Abstract
Poverty alleviation is one of the most important tasks facing human social development. It is necessary to make accurate monitoring and evaluations for areas with poverty to improve capability of implementing poverty alleviation policies. Here, this study introduced nighttime light (NTL) data to estimate county-level poverty in southwest China. First, this study used particle swarm optimization-back propagation hybrid algorithm to explore the potential relationship between two NTL data (the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Line Scan System data and the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite data). Then, we integrated two NTL data at the pixel level to establish a consistent time-series of NTL dataset from 2000 to 2019. Next, an actual comprehensive poverty index (ACPI) was employed as an indicator of multidimensional poverty at county level based on 11 socioeconomic and natural variables, and which could be the reference to explore the poverty evaluation using NTL data. Based on the correlation between the ACPI and NTL characteristic variables, a poverty evaluation model was developed to evaluate the poverty situation. The result showed the great matching relationship between DMSP-OLS and NPP-VIIRS data (R2 = 0.84). After calibration, the continuity and comparability of DMSP-OLS data were significantly improved. The integrated NTL data also reflected great consistency with socioeconomic development (r = 0.99). The RMSE between ACPI and the estimated comprehensive poverty index (ECPI) based on the integrated NTL data is approximately 0.19 (R2 = 0.96), which revealed the poverty evaluation model was feasible and reliable. According to the ECPI, we found that the magnitude of poverty eradication increased in southwest China until 2011, but slowed down from 2011 to 2019. Regarding the spatial scale, geographic barriers are a key factor for poverty, with high altitude and mountainous areas typically having a high incidence of poverty. Our approach offers an effective model for evaluation poverty based on the NTL data, which can contribute a more reliable and efficient monitoring of poverty dynamic and a better understanding of socioeconomic development.
Highlights
Poverty is a long-term worldwide predicament and a main cause of instability for society [1]
The major objectives of this study are: (1) to integrate DMSP-OLS and NPPVIIRS nighttime light (NTL) data at the pixel level based on the Particle swarm optimization (PSO)-back propagation (BP) hybrid algorithm, and establish a consistent time-series of NTL dataset from 2000 to 2019; (2) to establish an efficient method for poverty evaluation based on NTL feature variables by exploring the relationship between them and an actual comprehensive poverty index (ACPI), and implement poverty evaluation in southwestern China from 2000 to 2019 based on the consistent NTL dataset; (3) to analyze the spatiotemporal variations of regional poverty in southwestern China from 2000 to 2019
It was shown that the comprehensive application of supplementary input parameters and PSO-BP algorithm was advantageous for constructing the matching relationship between DMSP-OLS and NPP-VIIRS data
Summary
Poverty is a long-term worldwide predicament and a main cause of instability for society [1]. It is estimated that 735.9 million people remained in poverty ($1.90 per day). Poverty eradication is the primary goal of the Sustainable Development. Poverty reduction has become a vital task faced by many countries [2]. China has implemented huge amounts of work for poverty alleviation and has achieved remarkable results. Imbalanced and inadequate development are still urgent issues for China, which are barriers to China’s sustainable development. Consolidating achievements of poverty alleviation will be the priority. There is still a long and tough road to completely eliminate poverty in China [3]. Accurately and objectively evaluating and monitoring poverty level and development situations are crucial for governments to continue the strategy of rural vitalization and promote balanced development
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
