| Records |
| Author |
Levin, N.; Duke, Y. |
| Title |
High spatial resolution night-time light images for demographic and socio-economic studies |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Remote Sensing of Environment |
Abbreviated Journal |
Remote Sensing of Environment |
| Volume |
119 |
Issue |
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Pages |
1-10 |
| Keywords |
Night-time lights; DMSP; SAC-C; ISS; Israel; Urban structure; light at night; light pollution; remote sensing; DMSP-OLS |
| Abstract |
Satellite derived night-time lights have been used to study global economic and demographic differences between countries. The majority of studies to date have used the coarse spatial resolution datasets of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). In this study, we hypothesize that night-time lights can serve as an indicator for demographic and socio-economic properties of built-up areas at a local scale. We used night-time light images acquired by the American DMSP (2003, 2.7 km), Argentinean SAC-C (2007, 300 m) and photographs taken by astronauts from the International Space Station (ISS; 2003, 60 m). We compared the night-time lights of built-up areas based on their geographical location (Israel and the West Bank) and their population (Jewish and Arab). Israeli localities were better lit than West Bank localities, corresponding to the difference in the gross domestic product of the two entities. No difference was found in the night-time lights brightness of Jewish and Arab localities within Israel. However, night-time lights of built-up areas with a Jewish population within Israel and the West Bank were positively correlated with population density and roads density. In contrast, built-up areas with an Arab population had weaker correlations. Differences in the urban structure of Jewish and Arab built-up areas, as well as economic and geopolitical differences between Israel and the West Bank led to the observed differences in night-time lights patterns. Demographic and infrastructure data were able to explain 60% of the spatial variation of the ISS night-time lights, compared with only 28% of the spatial variation of the DMSP night-time lights dataset. The results of this study demonstrate potential uses of night-time lights databases of high spatial resolution, and emphasize the need for a dedicated night-time lights observing satellite. |
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0034-4257 |
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IDA @ john @ |
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218 |
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Ma, T.; Zhou, C.; Pei, T.; Haynie, S.; Fan, J. |
| Title |
Quantitative estimation of urbanization dynamics using time series of DMSP/OLS nighttime light data: A comparative case study from China's cities |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Remote Sensing of Environment |
Abbreviated Journal |
Remote Sensing of Environment |
| Volume |
124 |
Issue |
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Pages |
99-107 |
| Keywords |
Urbanization; DMSP-OLS; Nighttime light; Statistical analysis; China; remote sensing; satellite; light at night |
| Abstract |
Urbanization process involving increased population size, spatially extended land cover and intensified economic activity plays a substantial role in anthropogenic environment changes. Remotely sensed nighttime lights datasets derived from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) provide a consistent measure for characterizing trends in urban sprawl over time (Sutton, 2003). The utility of DMSP/OLS imagery for monitoring dynamics in human settlement and economic activity at regional to global scales has been widely verified in previous studies through statistical correlations between nighttime light brightness and demographic and economic variables ( and ). The quantitative relationship between long-term nighttime light signals and urbanization variables, required for extensive application of DMSP/OLS data for estimating and projecting the trajectory of urban development, however, are not well addressed for individual cities at a local scale. We here present analysis results concerning quantitative responses of stable nighttime lights derived from time series of DMSP/OLS imagery to changes in urbanization variables during 1994–2009 for more than 200 prefectural-level cities and municipalities in China. To identify the best-fitting model for nighttime lights-based measurement of urbanization processes with different development patterns, we comparatively use three regression models: linear, power-law and exponential functions to quantify the long-term relationships between nighttime weighted light area and four urbanization variables: population, gross domestic product (GDP), built-up area and electric power consumption. Our results suggest that nighttime light brightness could be an explanatory indicator for estimating urbanization dynamics at the city level. Various quantitative relationships between urban nighttime lights and urbanization variables may indicate diverse responses of DMSP/OLS nighttime light signals to anthropogenic dynamics in urbanization process in terms of demographic and economic variables. At the city level, growth in weighted lit area may take either a linear, concave (exponential) or convex (power law) form responsive to expanding human population and economic activities during urbanization. Therefore, in practice, quantitative models for using DMSP/OLS data to estimate urbanization dynamics should vary with different patterns of urban development, particularly for cities experiencing rapid urban growth at a local scale. |
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0034-4257 |
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IDA @ john @ |
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219 |
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Miller, S.D.; Mills, S.P.; Elvidge, C.D.; Lindsey, D.T.; Lee, T.F.; Hawkins, J.D. |
| Title |
Suomi satellite brings to light a unique frontier of nighttime environmental sensing capabilities |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A |
| Volume |
109 |
Issue |
39 |
Pages |
15706-15711 |
| Keywords |
Suomi NPP; satellite; remote sensing; light at night |
| Abstract |
