• Journal of Cadastre & Land InformatiX
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.19-37
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• 2017

Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day-Night Band (VIIRS-DNB) data provides a much higher capability for observing and quantifying nighttime light (NTL) brightness in comparison with Defense Meteorological Satellite-Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) data. In South Korea, there is little research on the detection of NTL brightness change using VIIRS-DNB data. This study analyzed the spatial distribution and change of NTL brightness between 2013 and 2016 using VIIRS-DNB data, and detected its spatial relation with possible influencing factors using regression models. The intra-year seasonality of NTL brightness in 2016 was also studied by analyzing the deviation and change clusters, as well as the influencing factors. Results are as follows: 1) The higher value of NTL brightness in 2013 and 2016 is concentrated in Seoul and its surrounding cities, which positively correlated with population density and residential areas, economic land use, and other factors; 2) There is a decreasing trend of NTL brightness from 2013 to 2016, which is obvious in Seoul, with the change of population density and area of industrial buildings as the main influencing factors; 3) Areas in Seoul, and some surrounding areas have high deviation of the intra-year NTL brightness, and 71% of the total areas have their highest NTL brightness in January, February, October, November and December; and 4) Change of NTL brightness between summer and winter demonstrated a significantly positive relation with snow cover area change, and a slightly and significantly negative relation with albedo change.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.37 no.6_1
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• pp.1647-1656
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• 2021

In order to reduce the spread of infection due to COVID-19, South Korea has established a four-step social distancing standard and implemented it by changing the steps based on the rate of confirmed cases. The implementation of social distancing brought about a change in the amount of activity of citizens by limiting social contact such as movement and gathering of people. One of the data that can intuitively confirm this is Night Time Light (NTL). NTL is a variable that can measure the size of the national economy measured using lights captured by satellites, and can be used to understand people's social activities during the night. The NTL visible data is obtained via the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day-Night Band (DNB) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite. 1023 of Suomi data from 1 January 2019 until 26 October 2021 were collected to generate time series of NTL radiance change over Seoul to analyze the correlation with social distancing policy. The results show that implementing the level of social distancing generally decreased the NTL radiance both in spatial disparities and temporal patterns. The higher level of policy, limiting human activities combined with the low number of people who have been vaccinated and the closure of various facilities. Because of social distancing, the differences in human activities affected the nighttime light during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in Seoul, South Korea. Therefore, this study can be used as a reference for the government in evaluating and improving policies related to efforts reducing the transmission of COVID-19.