Detection of Rural Electrification in Africa using DMSP-OLS Night Lights Imagery

Publication:
Detection of Rural Electrification in Africa using DMSP-OLS Night Lights Imagery

dc.contributor.author	Min, Brian
dc.contributor.author	Gaba, Kwawu Mensan
dc.contributor.author	Sarr, Ousmane Fall
dc.contributor.author	Agalassou, Alassane
dc.date.accessioned	2013-10-17T22:19:54Z
dc.date.available	2013-10-17T22:19:54Z
dc.date.issued	2013-09-23
dc.description.abstract	We report on the first systematic ground-based validation of the US Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP-OLS) night lights imagery to detect rural electrification in the developing world. Drawing upon a unique survey of villages in Senegal and Mali, this study compares night-time light output from the DMSP-OLS against ground-based survey data on electricity use in 232 electrified villages and additional administrative data on 899 unelectrified villages. The analysis reveals that electrified villages are consistently brighter than unelectrified villages across annual composites, monthly composites, and a time series of nightly imagery. Electrified villages appear brighter because of the presence of streetlights, and brighter villages tend to have more streetlights. By contrast, the correlation of light output with household electricity use and access is low. We further demonstrate that a detection algorithm using data on night-time light output and the geographic location of settlements can accurately classify electrified villages. This research highlights the potential to use night lights imagery for the planning and monitoring of ongoing efforts to connect the 1.4 billion people who lack electricity around the world.	en
dc.identifier.citation	International Journal of Remote Sensing
dc.identifier.doi	10.1596/16192
dc.identifier.issn	0143-1161
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/10986/16192
dc.language.iso	en_US
dc.publisher	Taylor and Francis
dc.rights	CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holder	World Bank
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo/
dc.subject	nighttime lights
dc.subject	night lights imagery
dc.subject	electrification
dc.subject	DMSP
dc.subject	validation
dc.subject	rural electrification
dc.title	Detection of Rural Electrification in Africa using DMSP-OLS Night Lights Imagery	en
dc.type	Journal Article	en
dc.type	Article de journal	fr
dc.type	Artículo de revista	es
dspace.entity.type	Publication
okr.date.disclosure	2013-10-01
okr.date.doiregistration	2025-05-06T10:55:01.026375Z
okr.doctype	Publications & Research::Journal Article
okr.doctype	Publications & Research
okr.globalpractice	Energy and Extractives
okr.journal.nbpages	8118-8141
okr.language.supported	en
okr.peerreview	Academic Peer Review
okr.region.administrative	Africa
okr.region.country	Mali
okr.region.country	Senegal
okr.relation.associatedurl	http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01431161.2013.833358
okr.sector	Energy and mining :: Power
okr.theme	Rural development :: Rural services and infrastructure
okr.topic	Energy::Electric Power
okr.topic	Energy::Rural Energy
okr.volume	34(22)