Using light-at-night (LAN) satellite data for identifying clusters of economic activities in Europe

Abstract

Enterprises organized in clusters are often efficient in stimulating urban development, productivity and profit outflows. Identifying clusters of economic activities (EAs) thus becomes an important step in devising regional development policies, aimed at facilitating regional economic development. However, a major problem with cluster identification stems from limited reporting of specific EAs by individual countries and administrative entities. Even Eurostat, which maintains most advances regional databases, provides data for less than 50% of all regional subdivisions of the 3 rd tier of the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS3). Such poor reporting impedes identification of EA clusters and economic forces behind them. In this study, we test a possibility that missing data on geographic concentrations of EAs can be reconstructed using Light-at-Night (LAN) satellite measurements, and that such reconstructed data can then be used for the identification of EA clusters. As we hypothesize, LAN, captured by satellite sensors, is characterized by different intensity, depending on its sourceproduction facilities, services, etc.,and this information can be used for EA identification. The study was carried out in three stages. First, using nighttime satellite images, we determined what types of EAs can be identified, with a sufficient degree of accuracy, by LAN they emit. Second, we calculated multivariate statistical models, linking EAs concentrations with LAN intensities and several locational and development attributes of NUTS3 regions in Europe. Next, using the obtained statistical models, we restored missing data on EAs across NUTS3 regions in Europe and identified clusters of EAs, using spatial analysis tools. 1 The paper is based on the article prepared for the Special Issue of Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences on, "Housing Market, Regional Mobility & Economic Growth-Dutch-Israeli Workshop".

Outdoor Light at Night and Breast Cancer Incidence in the Nurses’ Health Study II

“…Because all participants were nurses at enrollment, the generalizability of our findings to lower SES, nonworking groups is also potentially limited. Finally, although we adjusted for air pollution and population density, we cannot rule out the possibility that other factors that are correlated with outdoor LAN [e.g., economic activity ( Rybnikova and Portnov 2015 )] might explain the observed association between LAN and breast cancer risk.…”

Suitability Analysis of Ski Areas in China: An Integrated Study Based on Natural and Socioeconomic Conditions

“…Economic census data are sometimes difficult to acquire on a larger scale, and currently, reliable economic data in China are mainly reported at the provincial level (Zhao et al, 2017). With the development of remote-sensing technology, nighttime light images have become an efficient means of mapping national economic activities (Rybnikova and Portnov, 2015). Visible infrared imaging radiometer suite (VIIRS) day/night band (DNB) nighttime light data are considered as a new generation of nighttime light imagery.…”

Suitability analysis of ski areas in China: an integrated study based on natural and socioeconomic conditions

“…The construction and maintenance of ski slopes have been found to cause disturbances in mountainous regions, which have significant impacts on the ecosystem and the environment (Burt and Rice, 2009). With the expansion of such infrastructure into nature, this kind of human-induced disturbance compels animals to leave their original habitat, leading to habitat loss and fragmentation (Sato et al, 2014;Brambilla et al, 2016). The enlargement of ski runs and the use of artificial snow are particularly prone to causing changes in plant species and declines in biodiversity (Wipf et al, 2005;Delgado et al, 2007), which may further increase surface runoff and soil erosion, and ultimately lead to land degradation (Ristić et al, 2012).…”