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How Christmas Lights From Space Can Help Create Efficient Cities
NASA scientists and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite are using science to celebrate this holiday season and understand humans’ habits.
By using the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument, the satellite observes the glow from the dark side of Earth at night. From Thanksgiving to Christmas, NASA has witnessed a 50% increase in brightness over the rest of the year, and uses an algorithm that subtracts the impact of the moon’s light and such so that they can isolate humans’ energy usage patterns to study them.
According to the video, they found that the change in light usage during the holidays is greater in rural areas than urban because most people are traveling to rural areas and turning on their lights, whereas city-dwellers are leaving to celebrate the festivities and turning their lights off.
Not only do the light patterns provide insight into cultural differences around the world, but NASA officials stated that they also can provide data to build “more efficient and resilient cities.”
For comments, questions or concerns, please contact Daniella Soloway
