ABSTRACT

Monthly composites of night-time light acquired from the Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) had been used to evaluate socio-economic dynamics and human rights during the Syrian Civil War, which started in March 2011. However, DMSP/OLS monthly composites are not available subsequent to February 2014, and the only available night-time light composites for that period were acquired from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite’s Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (Suomi NPP/VIIRS). This article proposes an intercalibration model to simulate DMSP/OLS composites from the VIIRS day-and-night band (DNB) composites, by using a power function for radiometric degradation and a Gaussian low pass filter for spatial degradation. The DMSP/OLS data and the simulated DMSP/OLS data were combined to estimate the city light dynamics in Syria’s major human settlement between March 2011 and January 2017. Our analysis shows that Syria’s major human settlement lost about 79% of its city light by January 2017, with Aleppo, Daraa, Deir ez-Zor, and Idlib provinces losing 89%, 90%, 96%, and 99% of their light, respectively, indicating that these four provinces were most affected by the war. We also found that the city light in Syria and 12 provinces rebounded from early 2016 to January 2017, possibly as a result of the peace negotiation signed in Geneva.