{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,21]],"date-time":"2026-02-21T18:24:10Z","timestamp":1771698250649,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":60,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2018,2,5]],"date-time":"2018-02-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1517788800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["41671342"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["41671342"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Chinese Postdoctoral Science Foundation","award":["2015M570668, 2016T90732"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2015M570668, 2016T90732"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100007834","name":"Ningbo Natural Science Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2017A610294"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2017A610294"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100007834","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJGI"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Investigating the characteristics of urban expansion is helpful in managing the relationship between urbanization and the ecological and environmental issues related to sustainable development. The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program\/Operational Line-scan System (DMSP\/OLS) collects visible and near-infrared light from the Earth\u2019s surface at night without moonlight. It generates effective time series data for mapping the dynamics of urban expansion. As a major urban agglomeration in the world, the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration (YRDUA) is an important intersection zone of both the \u201cBelt and Road Initiative\u201d and the \u201cYangtze River Economic Belt\u201d in China. Therefore, this paper analyses urban expansion characteristics of the YRDUA for 1993\u20132012 from urban extents extracted from the DMSP\/OLS for 1993, 1997, 2002, 2007, and 2012. First, calibration procedures are applied to DMSP\/OLS data, including intercalibration, intra-annual composition, and inter-annual series correction procedures. Spatial extents are then extracted from the corrected DMSP\/OLS data, and a threshold is determined via the spatial comparison method. Finally, three models are used to explore urban expansion characteristics of the YRDUA from expansion rates, expansion spatial patterns, and expansion evaluations. The results show that the urban expansion of the YRDUA occurred at an increasing rate from 1993\u20132007 and then declined after 2007 with the onset of the global financial crisis. The Suxichang and Ningbo metropolitan circles were seriously affected by the financial crisis, while the Hefei metropolitan circle was not. The urban expansion of the YRDUA moved from the northeast to the southwest over the 20-year period. Urban expansion involved internal infilling over the first 15 years and then evolved into external sprawl and suburbanization after 2007.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi7020052","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2018,2,5]],"date-time":"2018-02-05T12:23:13Z","timestamp":1517833393000},"page":"52","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":55,"title":["Expansion Analysis of Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration Using DMSP\/OLS Nighttime Light Imagery for 1993 to 2012"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Huimin","family":"Lu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Science &amp; Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Meiliang","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Science &amp; Technology, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Weiwei","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography and Spatial Information Techniques, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315211, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Weiyue","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Urban Study, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,2,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"761","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1153012","article-title":"The urban transformation of the developing world","volume":"319","author":"Montgomery","year":"2008","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"453","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2014.11.022","article-title":"Night-time light derived estimation of spatio-temporal characteristics of urbanization dynamics using DMSP\/OLS satellite data","volume":"158","author":"Ma","year":"2015","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"1999","article-title":"A remote sensing? GIS evaluation of urban expansion and its impact on surface temperature in the Zhujiang Delta, China","volume":"22","author":"Weng","year":"2001","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cities.2013.05.002","article-title":"Quantifying spatiotemporal patterns of urban expansion in China using remote sensing data","volume":"35","author":"Xu","year":"2013","journal-title":"Cities"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"158","DOI":"10.1038\/509158a","article-title":"Society: Realizing China\u2019s urban dream","volume":"509","author":"Bai","year":"2014","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apgeog.2012.11.004","article-title":"Forty years of urban expansion in Beijing: What is the relative importance of physical, socioeconomic, and neighborhood factors?","volume":"38","author":"Li","year":"2013","journal-title":"Appl. