Relation between Fossil Fuel Trace Gas Emissions and Satellite Observations of Nocturnal Lighting

The vast majority of the world's fossil fuel trace gas emission sources can be detected and mapped using nighttime low light imaging data from the U.S. Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) Operational Linescan System (OLS). This includes human settlements, industrial and commercial facilities, and gas flares. Nocturnal lighting could be regarded as one of the defining features of concentrated human activity. Outdoor lighting is used extensively worldwide in residential, commercial, industrial, public facilities and roadways. The spatial linkage between nocturnal lighting and the locations of concentrated fossil fuel consumption suggests the possibility that observations of the extent or brightness of nocturnal lighting may be used to make national estimates of fossil fuel trace gas emissions and to model the spatial distribution of these emissions at high spatial resolution (~1 km). The relevance of such products to the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol is discussed.