Changes in VIIRS Nighttime Lights and Flares in the Iran Region in March of 2026
Changes in VIIRS Nighttime Lights and Flares in the Iran Region in March of 2026
PAYNE INSTITUTE COMMENTARY SERIES: COMMENTARY
Figure 1
VIIRS nighttime image of the Persian Gulf enhanced to show the dimming and brightening of lights. On red is the annual average radiance from 2025, green is the average radiance from March 2026, and blue is the difference (2025 minus 202603) inverted. You can see the dimming of lights as yellow-orange hues in many places. In some areas, electric lighting is brighter in March 2026, such as Riyadh. The extinguished flares appear as bright red, and increased flaring appears as pale blue.
Overlay of 202603 VIIRS nighttime lights (VNL) with percent dimming and percent brightening relative to the 2025 annual VIIRS nighttime lights. The image shows the dimming of lightning as green, yellow, and orange. Brightening of lights shows up as magenta. Tehran and most cities in Iran show dimming. The exception is the Shomal region of Iran, along the southern edge of the Caspian Sea. The few patches of magenta in Iran are due to increased natural gas flaring. The country of Iraq was experiencing a nationwide shutdown of its electric power grid, resulting in green, yellow, and orange hues. The power blackout traces to Iranian attacks on oil and gas facilities in early March. Iraq’s power plants run on natural gas. The magenta patches north of Baghdad are flares that have increased in activity levels. Other areas where the brightness of lighting increased include much of Saudi Arabia, eastern Turkey, and portions of Oman.
Figure 2
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Christopher Elvidge, Senior Research Associate, Director of Earth Observation Group
Christopher D. Elvidge has decades of experience with satellite low-light imaging data, starting in 1994. He pioneered nighttime satellite observation on visible lights, heat sources including gas flares and wildfires, as well as bright lit fishing vessels. He led the development of these nighttime remote sensed products with images from DMSP, JPSS, and Landsat satellites. These data are very popular and used globally in both public and private sectors. As of May 2024, he has more than 42,000 scholarly publication citations.
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