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"65","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2017.02.027","article-title":"Environmental degradation in the urban areas of China: Evidence from multi-source remote sensing data","volume":"193","author":"He","year":"2017","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1007\/s11355-010-0147-7","article-title":"Urbanization and green space dynamics in Greater Dhaka, Bangladesh","volume":"8","author":"Byomkesh","year":"2012","journal-title":"Landsc. Ecol. Eng."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, P., Liu, S., and Du, J. (2017). A map spectrum-based spatiotemporal clustering method for GDP variation pattern analysis using nighttime light images of the Wuhan urban agglomeration. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf., 6.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi6060160"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Faisal, K., Shaker, A., and Habbani, S. (2016). Modeling the relationship between the gross domestic product and built-up area using remote sensing and GIS data: A case study of seven major cities in Canada. ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf., 5.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijgi5030023"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6047","DOI":"10.1080\/01431161.2017.1302114","article-title":"Analysis of urbanization dynamics in mainland China using pixel-based night-time light trajectories from 1992 to 2013","volume":"38","author":"Ju","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2012.02.013","article-title":"Extracting the dynamics of urban expansion in China using DMSP-OLS nighttime light data from 1992 to 2008","volume":"106","author":"Liu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Landsc. Urban Plan."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"70","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apgeog.2009.10.002","article-title":"Drivers of urban growth in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal: Examining the efficacy of the analytic hierarchy process","volume":"30","author":"Thapa","year":"2010","journal-title":"Appl. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"140","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apgeog.2013.01.009","article-title":"Spatiotemporal urbanization processes in the megacity of Mumbai, India: A Markov chains-cellular automata urban growth model","volume":"40","author":"Moghadam","year":"2013","journal-title":"Appl. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"390","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apgeog.2008.12.005","article-title":"Land use and land cover change in greater Dhaka, Bangladesh: Using remote sensing to promote sustainable urbanization","volume":"29","author":"Dewan","year":"2009","journal-title":"Appl. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"83","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2011.10.028","article-title":"Object-based cloud and cloud shadow detection in Landsat imagery","volume":"118","author":"Zhu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Sun, W., Du, B., and Xiong, S. (2017). Quantifying sub-pixel surface water coverage in urban environments using low-albedo fraction from Landsat imagery. Remote Sens., 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9050428"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"77","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(98)00098-4","article-title":"Radiance calibration of DMSP-OLS low-light imaging data of human settlements","volume":"68","author":"Elvidge","year":"1999","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"81","DOI":"10.1016\/S0924-2716(01)00040-5","article-title":"Night-time lights of the world: 1994\u20131995","volume":"56","author":"Elvidge","year":"2001","journal-title":"ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"595","DOI":"10.3390\/en20300595","article-title":"A fifteen year record of global natural gas flaring derived from satellite data","volume":"2","author":"Elvidge","year":"2009","journal-title":"Energies"},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6030","DOI":"10.1080\/01431161.2016.1274451","article-title":"Urban mapping using DMSP\/OLS stable night-time light: A review","volume":"38","author":"Li","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Guo, W., Lu, D., and Kuang, W. (2017). Improving fractional impervious surface mapping performance through combination of DMSP-OLS and MODIS NDVI data. Remote Sens., 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9040375"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"17168","DOI":"10.3390\/rs71215863","article-title":"A normalized urban areas composite index (NUACI) based on combination of DMSP-OLS and MODIS for mapping impervious surface area","volume":"7","author":"Liu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.1016\/j.spasta.2017.03.004","article-title":"A likelihood-based spatial statistical transformation model (LBSSTM) of regional economic development using DMSP\/OLS time series and nighttime light imagery","volume":"21","author":"Li","year":"2017","journal-title":"Spat. Stat."