VIIRS Black Marble

Earth at Night: Free Nighttime Lights Map

With Off-Nadir Delta, you can view and analyze NASA VIIRS Black Marble nighttime imagery. Track urban development, economic activity, and power infrastructure directly in your browser.

TL;DR: NASA VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2) captures artificial light at night. ~500m resolution, daily global coverage, from Suomi NPP (2012+) and NOAA-20 satellites. Use for urban monitoring, power outage detection, economic analysis. Free in Off-Nadir Delta.

Global Coverage

View nighttime imagery for any location on Earth, from cities to remote regions.

Power Monitoring

Detect power outages and infrastructure changes by comparing light intensity.

Development Tracking

Monitor urban expansion and economic development through light patterns.

Technical Specifications

VIIRS

Day-Night Band

500m

Spatial Resolution

Daily

Temporal Coverage

2012+

Data Archive

NASA Black Marble Products

VNP46A2 (Daily)

Moonlight and atmosphere-corrected nighttime radiance. Cloud-masked with gap-filling for analysis-ready data.

Satellites

Suomi NPP (2011+) and NOAA-20/JPSS-1 (2017+). Dual satellite coverage for improved temporal resolution.

Applications

Power Outage Detection

Identify affected areas after storms, earthquakes, or grid failures

Urban Development

Track city growth and infrastructure expansion over years

Economic Analysis

Light intensity correlates with economic activity and GDP

Conflict Monitoring

Assess humanitarian situations through infrastructure status

Data Sources & Attribution

VIIRS Nighttime Lights

NASA Black Marble (VNP46A2)

Accessed via NASA Earthdata CMR API

Citation

"NASA Black Marble VNP46A2"

License: NASA Open Data Policy (free for all uses)

How It Works

Navigate to Your Area

Pan and zoom to any city, region, or country.

Search for VIIRS Data

Select date range to find nighttime imagery.

Add to Map

View nighttime lights with customizable brightness.

Analyze Patterns

Compare dates to detect changes in illumination.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is VIIRS Black Marble?▼

Black Marble is a NASA product from the VIIRS (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) sensor on Suomi NPP and NOAA-20 satellites. It captures visible light emitted at night.

What resolution is available?▼

VIIRS nighttime lights have approximately 500-meter resolution, suitable for city-scale and regional analysis.

How often is new data available?▼

VIIRS provides daily nighttime observations, though cloud-free composites are typically used for analysis.

Can I detect power outages?▼

Yes! By comparing nighttime lights before and during events, you can identify areas experiencing power outages after disasters or grid failures.

What does light intensity indicate?▼

Brighter areas indicate more artificial light, typically correlating with urban density, economic activity, and development level.

Explore Nighttime Lights

View Earth at night with a free account. NASA data, no installation required.

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