{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,6]],"date-time":"2026-03-06T06:37:38Z","timestamp":1772779058408,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,9]],"date-time":"2022-03-09T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1646784000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006738","name":"Rockefeller Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["POW 04"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["POW 04"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006738","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System","award":["Not known"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Not known"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The VIIRS day\/night band (DNB) high gain stage (HGS) pixel effective dwell time is in the range of 2\u20133 milliseconds (ms), which is about one third of the flicker cycle present in lighting powered by alternating current. Thus, if flicker is present, it induces random fluctuations in nightly DNB radiances. This results in increased variance in DNB temporal profiles. A survey of flicker characteristics conducted with high-speed camera data collected on a wide range of individual luminaires found that the flicker is most pronounced in high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, such as high- and low-pressure sodium and metal halides. Flicker is muted, but detectable, in incandescent luminaires. Modern light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and fluorescent lights are often nearly flicker-free, thanks to high-quality voltage smoothing. DNB pixel footprints are about half a square kilometer and can contain vast numbers of individual luminaires, some of which flicker, while others do not. If many of the flickering lights are drawing from a common AC supplier, the flicker can be synchronized and leave an imprint on the DNB temporal profile. In contrast, multiple power supplies will throw the flickering out of synchronization, resulting in a cacophony with less radiance fluctuation. The examination of DNB temporal profiles for locations before and after the conversion of high-intensity discharge (HID) to LED streetlight conversions shows a reduction in the index of dispersion, calculated by dividing the annual variance by the mean. There are a number of variables that contribute to radiance variations in the VIIRS DNB, including the view angle, cloud optical thickness, atmospheric variability, snow cover, lunar illuminance, and the compilation of temporal profiles using pixels whose footprints are not perfectly aligned. It makes sense to adjust the DNB radiance for as many of these extraneous effects as possible. However, none of these adjustments will reduce the radiance instability introduced by flicker. Because flicker is known to affect organisms, including humans, the development of methods to detect and rate the strength of flickering from space will open up new areas of research on the biologic impacts of artificial lighting. Over time, there is a trend towards the reduction of flicker in outdoor lighting through the replacement of HID with low-flicker LED sources. This study indicates that the effects of LED conversions on the brightness and steadiness of outdoor lighting can be analyzed with VIIRS DNB temporal profiles.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs14061316","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,10]],"date-time":"2022-03-10T02:10:35Z","timestamp":1646878235000},"page":"1316","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":19,"title":["The VIIRS Day\/Night Band: A Flicker Meter in Space?"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0584-1098","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christopher D.","family":"Elvidge","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9967-2389","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mikhail","family":"Zhizhin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA"},{"name":"Russian Space Research Institute, Moscow 117997, Russia"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Keith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"WSP Global Inc., Montreal, QC H3H 1P9, Canada"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2516-5560","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Steven D.","family":"Miller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Cooperative Institute on Research on the Atmosphere, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8383-1912","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Feng Chi","family":"Hsu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9372-861X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Tilottama","family":"Ghosh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9456-0193","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sharolyn J.","family":"Anderson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Park Service\u2014Natural Sounds and Night Skies Team, Fort Collins, CO 80525, USA"}]},{"given":"Christian K.","family":"Monrad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Monrad Engineering, Inc., Tucson, AZ 85719, USA"}]},{"given":"Morgan","family":"Bazilian","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA"}]},{"given":"Jay","family":"Taneja","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4961-026X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paul