Exploring correlation between OCO-2 XCO2 and DMSP/OLS nightlight imagery signature in four selected locations in India

Abstract

This study identified the correlation between OCO-2 XCO2 signatures and night-time light (NTL) dynamics for four different landscapes in India: Megapolis (part of Mumbai), City (part of Raipur), Town (part of Dindigul), and Village (part of Balnoi). The data used for building the correlation were collected from Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 (OCO-2) XCO2 and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Line Scanner’s (DMSP/OLS) NTL datasets. The result of the study indicated that CO2 concentration is strongly related to NTL data. Megapolis part was found to exhibit higher values in both CO2 mean concentration (405.8 ppm) and NTL distribution level (41.5-pixel value), while the village part was low in both CO2 mean concentration (400.306 ppm) and NTL distribution level (4.4-pixel values). The city part of the data showed that the highest mean local R2 (0.964) in Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR), while the village part recorded the lowest mean local R2 (0.579) in the given data set. This study further emphasizes that the night light satellite imagery can be used as descriptors and proxies to calculate CO2 emission.