
  4. 2023Adding Conditional Control to Text-to-Image Diffusion Modelscited by 5,503
  5. 2016Image-to-Image Translation with Conditional Adversarial Networkscited by 4,527
  6. 2015Unsupervised Representation Learning with Deep Convolutional Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 2,054
  7. 2017Towards Principled Methods for Training Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 464
  8. 2017Data Augmentation Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 278
  9. 2022Diffusion Models for Medical Image Analysis: A Comprehensive Surveycited by 273
  10. 2020More Diverse Means Better: Multimodal Deep Learning Meets Remote Sensing Imagery Classificationcited by 126
  11. 2022Deep Learning in Multimodal Remote Sensing Data Fusion: A Comprehensive Reviewcited by 73
  12. 2020OpenStreetMap: Challenges and Opportunities in Machine Learning and Remote Sensingcited by 30
4 more
  1. 2020D-SRGAN: DEM Super-Resolution with Generative Adversarial Networkscited by 15
  2. 2017Joint Learning from Earth Observation and OpenStreetMap Data to Get Faster Better Semantic Mapscited by 13
  3. 2023Mask Conditional Synthetic Satellite Imagerycited by 4
  4. 2022Image Augmentation for Satellite Imagescited by 3

Built on by

Cited by year (2026 to 14 Oct)

Citing papers per year: 2023: 3; 2024: 8; 2025: 13; 2026: 6.

30 papers.

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  1. 2024CRS-Diff: Controllable Remote Sensing Image Generation with Diffusion Modelcited by 55
  2. 2025Text2Earth: Unlocking Text-driven Remote Sensing Image Generation with a Global-Scale Dataset and a Foundation Modelcited by 48
  3. 2024MetaEarth: A Generative Foundation Model for Global-Scale Remote Sensing Image Generationcited by 42
  4. 2023Learned representation-guided diffusion models for large-image generationcited by 40
  5. 2024Diffusion Models Meet Remote Sensing: Principles, Methods, and Perspectivescited by 27
  6. 2024ZoomLDM: Latent Diffusion Model for multi-scale image generationcited by 16
  7. 2024Detecting Out-Of-Distribution Earth Observation Images with Diffusion Modelscited by 14
  8. 2023Generative Fractional Diffusion Modelscited by 12
  9. 2025The Change You Want To Detect: Semantic Change Detection In Earth Observation With Hybrid Data Generationcited by 12
  10. 2023SatDM: Synthesizing Realistic Satellite Image with Semantic Layout Conditioning using Diffusion Modelscited by 11
  11. 2024Cross-View Meets Diffusion: Aerial Image Synthesis with Geometry and Text Guidancecited by 9
  12. 2024CC-Diff: Enhancing Contextual Coherence in Remote Sensing Image Synthesiscited by 8
18 more
  1. 2025MESA: Text-Driven Terrain Generation Using Latent Diffusion and Global Copernicus Datacited by 7
  2. 2025Generative AI for Urban Planning: Synthesizing Satellite Imagery via Diffusion Modelscited by 7
  3. 2025DiffRIS: Enhancing Referring Remote Sensing Image Segmentation with Pre-trained Text-to-Image Diffusion Modelscited by 6
  4. 2025Multimodal LLM-Guided Semantic Correction in Text-to-Image Diffusioncited by 5
  5. 2025Object Fidelity Diffusion for Remote Sensing Image Generationcited by 5
  6. 2025Fractional Diffusion Bridge Modelscited by 3
  7. 2024EarthGen: Generating the World from Top-Down Viewscited by 2
  8. 2025COP-GEN-Beta: Unified Generative Modelling of COPernicus Imagery Thumbnailscited by 2
  9. 2025EarthMapper: Visual Autoregressive Models for Controllable Bidirectional Satellite-Map Translationcited by 2
  10. 2025Diffusion Models for Hyperspectral Image Analysis: A Comprehensive Reviewcited by 2
  11. 2025RSFAKE-1M: A Large-Scale Dataset for Detecting Diffusion-Generated Remote Sensing Forgeriescited by 2
  12. 2026SimLBR: Learning to Detect Fake Images by Learning to Detect Real Imagescited by 1
  13. 2026COP-GEN: Latent Diffusion Transformer for Copernicus Earth Observation Datacited by 1
  14. 2026AnyBand-Diff: A Unified Remote Sensing Image Generation and Band Repair Framework with Spectral Priorscited by 1
  15. 2026MetaEarth-MM: Unified Multimodal Remote Sensing Image Generation with Scene-centered Joint Modelingcited by 1
  16. 2025OSMGen: Highly Controllable Satellite Image Synthesis using OpenStreetMap Datacited by 0
  17. 2026D2-CDIG: Controlled Diffusion Remote Sensing Image Generation with Dual Priors of DEM and Cloud-Fogcited by 0
  18. 2026Beyond Edge Maps: Wavelet-Domain Conditioning for Multi-Adapter Map-to-Satellite Diffusioncited by 0

Similar, not cited

Close in wording, no citation either way

  1. 2025Environment-Aware Satellite Image Generation with Diffusion Models
  2. 2023DiffusionSat: A Generative Foundation Model for Satellite Imagery
  3. 2026TerraDiT: Point-Conditioned Diffusion Transformer for Satellite Image Synthesis
  4. 2024Remote Diffusion
  5. 2023RSDiff: Remote Sensing Image Generation from Text Using Diffusion Model
  6. 2025Can Generative Geospatial Diffusion Models Excel as Discriminative Geospatial Foundation Models?
  7. 2022Transfer Learning with Pretrained Remote Sensing Transformers
  8. 2024Generating Synthetic Satellite Imagery With Deep-Learning Text-to-Image Models -- Technical Challenges and Implications for Monitoring and Verification