Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries

This paper utilizes Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) nightlights to model damage caused by earthquakes, floods and typhoons in five South East Asian countries (Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam). For each type of hazard we examine the extent to which there is...

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Main Authors:	Skoufia, Emmanuel, Strobl, Eric, Tveit, Thomas
Format:	Journal Article
Published:	Taylor and Francis 2022
Subjects:	VISIBLE INFRARED IMAGING RADIOMETER SUITE NIGHTLIGHT INTENSITY REMOTE SENSING VIIRS NATURAL HAZARD EARTHQUAKE TYPHOON FLOOD
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36859

id	okr-10986-36859
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-368592022-01-28T16:18:43Z Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries Skoufia, Emmanuel Strobl, Eric Tveit, Thomas VISIBLE INFRARED IMAGING RADIOMETER SUITE NIGHTLIGHT INTENSITY REMOTE SENSING VIIRS NATURAL HAZARD EARTHQUAKE TYPHOON FLOOD This paper utilizes Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) nightlights to model damage caused by earthquakes, floods and typhoons in five South East Asian countries (Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam). For each type of hazard we examine the extent to which there is a difference in nightlight intensity between affected and non-affected cells based on (i) case studies of specific hazards; and (ii) fixed effect regression models akin to the double difference method to determine any effect that the different natural hazards might have had on the nightlight value. The VIIRS data has some shortcomings with regards to noise, seasonality and volatility that we try to correct for with new statistical methods. The results show little to no significance regardless of the methodology used. Possible explanations for the lack of significance could be underlying noise in the nightlight data and measurements or lack of measurements due to cloud cover. Overall, given the lack of consistency in the results, even though efforts were made to decrease volatility and remove noise, we conclude that researchers should be careful when analyzing natural hazard impacts with the help of VIIRS nightlights. 2022-01-21T17:58:04Z 2022-01-21T17:58:04Z 2021-02-03 Journal Article Geomatics, Natural Hazards and Risk 1947-5705 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36859 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Taylor and Francis Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Journal Article East Asia and Pacific Indonesia Myanmar Philippines Thailand Vietnam
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
topic	VISIBLE INFRARED IMAGING RADIOMETER SUITE NIGHTLIGHT INTENSITY REMOTE SENSING VIIRS NATURAL HAZARD EARTHQUAKE TYPHOON FLOOD
spellingShingle	VISIBLE INFRARED IMAGING RADIOMETER SUITE NIGHTLIGHT INTENSITY REMOTE SENSING VIIRS NATURAL HAZARD EARTHQUAKE TYPHOON FLOOD Skoufia, Emmanuel Strobl, Eric Tveit, Thomas Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries
geographic_facet	East Asia and Pacific Indonesia Myanmar Philippines Thailand Vietnam
description	This paper utilizes Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) nightlights to model damage caused by earthquakes, floods and typhoons in five South East Asian countries (Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam). For each type of hazard we examine the extent to which there is a difference in nightlight intensity between affected and non-affected cells based on (i) case studies of specific hazards; and (ii) fixed effect regression models akin to the double difference method to determine any effect that the different natural hazards might have had on the nightlight value. The VIIRS data has some shortcomings with regards to noise, seasonality and volatility that we try to correct for with new statistical methods. The results show little to no significance regardless of the methodology used. Possible explanations for the lack of significance could be underlying noise in the nightlight data and measurements or lack of measurements due to cloud cover. Overall, given the lack of consistency in the results, even though efforts were made to decrease volatility and remove noise, we conclude that researchers should be careful when analyzing natural hazard impacts with the help of VIIRS nightlights.
format	Journal Article
author	Skoufia, Emmanuel Strobl, Eric Tveit, Thomas
author_facet	Skoufia, Emmanuel Strobl, Eric Tveit, Thomas
author_sort	Skoufia, Emmanuel
title	Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries
title_short	Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries
title_full	Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries
title_fullStr	Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries
title_full_unstemmed	Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries
title_sort	can we rely on viirs nightlights to estimate the short-term impacts of natural hazards? evidence from five south east asian countries
publisher	Taylor and Francis
publishDate	2022
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/36859
_version_	1764486041812598784

Can We Rely on VIIRS Nightlights to Estimate the Short-Term Impacts of Natural Hazards? Evidence from Five South East Asian Countries

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