Entry_ID: (required) Entry_Title: Nighttime Lights of North America Group: Data_Set_Citation Originator(s): National Geophysical Data Center Title: Nighttime Lights of North America Publication_Date: 200301 Publication_Place: Reston, VA Publisher: National Atlas of the United States URL: End_Group Keyword: Imagery/Base Maps/Earth Cover Keyword: Society Group: Temporal_Coverage Start_date: 19960316 Stop_date: 19970212 End_Group Data_Set_Progress: Complete Group: Spatial_Coverage Southernmost_Latitude: 15.00 Northernmost_Latitude: 83.00 Westernmost_Longitude: 166.00 Easternmost_Longitude: -4.00 End_Group Location: North America Location: USA Location: Alabama Location: Alaska Location: Arizona Location: Arkansas Location: California Location: Colorado Location: Connecticut Location: Delaware Location: District of Columbia Location: Florida Location: Georgia Location: Hawaii Location: Idaho Location: Illinois Location: Indiana Location: Iowa Location: Kansas Location: Kentucky Location: Louisiana Location: Maine Location: Maryland Location: Massachusetts Location: Michigan Location: Minnesota Location: Mississippi Location: Missouri Location: Montana Location: Nebraska Location: Nevada Location: New Hampshire Location: New Jersey Location: New Mexico Location: New York Location: North Carolina Location: North Dakota Location: Ohio Location: Oklahoma Location: Oregon Location: Pennsylvania Location: Rhode Island Location: South Carolina Location: South Dakota Location: Tennessee Location: Texas Location: Utah Location: Vermont Location: Virginia Location: Washington Location: West Virginia Location: Wisconsin Location: Wyoming Location: Puerto Rico Location: Virgin Islands Location: Greenland Location: Iceland Location: United States Location: Mexico Location: Caribbean Group: Data_Resolution Latitude_Resolution: 769.478 Longitude_Resolution: 769.478 End_Group Access_Constraints: None Use_Constraints: None. Acknowledgment of the National Geophysical Data Center and (or) the National Atlas of the United States of America would be appreciated in products derived from these data. Originating_Center: (required) Group: Data_Center Data_Center_Name: Earth Science Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey Group: Data_Center_Contact Last_name: Earth Science Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey First_name: N/A Phone: 1-888-ASK-USGS (1-888-275-8747) Phone: 703-648-5920 Group: Address 507 National Center Reston, VA 20192 End_Group End_Group End_Group Group: Distribution Distribution_Media: online Distribution_Format : TIFF Fees: There is no charge for the map layer. End_Group Group: Reference End_Group Group: Summary These data are intended for geographic display and analysis at the national level, and for large regional areas. The data should be displayed and analyzed at scales appropriate for 1:2,000,000-scale data. No responsibility is assumed by the National Atlas of the United States in the use of these data. This map layer is an image of nighttime lights for North America, including the Caribbean and most of Mexico. The data were collected in 1996 and 1997 as part of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The data available through the National Atlas of the United States are in GeoTIFF format. This is a revised version of the May 2002 map layer, with a corrected shoreline for Greenland. The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites collect visible and infrared cloud imagery as well as monitoring the atmospheric, oceanographic, hydrologic, cryospheric and near-Earth space environments. The DMSP program maintains a constellation of two, sun-synchronous, near-polar orbiting satellites. The orbital period is 101 minutes and inclination is 99 degrees. The atmospheric and oceanographic sensors record radiances at visible, infrared and microwave wavelengths. The solar-geophysical sensors measure ionospheric plasma fluxes, densities, temperatures and velocities. The OLS (Operational Linescan System) visible band (0.4-1.1 micrometers) is used to locate recurring nighttime lights. The thermal OLS band (10.5-12.5 micrometers) is used to screen for cloud free orbits. During the periods 16-21 March, 1996, 5-14 January, 1997, and 3-12 February, 1997, the gain on the OLS sensor was turned down to 24 from the normal 64 decibels. The result was an image in which urban centers do not saturate the signal. DMSP visible and infrared imagery of clouds covers a 3,000 km swath, thus each satellite provides global coverage of both daytime and nighttime conditions each day. The field view of the microwave imagers and sounders is only 1,500 km, thus approximately 3 days data are required for one instrument to provide global coverage at equatorial latitudes. The solar-geophysical instruments make in-situ measurements of ionospheric parameters, some of which vary very rapidly. This program is a joint effort with extensive collaboration between the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Office, Air Force Global Weather Central, the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program, the Office of the Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Further information on the Defense Meterological Satellite Program can be found at . The associated world file is included as part of the GeoTIFF. The contents of the world file are: >769.4780 >0.000000 >0.000000 >-769.4780 >-6086744.0000 >4485901.0000 End_Group Group: Related_URL URL_Type: URL: Group: Description Originator: National Imagery and Mapping Agency Publication_Date: 1990 Title: World Vector Shoreline Publication_Information: Publication_Place: Bethesda, MD Publisher: National Imagery and Mapping Agency Online_Linkage: End_Group End_Group Group: DIF_Author Last_name: Rawson First_name: Peg Email: atlasmail@usgs.gov Phone: 703-648-4183 Group: Address 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive Reston, VA 20192 USA End_Group End_Group DIF_Revision_Date: 20050926 Science_Review_Date: