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Synergistic Use of Nighttime Satellite Data, Electric Utility Infrastructure, and Ambient Population to Improve Power Outage Detections in Urban AreasNatural and anthropogenic hazards are frequently responsible for disaster events, leading to damaged physical infrastructure, which can result in loss of electrical power for affected locations. Remotely-sensed, nighttime satellite imagery from the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) can monitor power outages in disaster-affected areas through the identification of missing city lights. When combined with locally-relevant geospatial information, these observations can be used to estimate power outages, defined as geographic locations requiring manual intervention to restore power. In this study, we produced a power outage product based on Suomi-NPP VIIRS DNB observations to estimate power outages following Hurricane Sandy in 2012. This product, combined with known power outage data and ambient population estimates, was then used to predict power outages in a layered, feedforward neural network model. We believe this is the first attempt to synergistically combine such data sources to quantitatively estimate power outages. The VIIRS DNB power outage product was able to identify initial loss of light following Hurricane Sandy, as well as the gradual restoration of electrical power. The neural network model predicted power outages with reasonable spatial accuracy, achieving Pearson coefficients (r) between 0.48 and 0.58 across all folds. Our results show promise for producing a continental United States (CONUS)- or global-scale power outage monitoring network using satellite imagery and locally-relevant geospatial data.
Document ID
20180000185
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Cole, Tony A.
(Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Wanik, David W.
(Connecticut Univ. Storrs, CT, United States)
Molthan, Andrew L.
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Roman, Miguel O.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Griffin, Robert E.
(Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
January 5, 2018
Publication Date
March 17, 2017
Publication Information
Publication: Remote Sensing
Publisher: MDPI
Volume: 9
Issue: 3
ISSN: 2072-4292
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Instrumentation And Photography
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN46337
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
da/night band
nighttime light
Suomi-NPP
NPP-VIIRS

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