Mapping and Evaluating the Urbanization Process in Northeast China Using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data

Abstract

In this paper, an Urban Light Index (ULI) is constructed to facilitate analysis and quantitative evaluation of the process of urbanization and expansion rate by using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data during the years from 1992 to 2010. A unit circle urbanization evaluation model is established to perform a comprehensive analysis of the urbanization process of 34 prefecture-level cities in Northeast China. Furthermore, the concept of urban light space is put forward. In this study, urban light space is divided into four types: the core urban area, the transition zone between urban and suburban areas, suburban area and fluorescent space. Proceeding from the temporal and spatial variation of the four types of light space, the pattern of morphologic change and space-time evolution of the four principal cities in Northeast China (Harbin, Changchun, Shenyang, Dalian) is analyzed and given particular attention. Through a correlation analysis between ULI and the traditional urbanization indexes (urban population, proportion of the secondary and tertiary industries in the regional GDP and the built-up area), the advantages and disadvantages as well as the feasibility of using the ULI in the study of urbanization are evaluated. The research results show that ULI has a strong correlation with urban built-up area (R2 = 0.8277). The morphologic change and history of the evolving urban light space can truly reflect the characteristics of urban sprawl. The results also indicate that DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Data is applicable for extracting urban space information and has strong potential to urbanization research.

Multi-Scale Measurement of Regional Inequality in Mainland China during 2005–2010 Using DMSP/OLS Night Light Imagery and Population Density Grid Data

“…Yi and his colleagues proposed an Urban Light Index (ULI) to evaluate the urbanization process in 34 prefectural cities in Northeast China. They found that the ULI has increased during 1992-2010, and the urbanization is most significant during 2004-2010 [54]. Huang and his colleagues made use of night light images to evaluate city size and rank in China during 1992-2008, they found that the distribution of city sizes became more even during the period and the greatest change in city size distribution occurred during 2000-2003 [42].…”

Estimating the Impact of Urban Expansion on Land Subsidence Using Time Series of DMSP Night-Time Light Satellite Imagery

“…The inter-calibration of the datasets was conducted by using second order polynomial regression (Eq. 1) (Yi et al, 2014). The calibrated DNs were calculated as:…”

Expansion Analysis of Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration Using DMSP/OLS Nighttime Light Imagery for 1993 to 2012

“…Such rapid urbanization has spurred natural resource depletion and a series of ecological and environmental problems [7,8], e.g., quality deterioration, pollution of urban surface water, exacerbated urban heat island effects, and the degradation of ecosystem functioning [9,10]. Therefore, a timely and general analysis of urban expansion (e.g., expansion rates, expansion patterns, and expansion evaluations) is crucial to understanding the characteristics of for 1992 to 2010 and quantitatively evaluated the urbanization processes and expansion rates of 34 prefecture-level cities in northeastern China [41]. Li derived a time series vegetation adjusted NTL urban index (VANUI) from DMSP/OLS data and analyzed urban dynamics of the southeastern United States for 1992 to 2013 [42].…”