Abstract
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) stable lights products are made using operational OLS data collected at high gain settings, resulting in sensor saturation on brightly lit areas, such as city centers. This has been a paramount shortcoming of the DMSP-OLS stable lights time series. This study outlines a methodology that greatly expands the dynamic range of the OLS data using observations made at different fixed-gain settings, and by incorporating the areas not affected by saturation from the stable lights product. The radiances for the fixed-gain data are computed based on each OLS sensor’s pre-flight calibration. The result is a product known as the OLS radiance calibrated nighttime lights. A total of eight global datasets have been produced, representing years from 1996 to 2010. To further facilitate the usefulness of these data for time-series analyses, corrections have been made to counter the sensitivity differences of the sensors, and coefficients are provided to adjust the datasets to allow inter-comparison.
Highlights
Nighttime lights are unique among global remote sensing data products for their high correlation to human activities
Elvidge et al proposed a “radiance calibration” approach [12]. This method requires the collection of DefenseMeteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)-Operational Linescan System (OLS) VIS band at three different fixed-gain levels: low, medium and high
Due to limited availability of DMSP-OLS data with fixed-gain settings, the number of orbits collected at each fixed-gain setting is usually about ten times less than those collected in normal operations [13]
Summary
Nighttime lights are unique among global remote sensing data products for their high correlation to human activities. Elvidge et al proposed a “radiance calibration” approach [12] This method requires the collection of DMSP-OLS VIS band at three different fixed-gain levels: low, medium and high. This technique resembles the HDR (High Dynamic Range imaging) in digital photography. To extend the product to even lower brightness levels and to augment the limited number of fixed-gain data collections, the stable lights product for the corresponding year is blended in. This study outlines the production of a time series of Radiance Calibrated global nighttime lights products, spanning all the years where suitable fixed-gain data collections were made.
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