C.","family":"Sutton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Geography, University of Denver, Denver, CO 80210, USA"}]},{"given":"John","family":"Barentine","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Dark Sky Consulting, LLC, Tucson, AZ 85730, USA"}]},{"given":"William S.","family":"Kowalik","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Oregon Chapter of the International Dark-Sky Association, Bend, OR 97709, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7014-1843","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Christopher C. M.","family":"Kyba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences, Telegrafenberg, 14473 Potsdam, Germany"}]},{"given":"Dee W.","family":"Pack","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Remote Sensing Department, Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA 90245, USA"}]},{"given":"Dorit","family":"Hammerling","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO 80401, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,9]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Mirra, C. (1986). Flicker Measurement and Evaluation, Union Internationale d\u2019Electrothermie, Group de Travail Perturbations."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"377","DOI":"10.4028\/www.scientific.net\/KEM.364-366.377","article-title":"A Novel Time Based Current Compensator for LED Back Light Modules","volume":"364\u2013366","author":"Fan","year":"2007","journal-title":"Key Eng. Mater."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"678","DOI":"10.1037\/h0061043","article-title":"The neural determination of critical flicker frequency","volume":"21","author":"Bartley","year":"1937","journal-title":"J. Exp. Psychol."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wilkins, A., Veitch, J., and Lehman, B. (2010, January 12\u201316). LED lighting flicker and potential health concerns: IEEE standard PAR1789 update. Proceedings of the 2010 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE, Atlanta, GA, USA.","DOI":"10.1109\/ECCE.2010.5618050"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1016\/0360-5442(93)90096-V","article-title":"Health and efficiency in lighting practice","volume":"18","author":"Wilkins","year":"1993","journal-title":"Energy"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.1080\/15502724.2017.1316669","article-title":"Can the Adverse Health Effects of Flicker from LEDs and Other Artificial Lighting Be Prevented?","volume":"13","author":"Price","year":"2017","journal-title":"LEUKOS"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7861","DOI":"10.1038\/srep07861","article-title":"Humans perceive flicker artifacts at 500 Hz","volume":"5","author":"Davis","year":"2015","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"(2022, March 05). IEEE Recommended Practices for Modulating Current in High-Brightness LEDs for Mitigating Health Risks to Viewers. Available online: http:\/\/www.bio-licht.org\/02_resources\/info_ieee_2015_standards-1789.pdf."},{"key":"ref_9","first-page":"1","article-title":"Pokemon Seizures","volume":"4","author":"Takahashi","year":"1999","journal-title":"Neurol. J. Southeast Asia"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Inger, R., Bennie, J., Davies, T.W., and Gaston, K.J. (2014). Potential biological and ecological effects of flickering artificial light. PLoS ONE, 9.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0098631"},{"key":"ref_11","unstructured":"Schakel, M., Banerjee, K., Bergen, T., Blattner, P., Bouroussis, C., Dekker, P., Klej, A., Li, C., Ootake, H., and Reiners, T. (2021). Guidance on the Measurement of Temporal Light Modulation of Light Sources and Lighting Systems, International Commission on Illumination. Technical Note 12."},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"Baker, N., Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS), Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), Sensor Data Records (SDR), and Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD) (2022, March 07). Goddard Space Flight Centre, Greenbelt Maryland, Ground Project Code, 474,474-00053, Available online: https:\/\/www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov\/jpss\/documents\/ATBD\/D0001-M01-S01-004_JPSS_ATBD_VIIRS-Geolocation_A.pdf."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3961","DOI":"10.3390\/s100403961","article-title":"Spectral identification of lighting type and character","volume":"10","author":"Elvidge","year":"2010","journal-title":"Sensors"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Box, G.E.P., Jenkins, G.M., and Reinsel, G.C. (2008). Autocorrelation Function and Spectrum of Stationary Processes. Time Series Analysis, Wiley Online Library.","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118619193.ch2"},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Elvidge, C.D., Hsu, F.-C., Zhizhin, M., Ghosh, T., Taneja, J., and Bazilian, M. (2020). Indicators of electric power instability from satellite observed nighttime lights. Remote Sens., 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs12193194"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hsu, F., Zhizhin, M., Ghosh, T., Elvidge, C., and Taneja, J. (2021). The Annual Cycling of Nighttime Lights in India. Remote Sens., 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs13061199"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"411","DOI":"10.1111\/0022-4146.00224","article-title":"Testing for local spatial autocorrelation in the presence of global autocorrelation","volume":"41","author":"Ord","year":"2001","journal-title":"J. Reg. Sci."