Nighttime urban imagery from international Space Station: potential applications for urban analyses and modeling

摘要

This imagery adds a new dimension to the modeling of geospatial relationships within the urban regions and their interactions within intraurban zones of activity. Readers are encouraged to view other nighttime urban views at http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov.Remote sensing has played a vital role in the study of urban areas since its inception. Successful applications of urban remote sensing have been documented recently by Jensen (2000) and Lulla and Dessinov (2000), among others. Recent advances in geospatial technologies coupled with high resolution satellite imagery have ushered in a new era of innovative urban remote sensing applications. In this article, an often underutilized source of remote sensing imagery is described and discussed -- the potential uses of the night-time digital camera imagery from the International Space Station (ISS). It is anticipated that these images, combined with the nightirne imagery from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Line Scan (DMSP OLS), offeradditional opportunities for analyzing and understanding our sprawling urban systems.