Images from space provide unique insights over vast swaths of the earth’s surface and even for the largest of urban sprawls, only one or two might be needed to scrutinise a council’s entire lighting network.
However, most satellites collect their images by using the reflected light of the sun, something that is in short supply during the night and many satellites cannot ‘see’ objects as small as lampposts.
Now, advanced imaging and processing techniques are being used with data collected from space, to provide a commercial solution to this problem. Imagery from the Jilin-1 constellation provides pixel sizes of 50cm, which can be used pinpoint the location and spill of lighting sources.
Over the last two years, these images have been used successfully to monitor the night-time public lighting in Madrid and have provided a completely new way of monitoring and managing this essential resource in Spain’s capital city.
To highlight the power of the results, the team uploaded images of central Madrid before the 2021 Christmas holidays and during them, when many extra lights were hung on buildings and across streets.