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dai, Z., Hu, Y., and Zhao, G. (2017). The suitability of different nighttime light data for GDP estimation at different spatial scales and regional levels. Sustainability, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/su9020305"},{"key":"ref_26","first-page":"193","article-title":"Spatialization of electricity consumption of China using saturation-corrected DMSP-OLS data","volume":"28","author":"Cao","year":"2014","journal-title":"Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.1016\/j.energy.2016.01.058","article-title":"Detecting urban-scale dynamics of electricity consumption at Chinese cities using time-series DMSP-OLS (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program-Operational Linescan System) nighttime light imageries","volume":"100","author":"Xie","year":"2016","journal-title":"Energy"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Jiang, W., He, G., Long, T., Wang, C., Ni, Y., and Ma, R. (2017). Assessing light pollution in China based on nighttime light imagery. Remote Sens., 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9020135"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1013","DOI":"10.1109\/JSEN.2016.2640181","article-title":"Estimation of urban population dynamics using DMSP-OLS night-time lights time series sensors data","volume":"17","author":"Tripathi","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Sens. J."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Huang, Q., Yang, Y., Li, Y., and Gao, B. (2016). A simulation study on the urban population of China based on nighttime light data acquired from DMSP\/OLS. Sustainability, 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/su8060521"},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"358","DOI":"10.1080\/2150704X.2014.905728","article-title":"Evaluation of NPP-VIIRS night-time light composite data for extracting built-up urban areas","volume":"5","author":"Shi","year":"2014","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Lett."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2016.10.002","article-title":"Updating urban extents with nighttime light imagery by using an object-based thresholding method","volume":"187","author":"Xie","year":"2016","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1614","DOI":"10.1007\/s11434-006-2006-3","article-title":"Restoring urbanization process in China in the 1990s by using non-radiance-calibrated DMSP\/OLS nighttime light imagery and statistical data","volume":"51","author":"He","year":"2006","journal-title":"Chin. Sci. Bull."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"99","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2012.04.018","article-title":"Quantitative estimation of urbanization dynamics using time series of DMSP\/OLS nighttime light data: A comparative case study from China\u2019s cities","volume":"124","author":"Ma","year":"2012","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2320","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2011.04.032","article-title":"Mapping urbanization dynamics at regional and global scales using multi-temporal DMSP\/OLS nighttime light data","volume":"115","author":"Zhang","year":"2011","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2067","DOI":"10.3390\/rs70202067","article-title":"Correlations between urbanization and vegetation degradation across the world\u2019s metropolises using DMSP\/OLS nighttime light data","volume":"7","author":"Liu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"200","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scitotenv.2017.02.148","article-title":"Urbanization and the thermal environment of Chinese and US-American cities","volume":"589","author":"Cai","year":"2017","journal-title":"Sci. Total Environ."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.isprsjprs.2017.03.003","article-title":"Spatiotemporally enhancing time-series DMSP\/OLS nighttime light imagery for assessing large-scale urban dynamics","volume":"128","author":"Xie","year":"2017","journal-title":"ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1721","DOI":"10.3390\/rs70201721","article-title":"Dynamics of urbanization levels in China from 1992 to 2012: Perspective from DMSP\/OLS nighttime light data","volume":"7","author":"Gao","year":"2015","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8768","DOI":"10.3390\/su7078768","article-title":"Urban growth and rural transition in China based on DMSP\/OLS nighttime light data","volume":"7","author":"Tan","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sustainability"},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3207","DOI":"10.3390\/s140203207","article-title":"Mapping and evaluating the urbanization process in northeast China using DMSP\/OLS nighttime light data","volume":"14","author":"Yi","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, Q., Lu, L., Weng, Q., Xie, Y., and Guo, H. (2016). Monitoring urban dynamics in the southeast USA using time-series DMSP\/OLS nightlight imagery. Remote Sens., 8.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs8070578"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"533","DOI":"10.1007\/s11442-017-1391-7","article-title":"Similarities and differences of city-size distributions in three main urban agglomerations of China from 1992 to 2015: A comparative study based on nighttime light data","volume":"27","author":"Gao","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Geogr. Sci."},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"138","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2015.01.004","article-title":"Detecting the 20 year city-size dynamics in China with a rank clock approach and DMSP\/OLS nighttime data","volume":"137","author":"Huang","year":"2015","journal-title":"Landsc. Urban Plan."