},{"key":"ref_18","unstructured":"The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (2011). The Lighting Handbook: Reference and Application, IESNA. [10th ed.]."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"627","DOI":"10.1093\/biomet\/52.3-4.627","article-title":"The index of dispersion as a test statistic","volume":"52","author":"Selby","year":"1965","journal-title":"Biometrika"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2441","DOI":"10.1002\/2013JD020458","article-title":"The VIIRS Cloud Mask: Progress in the First Year of S-NPP toward a Common Cloud Detection Scheme","volume":"119","author":"Kopp","year":"2014","journal-title":"J. Geophys. Res. Atmos."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jqsrt.2018.02.038","article-title":"Skyglow changes over Tucson, Arizona, resulting from a municipal LED street lighting conversion","volume":"212","author":"Barentine","year":"2018","journal-title":"J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transf."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107120","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jqsrt.2020.107120","article-title":"Recovering the city street lighting fraction from skyglow measurements in a large-scale municipal dimming experiment","volume":"253","author":"Barentine","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Quant. Spectrosc. Radiat. Transf."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"189","DOI":"10.1177\/1477153520958463","article-title":"Direct measurement of the contribution of street lighting to satellite observations of nighttime light emissions from urban areas","volume":"53","author":"Kyba","year":"2021","journal-title":"Light. Res. Technol."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dick, R. (2012). Chapter 6\u2014Harmonic Oscillators and Coherent States. Advanced Quantum Mechanics, Springer.","DOI":"10.1007\/978-1-4419-8077-9_6"},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"City of Tucson (2021, November 28). HomeGoods Distribution Center Holds Grand Opening, Available online: https:\/\/www.tucsonaz.gov\/ward-5\/news\/homegoods-distribution-center-holds-grand-opening."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Dazhong, S.H.Z. (2006). Constant Current Driver for Semiconductor Lighting. Res. Prog. SSE Solid State Electron., 2."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112557","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2021.112557","article-title":"Quantifying uncertainties in nighttime light retrievals from Suomi-NPP and NOAA-20 VIIRS Day\/Night Band data","volume":"263","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ryan, R.E., Pagnutti, M., Burch, K., Leigh, L., Ruggles, T., Cao, C., Aaron, D., Blonski, S., and Helder, D. (2019). The Terra Vega active light source: A first step in a new approach to perform nighttime absolute radiometric calibrations and early results calibrating the VIIRS DNB. Remote Sens., 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs11060710"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"11915","DOI":"10.3390\/rs61211915","article-title":"Quantitative analysis of VIIRS DNB nightlight point source for light power estimation and stability monitoring","volume":"6","author":"Cao","year":"2014","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5860","DOI":"10.1080\/01431161.2017.1342050","article-title":"VIIRS night-time lights","volume":"38","author":"Elvidge","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Elvidge, C.D., Zhizhin, M., Ghosh, T., Hsu, F.-C., and Taneja, J. (2021). Annual time series of global VIIRS nighttime lights derived from monthly averages: 2012 to 2019. Remote Sens., 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs13050922"},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"e0628620899","article-title":"A long overdue end to flicker: The 2020 EU lighting efficiency regulations","volume":"1","author":"Weinold","year":"2020","journal-title":"Camb. J. Sci. Policy"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6","DOI":"10.1080\/00994480.2000.10748312","article-title":"The blue-light hazard: A review","volume":"29","author":"Bullough","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Illum. Eng. Soc."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"311","DOI":"10.1080\/10803548.2017.1375172","article-title":"Evaluating the blue-light hazard from solid state lighting","volume":"25","author":"Bullough","year":"2019","journal-title":"Int. J. Occup. Saf. Ergon."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/14\/6\/1316\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T22:33:30Z","timestamp":1760135610000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/14\/6\/1316"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,9]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"6","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,3]]}},"alternative-id":["rs14061316"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs14061316","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,3,9]]}}}