Can Medium-Resolution Satellite Imagery Measure Economic Activity at Small Geographies? Evidence from Landsat in Vietnam
This study explores the potential and the limits of medium-resolution satellite data as a proxy for economic activity at small geographic units. Using a commune-level dataset from Vietnam, it compares the performance of commonly used nightlight dat...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/168331576612750230/Can-Medium-Resolution-Satellite-Imagery-Measure-Economic-Activity-at-Small-Geographies-Evidence-from-Landsat-in-Vietnam http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33057 |
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okr-10986-330572022-09-20T00:13:46Z Can Medium-Resolution Satellite Imagery Measure Economic Activity at Small Geographies? Evidence from Landsat in Vietnam Goldblatt, Ran Heilmann, Kilian Vaizman, Yonatan SATELLITE IMAGERY LANDSAT DAYTIME LIGHT REFLECTION This study explores the potential and the limits of medium-resolution satellite data as a proxy for economic activity at small geographic units. Using a commune-level dataset from Vietnam, it compares the performance of commonly used nightlight data and higher resolution Landsat imagery which measures daytime light reflection. The analysis suggests that Landsat outperforms nighttime lights at predicting enterprise counts, employment, and expenditure in simple regression models. A parsimonious combination of the first two moments of the Landsat spectral bands can explain a reasonable share of the variation in economic activity in the cross-section. There is however poor prediction power of either satellite measure for changes over time. 2019-12-19T17:26:52Z 2019-12-19T17:26:52Z 2019-12 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/168331576612750230/Can-Medium-Resolution-Satellite-Imagery-Measure-Economic-Activity-at-Small-Geographies-Evidence-from-Landsat-in-Vietnam http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33057 English Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9088 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper East Asia and Pacific Vietnam |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
SATELLITE IMAGERY LANDSAT DAYTIME LIGHT REFLECTION |
| spellingShingle |
SATELLITE IMAGERY LANDSAT DAYTIME LIGHT REFLECTION Goldblatt, Ran Heilmann, Kilian Vaizman, Yonatan Can Medium-Resolution Satellite Imagery Measure Economic Activity at Small Geographies? Evidence from Landsat in Vietnam |
| geographic_facet |
East Asia and Pacific Vietnam |
| relation |
Policy Research Working Paper;No. 9088 |
| description |
This study explores the potential and
the limits of medium-resolution satellite data as a proxy
for economic activity at small geographic units. Using a
commune-level dataset from Vietnam, it compares the
performance of commonly used nightlight data and higher
resolution Landsat imagery which measures daytime light
reflection. The analysis suggests that Landsat outperforms
nighttime lights at predicting enterprise counts,
employment, and expenditure in simple regression models. A
parsimonious combination of the first two moments of the
Landsat spectral bands can explain a reasonable share of the
variation in economic activity in the cross-section. There
is however poor prediction power of either satellite measure
for changes over time. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Goldblatt, Ran Heilmann, Kilian Vaizman, Yonatan |
| author_facet |
Goldblatt, Ran Heilmann, Kilian Vaizman, Yonatan |
| author_sort |
Goldblatt, Ran |
| title |
Can Medium-Resolution Satellite Imagery Measure Economic Activity at Small Geographies? Evidence from Landsat in Vietnam |
| title_short |
Can Medium-Resolution Satellite Imagery Measure Economic Activity at Small Geographies? Evidence from Landsat in Vietnam |
| title_full |
Can Medium-Resolution Satellite Imagery Measure Economic Activity at Small Geographies? Evidence from Landsat in Vietnam |
| title_fullStr |
Can Medium-Resolution Satellite Imagery Measure Economic Activity at Small Geographies? Evidence from Landsat in Vietnam |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Can Medium-Resolution Satellite Imagery Measure Economic Activity at Small Geographies? Evidence from Landsat in Vietnam |
| title_sort |
can medium-resolution satellite imagery measure economic activity at small geographies? evidence from landsat in vietnam |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/168331576612750230/Can-Medium-Resolution-Satellite-Imagery-Measure-Economic-Activity-at-Small-Geographies-Evidence-from-Landsat-in-Vietnam http://hdl.handle.net/10986/33057 |
| _version_ |
1764477903016296448 |