Applications of nighttime light data in international development research

The increasing availability of remotely-sensed measurements of nighttime light intensity across space and time opens the door to new possibilities to understand how the Earth is changing. These insights can improve decision-making to guide policy, deliver services, and improve governance in near real-time. However, accelerated human modifications of the landscape and human activities are profoundly affecting the processes on the Earth's surface, both locally and globally, creating a variety of challenges for scientists and policymakers in understanding global change and its repercussions.

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PDF] The Night Light Development Index (NLDI): a spatially explicit measure of human development from satellite data

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