Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Night Lights Data (1992-2013)

About Dataset

The DMSP Night Lights Dataset (1992-2013) provides satellite-derived night light intensity data, widely used as a proxy for economic activity, infrastructure development, and electrification levels. The dataset is based on DMSP-OLS satellite observations, which detect artificial lights, fires, and other luminous sources at night across different geographic scales. Each pixel in this dataset represents the sum of light intensities detected in a region, with values ranging from 0 to 63. The dataset includes aggregated light intensity metrics at Shrid, District, Subdistrict, and Assembly Constituency (AC07 & AC08) levels, enabling detailed spatial analysis. Users can analyze total night light emissions, mean and maximum pixel values, and satellite-specific variations. This dataset is valuable for urbanization studies, economic research, disaster impact assessments, and infrastructure planning. However, due to sensor saturation issues in highly illuminated areas, it is recommended to use this dataset in combination with VIIRS Night Lights (2012-2021) for more recent high-resolution data.