A Case for a New Satellite Mission for Remote Sensing of Night Lights

Abstract

The physiology and behavior of most life at or near the Earth’s surface has evolved over billions of years to be attuned with our planet’s natural light–dark cycle of day and night. However, over a relatively short time span, humans have disrupted this natural cycle of illumination with the introduction and now widespread proliferation of artificial light at night (ALAN). Growing research in a broad range of fields, such as ecology, the environment, human health, public safety, economy, and society, increasingly shows that ALAN is taking a profound toll on our world. Much of our current understanding of light pollution comes from datasets generated by remote sensing, primarily from two missions, the Operational Linescan System (OLS) instrument of the now-declassified Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) of the U.S. Department of Defense and its follow-on platform, the Day-Night Band (DNB) of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument on board the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership satellite. Although they have both proved invaluable for ALAN research, sensing of nighttime lights was not the primary design objective for either the DMSP-OLS or VIIRS-DNB instruments; thus, they have some critical limitations. Being broadband sensors, both the DMSP-OLS and VIIRS-DNB instruments suffer from a lack of spectral information. Additionally, their spatial resolutions are too low for many ALAN research applications, though the VIIRS-DNB instrument is much improved over the DMSP-OLS in this regard, as well as in terms of dynamic range and quantization. Further, the very late local time of VIIRS-DNB observations potentially misses the true picture of ALAN. We reviewed both current literature and guiding advice from ALAN experts, aggregated from a diverse range of disciplines and Science Goals, to derive recommendations for a mission to expand knowledge of ALAN in areas that are not adequately addressed with currently existing orbital missions. We propose a stand-alone mission focused on understanding light pollution and its effects on our planet. Here we review the science cases and the subsequent mission recommendations for NITESat (Nighttime Imaging of Terrestrial Environments Satellite), a dedicated ALAN observing mission.

The Potential of Moonlight Remote Sensing: A Systematic Assessment with Multi-Source Nightlight Remote Sensing Data

“…Our findings further support calls for a newer generation of nightlight sensors [58,59], but also strongly suggest that attention should be paid to detecting reflected moonlight from land surface outside of urban areas. With advanced low light detecting capabilities, these sensors will help to fill the observation gaps on the night side of a full orbit cycle for optical satellites.…”

“…Additionally, IR bands are also needed to detect sodium vapor emission lines [57]. Combining the current experience of lightings in urban areas [58], the perspective of light pollution [59] and this study, the settings of a new generation of nightlight satellite mission should contain at least four-color channels in the visible light band (at 383-503, 493-619, 568-584, and 797-833 nm), and an additional ~10 µm thermal infrared band for cloud and fire detection.…”

An Impact Analysis of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN) on Bats. A Case Study of the Historic Monument and Natura 2000 Wisłoujście Fortress in Gdansk, Poland

“…As assessing the scale of light pollution is difficult to quantify, this issue is often disregarded by the conservation management of Natura 2000 sites. Together with other researchers [ 96 ], we argue that a new satellite mission optimised for observing night lights is urgently required to overcome these defects in available remote sensing imaging data.…”

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“…A key component to improving the utility of these data would be research efforts that can translate what remotely sensed values could represent for conditions at ground level, where first steps have been taken but uncertainties remain high (Simons et al, 2020). Furthermore, there is an urgent need for stand-alone satellite missions focused on understanding light pollution and its effects on biodiversity (Barentine et al, 2021).…”