Foreword to the Special Issue on Advances in Remote Sensing of Nighttime Lights: Progresses, Challenges, and Perspectives

Abstract

The articles in this special issue focus on the technology of nighttime sensor lighting. Nighttime light (NTL) data provides unique observations of our Earth and receives increasing attentions from a variety of fields such as remote sensing, GIS, and urban planning. Since 1990s, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program— Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) NTL data have been explored to monitor human activities. Recently, new NTL satellites such as NPP-VIIRS, International Space Station (ISS), EROS-B, Jilin 1-3B, and Luojia 1-01, with better spatial and temporal resolutions, and even multispectral information, have been launched. These new satellites can provide a greater amount of detailed artificial light records at night and could improve our understanding the process of urbanization. On the other hand, the new NTL data pose new scientific and technological challenges in calibration, interpretation, applications, and potential assessment.