VIIRS Nighttime Lights (NASA/NOAA)
Quick answer: VIIRS Nighttime Lights provides global ~500 m nightlight radiance from 2012 onward (annual VNL v2.2 composites by the Earth Observation Group), streamed live via NASA GIBS tiles and downloadable as GeoTIFF under CC BY 4.0.
About this dataset
Global artificial-light radiance at 15 arc-seconds (~500 m) from the VIIRS Day/Night Band — annual VNL composites from 2012 onward, previewed live through NASA GIBS.
VIIRS Day/Night Band nightlights measure global artificial light at ~500 m resolution (15 arc-seconds, coverage 180°W–180°E / 75°N–65°S). The Earth Observation Group publishes monthly (v10) and annual (VNL v2.2, 2012–2023+) composites split into average, median, maximum, and lit-mask layers; NASA additionally serves ready-to-use Black Marble tiles. The preview above streams NASA GIBS tiles, so you can read the Earth at Night without downloading a raster.
What each night-lights product gives you
Four product families cover different cadences. The live preview above uses the annual Earth-at-Night tiles; the rest are downloads.
Annual VNL v2.2
2012 → 2023+, 15 arc-seconds
Outlier-filtered yearly composites with average, median, maximum, and lit-mask bands — the standard series for multi-year change.
Monthly composites v10
Cloud-free, tiled
Twelve images per year for seasonal studies; use the cloud-free coverage band to know where data exists.
Nightly DNB mosaic
Near real-time
Latest available night imagery, useful for disaster response when a day-scale signal matters.
NASA Black Marble (VNP46)
Daily / monthly, 500 m
Atmospherically corrected BRDF-normalized product from NASA, distinct from the EOG series.
Choosing a VIIRS night-lights product
Match the cadence to the question — mixing products creates artificial trends.
| Product | Cadence | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Annual VNL v2.2 (EOG) | Yearly, 2012–2023+ | Long-term growth, GDP and electrification proxies |
| Monthly v10 (EOG) | Monthly | Seasonal lighting, Ramadan/holiday peaks |
| Nightly DNB mosaic (EOG) | Daily | Disaster impact, outage detection |
| Black Marble VNP46 (NASA) | Daily / monthly | Atmospherically corrected radiance studies |
Coverage for all VIIRS night-lights products: 180°W–180°E, 75°N–65°S.
How to download
- 1 Read the Earth at Night preview above — it streams NASA GIBS tiles, no download required.
- 2 Pick the year you need from the annual VNL v2.2 folder (average-masked removes background).
- 3 Download the GeoTIFF (roughly 50–300 MB per band) or request a smaller area from the tiled monthly set.
- 4 Analyse radiance trends for electrification, urbanization, or conflict impact studies.
FAQ
Better than DMSP-OLS?
VIIRS offers 500m resolution (vs 2.7km), no saturation, and better sensitivity to dim lights.
What can nightlights tell us?
Proxy for GDP, electrification, urbanization, and disaster impact.
Do I need to download the GeoTIFFs to see the map?
No. The preview above streams NASA GIBS tiles, which render the Earth at Night instantly. Download annual VNL composites only when you need pixel values for analysis.
Which band should I pick — average, median, or max?
Use average-masked for general analysis (background zeroed out), median for robust year-to-year comparison, and max when you care about the brightest transient sources.