Investigation and modeling of physical growth of urban areas using night-time light data

Abstract

The expansion of urbanization and unbalanced urban growth has attracted the attention of many urban planners and decision makers to the issues and consequences of urban population growth. Due to the fact that human activities are accompanied by light during the day and night, so it is possible to study human activities using satellite images that show the light of the city. In this regard, the role of remote sensing techniques and data in identifying changes and urban growth and development in assessing population growth has been more brilliant than other methods. In this study, we will show that night light (NTL) is a way to evaluate the physical growth of cities using NPP images, travel distances and Landsat 7 and 8 images, and using remote sensing and GIS techniques. In this study, we examine population growth and travel distance and urban boundary changes over a 9-year period in two Iranian cities.