Nighttime lights have become a commonly used resource to estimate changes in local economic activity. This document analyzes nighttime lights within the country.
Data
We use nighttime lights data from VIIRS Black Marble. Raw nighttime lights data requires correction due to cloud cover and stray light, such as lunar light. The Black Marble dataset applies advanced algorithms to correct raw nighttime light values and calibrate data so that trends in lights over time can be meaningfully analyzed. From VIIRS Black Marble, we use data from January 2012 through present—where data is available at a 500-meter resolution.
Methodology
Within different units of analysis (e.g, administrative units) we use the sum of nighttime lights. Where relevant, we distinguish between lights generated from gas flaring and lights removing gas flaring. We use the World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Tracker which indicates the location of gas flaring locations. When removing gas flaring lights, we remove lights within 10km of a gas flaring location; when looking at lights in gas flaring locations, we take the sum of lights within 10km of gas flaring locations.
We use a dataset from [Geonames] that maps the locations of all cities with other 1,000 people. We extract total nighttime lights withing a 5km buffer of each city. The below figure compares nighttime lights with population.