},{"key":"ref_45","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zou, Y., Peng, H., Liu, G., Yang, K., Xie, Y., and Weng, Q. (2017). Monitoring urban clusters expansion in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China, using time-series nighttime light images. Remote Sens., 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9101007"},{"key":"ref_46","first-page":"14","article-title":"Spatial characteristics of urban agglomeration in the middle reaches of Yangtze River using MODIS data and DMSP\/OLS nighttime light data","volume":"4","author":"Zhou","year":"2017","journal-title":"Mod. Urban Res."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"046029","DOI":"10.1117\/1.JRS.11.046029","article-title":"Monitoring evolving urban cluster systems using DMSP\/OLS nighttime light data: A case study of the Yangtze River Delta region, China","volume":"11","author":"Wang","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Appl. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, R., Wan, B., Guo, Q., Hu, M., and Zhou, S. (2017). Mapping regional urban extent using NPP-VIIRS DNB and MODIS NDVI data. Remote Sens., 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9080862"},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9359","DOI":"10.3390\/rs6109359","article-title":"The integrated use of DMSP-OLS nighttime light and MODIS data for monitoring large-scale impervious surface dynamics: A case study in the Yangtze River Delta","volume":"6","author":"Shao","year":"2014","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_50","first-page":"727","article-title":"Mapping city lights with nighttime data from the DMSP operational Linescan system","volume":"63","author":"Elvidge","year":"1997","journal-title":"Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_51","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"361","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(97)00046-1","article-title":"A technique for using composite DMSP\/OLS \u201ccity lights\u201d satellite data to map urban area","volume":"61","author":"Imhoff","year":"1997","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_52","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1016\/S0198-9715(97)01005-3","article-title":"Modeling population density with night-time satellite imagery and GIS","volume":"21","author":"Sutton","year":"1997","journal-title":"Comput. Environ. Urban Syst."},{"key":"ref_53","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"88","DOI":"10.1086\/214027","article-title":"Measuring geographic concentration by means of the standard deviational ellipse","volume":"32","author":"Lefever","year":"1926","journal-title":"Am. J. Sociol."},{"key":"ref_54","first-page":"168","article-title":"The study on urbanization process in China based on DMSP\/OLS data: Development of a light index for urbanization level estimation","volume":"7","author":"Chen","year":"2003","journal-title":"J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_55","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"335","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landurbplan.2003.10.033","article-title":"Analyzing spatial restructuring of land use patterns in a fast growing region using remote sensing and GIS","volume":"69","author":"Li","year":"2004","journal-title":"Landsc. Urban Plan."},{"key":"ref_56","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2421","DOI":"10.1080\/13658816.2016.1178389","article-title":"Influence of urban expansion on the urban heat island effect in Shanghai","volume":"30","author":"Zhao","year":"2016","journal-title":"Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci."},{"key":"ref_57","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, Z., Xiao, R., Yu, W., Liu, Y., Lin, M., and Wang, M. (2017). Characterizing factors associated with built-up land expansion in urban and non-urban areas from a morphological perspective. Sustainability, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/su9081411"},{"key":"ref_58","first-page":"1302","article-title":"Space syntax expand intensity index and its applications toquantitative analysis of urban expansion","volume":"71","author":"Haijun","year":"2016","journal-title":"Acta Geogr. Sin."},{"key":"ref_59","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"295","DOI":"10.1016\/j.apgeog.2011.12.001","article-title":"Characterizing landscape pattern and ecosystem service value changes for urbanization impacts at an eco-regional scale","volume":"34","author":"Su","year":"2012","journal-title":"Appl. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_60","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6305","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2017.2725917","article-title":"A new approach for detecting urban centers and their spatial structure with nighttime light remote sensing","volume":"55","author":"Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."}],"container-title":["ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/7\/2\/52\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T14:53:52Z","timestamp":1760194432000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2220-9964\/7\/2\/52"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2018,2,5]]},"references-count":60,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2018,2]]}},"alternative-id":["ijgi7020052"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijgi7020052","relation":{},"ISSN":["2220-9964"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2220-9964","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2018,2,5]]}}}