New nighttime maps based on NASA satellite imagery are upending assumptions, revealing a world where artificial brightening and dimming have intensified over the past decade. The findings show intense flaring over major oil and gas fields in the United States, while factors such as rural electrification and energy conservation are changing how billions around the world experience the night.
“Unlocking energy sector insights is just one way NASA data is advancing national security interests at a critical time,” said Miguel Román, deputy director for atmospheres and data systems at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “Earth at night has so much to teach us.”
The study team, led by Tian Li and Zhe Zhu at the University of Connecticut, used a new algorithm to analyze 1.16 million satellite images collected at approximately 1:30 a.m. local time every day for nine years by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The refrigerator-size sensors, orbiting Earth at over 16,000 mph, can resolve light sources down to the scale of a toll booth on a dark highway. They fly aboard Earth science satellites that were launched and operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The analysis, reported April 8 in Nature, covered most of the …