NIGHTTIME LIGHTS ARE REVOLUTIONIZING THE WAY WE UNDERSTAND COVID-19 AND OUR WORLD

The Payne Institute Earth Observation Group research on light pollution was featured in this article about images of Earth taken at night are revolutionizing our ability to measure and understand nearly every dimension of human activity on Earth and allow us to get a glimpse into human-Earth interactions in close to real time. The need to track and predict outbreaks, as well as understand the impacts of COVID-19 on economies, has led to the utilization of unique sources of data that could help track the spread of the pandemic in close to real time. Satellite observations – including those taken at night – are becoming a primary source of data for tracking the progress of the pandemic and its impacts on energy consumption, transportation, social interactions, the functionality of critical infrastructure, tourism, trade emissions, etc. May 4, 2020.