City Lights of the World
| Analytical Overview |
| The National Geophysical "city lights" database is based on imagery developed by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP), which detecting low levels of visible to near infrared (VNIR) radiance at night. The VNIR pick up radiance from cities, towns, industrial sites, gas flares, fires, and lightning illuminated clouds. The resolution of this database is at 1km. |
Map Projection
Geographic
Map Description
The National Geophysical "city lights" database depicts stable lights and radiance calibrated lights of the world (which includes lights from cities, towns, industrial sites, gas flares, fires, and lightning illuminated clouds). A high concentration of city lights is especially found in industrialized densely populated regions such as western Europe, Japan, and the U.S.. Alternatively, few "city lights" are shown in economically poorer and sparsely populated regions (e.g. central and northern Africa and South America). Moderate "city lights" are found in several densely populated "developing countries" (e.g. India, Indonesia, eastern Brazil, and South Africa). The "city lights" data may be used a proxy for population distribution or infrastructure (e.g. in which it may be assumed that the occurrence of few city lights is correlated with the presence of institutional, political, and industrial infrastructure).
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Citation:
WRI, 2000 based on NOAA-NGDC, 1998
Sources:
- NOAA-NGDC (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-National Geophysical Data Center). 1998, Stable Lights and Radiance Calibrated Lights of the World CD-ROM. Boulder, Colorado, USA:NOAA-NGDC.
Available On-line at: Source Link.