Bibliometric mapping and systematic review of nighttime light remote sensing data applications
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/eISSN.2236-2878.rdg.2025.229207Keywords:
Remote sensing, Nighttime lights imagery, Bibliometric mapping, DMSP/OLSAbstract
Nighttime lights imagery collected by remote sensing reflects socioeconomic activities and environmental changes within geographic areas. These lights are also used as proxies to estimate and analyze some aspects of these activities, such as Gross Domestc Product, population density, urban patterns and processes, and greenhouse gas emissions. The availability of imagery from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) since the 1990s, combined with advancements in higher-resolution sensors, has greatly improved the use of nighttime lights as a valuable data source for scientific researchs. In this regard, this paper present a systematic review on nighttime light imagery applications. To achieve this end, bibliometric mapping was used as methodological procedure and offered an overview of this field of research, helped to assess emerging trends, as well as to identify key authors. As a result, we found that the most cited author was Dobson et al. (2000), while Christopher Elvidge's accentuated contributions put him on the top references on this field of research. For its part, the journal "Remote Sensing" has published the highest number of articles on nighttime lights imagery. Moreover, China ranks first in the number of publications and citations, as well as in the concentration of highly productive and frequently cited authors. In addition, the applications of the studies analyzed can be broadly classified into four main categories: urban, socioeconomic, environmental, and demographic applications. In summary, this paper contributes by systematically organizing the key approaches and trends in the use of nighttime lights, identifying influential studies and uncovering research gaps that can inform future investigations.
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