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Why VIIRS data are
superior to DMSP for mapping nocturnal lighting.
Christopher D. Elvidge, Ph.D.Earth Observation Group
NOAA National Geophysical Data CenterBoulder, Colorado [email protected]
Kimberly Baugh, Feng Chi Hsu, Tilottama Ghosh. Mikhail Zhizhin (CIRES)January 13, 2013
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Cities and humansettlements
Industrial Sites
Boats
Gas Flares Fires
Lights AtNight!
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Two Satellite Systems Collect Low Light Imaging Data at Nights
• U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). 1972 to present.
• NASA‐NOAA Suomi NPP Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). Launched October 28, 2011.
• In both cases the purpose of the low light imaging is the detection of moonlit clouds.
• NGDC’s Earth Observation Group has worked on global mapping of nighttime lights with DMSP data for 18 years.
• NGDC recently completed a two month global cloud‐free composite of nighttime lights from VIIRS data.
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Improved Spatial ResolutionBay Area to Sacramento, California
VIIRS April & October, 2012 DMSP‐OLS April & October, 2012
Note white saturation areasNote spatial features thatare missing in the DMSP image
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Improved Spatial ResolutionFishing Boat Detections
VIIRS October 15, 2012 01:30 DMSP‐OLS October 14, 2012 19:30
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What Makes VIIRS Better Than DMSP?• The VIIRS DNB footprint is 45 times smaller than the DMSP pixel footprint!
VIIRS Day / Night Band742 m2 footprint
DMSP OLS 5 km2 footprint
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What Else Makes VIIRS Better Than DMSP?• Quantization: VIIRS 14 bit versus 6 bit for DMSP.• Dynamic Range: Due to limited dynamic range, DMSP data saturate on bright lights in operational data collections.
• Quantitative: VIIRS is well calibrated, the DMSP visible band has no in‐flight calibration.
• Multispectral: VIIRS has additional spectral bands to discriminate combustion sources from lights and to characterize the optical thickness of clouds.
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Summary• The VIIRS day / night band provides substantial improvements over DMSP in spatial resolution, detection limit, dynamic range, and quantization.
• The basic processing steps developed for assembling global cloud‐free composites from DMSP data hold up for VIIRS.
• It is anticipated that the improved global nighttime lights products from VIIRS will lead to major advances in each of the application areas demonstrated with DMSP data.