Most environmental satellite radiometers use solar reflectance information when it is available during the day but must resort at night to emission signals from infrared bands, which offer poor sensitivity to low-level clouds and surface features. A few sensors can take advantage of moonlight, but the inconsistent availability of the lunar source limits measurement utility. Here we show that the Day/Night Band (DNB) low-light visible sensor on the recently launched Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite has the unique ability to image cloud and surface features by way of reflected airglow, starlight, and zodiacal light illumination. Examples collected during new moon reveal not only meteorological and surface features, but also the direct emission of airglow structures in the mesosphere, including expansive regions of diffuse glow and wave patterns forced by tropospheric convection. The ability to leverage diffuse illumination sources for nocturnal environmental sensing applications extends the advantages of visible-light information to moonless nights. |
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Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. steven.miller@colostate.edu |
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English |
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0027-8424 |
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PMID:22984179; PMCID:PMC3465370 |
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no |
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IDA @ john @ |
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220 |
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Propastin, P.; Kappas, M. |
| Title |
Assessing Satellite-Observed Nighttime Lights for Monitoring Socioeconomic Parameters in the Republic of Kazakhstan |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2012 |
Publication |
GIScience & Remote Sensing |
Abbreviated Journal |
GIScience & Remote Sensing |
| Volume |
49 |
Issue |
4 |
Pages |
538-557 |
| Keywords |
DMSP-OLS; remote sensing; light at night; light pollution; satellite; Kazakhstan; former Soviet republics |
| Abstract |
This paper describes an initial assessment of human-induced nighttime lights acquired by the Defence Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS) with respect to its applicability in monitoring settlement patterns, population, electricity consumption, gross domestic product (GDP), and carbon dioxide emissions at different spatial levels in the Republic of Kazakhstan. The results revealed the suitability of DMSP-OLS data to detect both urban expansion and contraction over last two decades caused by the new economic situation following the independence of Kazakhstan in 1991. Relationships between DMSP-OLS urban lit area and the socioeconomic parameters were quantified. The DMSP-OLS data proved to be an effective tool in the monitoring of both the spatial and temporal variability of the examined socioeconomic parameters. |
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Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany |
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1548-1603 |
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IDA @ john @ |
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221 |
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| Author |
Small, C.; Elvidge, C.D. |
| Title |
Night on Earth: Mapping decadal changes of anthropogenic night light in Asia |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2013 |
Publication |
International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation |
Abbreviated Journal |
International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation |
| Volume |
22 |
Issue |
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Pages |
40-52 |
| Keywords |
Urban; Night light; DMSP-OLS; Landsat; Zipf; Asia; India; China; Nightsat; remote sensing; light at night; satellite |
| Abstract |
The defense meteorological satellite program (DMSP) operational linescan system (OLS) sensors have imaged emitted light from Earth's surface since the 1970s. Temporal overlap in the missions of 5 OLS sensors allows for intercalibration of the annual composites over the past 19 years (Elvidge et al., 2009). The resulting image time series captures a spatiotemporal signature of the growth and evolution of lighted human settlements and development. We use empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis and the temporal feature space to characterize and quantify patterns of temporal change in stable night light brightness and spatial extent since 1992. Temporal EOF analysis provides a statistical basis for representing spatially abundant temporal patterns in the image time series as uncorrelated vectors of brightness as a function of time from 1992 to 2009. The variance partition of the eigenvalue spectrum combined with temporal structure of the EOFs and spatial structure of the PCs provides a basis for distinguishing between deterministic multi-year trends and stochastic year-to-year variance. The low order EOFs and principal components (PC) space together discriminate both earlier (1990s) and later (2000s) increases and decreases in brightness. Inverse transformation of these low order dimensions reduces stochastic variance sufficiently so that tri-temporal composites depict potentially deterministic decadal trends. The most pronounced changes occur in Asia. At critical brightness threshold we find an 18% increase in the number of spatially distinct lights and an 80% increase in lighted area in southern and eastern Asia between 1992 and 2009. During this time both China and India experienced a ∼20% increase in number of lights and a ∼270% increase in lighted area – although the timing of the increase is later in China than in India. Throughout Asia a variety of different patterns of brightness increase are apparent in tri-temporal brightness composites – as well as some conspicuous areas of apparently decreasing background luminance and, in many places, intermittent light suggesting development of infrastructure rather than persistently lighted development. Vicarious validation using higher resolution Landsat imagery verifies multiple phases of urban growth in several cities as well as the consistent presence of low DN (<∼15) background luminance for many agricultural areas. Lights also allow us to quantify changes in the size distribution and connectedness of different intensities of development. Over a wide range of brightnesses, the size distributions of spatially contiguous lighted area are consistent with power laws with exponents near −1 as predicted by Zipf's Law for cities. However, the larger lighted segments are much larger than individual cities; they correspond to vast spatial networks of contiguous development (Small et al., 2011). |
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0303-2434 |
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IDA @ john @ |
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222 |
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