Nighttime Lights
infrastructureurban
Upwelling top-of-atmosphere radiance observed at night, captured by
the VIIRS Day/Night Band (Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20/21) and historically by
the DMSP Operational Linescan System. Reported in nanoWatts per
square centimetre per steradian. Flagship products: VIIRS VNL V2
annual composites (Earth Observation Group, Colorado School of
Mines), NASA Black Marble VNP46A2 (BRDF/atmosphere-corrected daily),
and the NOAA NCEI DMSP-OLS historical archive (1992-2013). Widely
used as a proxy for urbanization extent, electrification access,
economic activity, and as a near-real-time indicator in
conflict-zone monitoring and disaster impact assessment.
Canonical units:
nW cm-2 sr-1