{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T03:37:02Z","timestamp":1775187422872,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,12]],"date-time":"2023-05-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1683849600000},"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":["61771183"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["61771183"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study addresses the knowledge gap regarding the spatiotemporal evolution of Chinese urban agglomerations using long time series of luminescence remote sensing data. The evolution of urban agglomerations is of great significance for the future development and planning of cities. Nighttime light data provide a window for observing urban agglomerations\u2019 characteristics on a large spatial scale, but they are affected by temporal discontinuity. To solve this problem, this study proposes a ridge-sampling regression-based Hadamard matrix correction method and constructs consistent long-term nighttime light sequences for China\u2019s four major urban agglomerations from 1992 to 2018. Using the Getis-Ord Gi* hot-cold spot, standard deviation ellipse method, and Baidu search index, we comprehensively analyze the directional evolution of urban agglomerations and the correlations between cities. The results show that, after correction, the correlation coefficient between nighttime light intensity and gross domestic product increased from 0.30 to 0.43. Furthermore, this study identifies unique features of each urban agglomeration. The Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration achieved balanced development by shifting from coastal to inland areas. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao urban agglomeration developed earlier and grew more slowly in the north due to topographical barriers. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration in the north has Beijing and Tianjin as its core, and the southeastern region has developed rapidly, showing an obvious imbalance in development. The Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration in the inland area has Chengdu and Chongqing as its dual core, and its development has been significantly slower than that of the other three agglomerations due to the influence of topography, but it has great potential. Overall, this study provides a research framework for urban agglomerations based on four major urban agglomerations to explore their spatiotemporal characteristics and offers insights for government urban planning.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/rs15102546","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,12]],"date-time":"2023-05-12T09:26:13Z","timestamp":1683883573000},"page":"2546","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Exploring the Spatial and Temporal Characteristics of China\u2019s Four Major Urban Agglomerations in the Luminous Remote Sensing Perspective"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Jiahan","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer and Information Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China"}]},{"given":"Jiaqi","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer and Information Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China"},{"name":"Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China"}]},{"given":"Xiangmei","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer and Information Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China"}]},{"given":"Wei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Ping An Technology Company, Shanghai 200120, China"}]},{"given":"Shengnan","family":"Min","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Computer and Information Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yu, M., Guo, S., Guan, Y., Cai, D., Zhang, C., Fraedrich, K., Liao, Z., Zhang, X., and Tian, Z. (2021). Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity Analysis of Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration: Evidence from Nighttime Light Data (2001\u20132019). Remote Sens., 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs13071235"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"034002","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/10\/3\/034002","article-title":"A new urban landscape in East\u2013Southeast Asia, 2000\u20132010","volume":"10","author":"Schneider","year":"2015","journal-title":"Environ. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"United Nations (2019). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2019 Revision."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"756","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1150195","article-title":"Global Change and the Ecology of Cities","volume":"319","author":"Grimm","year":"2008","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"36","DOI":"10.1038\/s42949-021-00038-6","article-title":"The effects of human movements on urban climate over Eastern China","volume":"1","author":"Wu","year":"2021","journal-title":"npj Urban Sustain."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112198","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2020.112198","article-title":"Meteorological controls on daily variations of nighttime surface urban heat islands","volume":"253","author":"Lai","year":"2021","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4293","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-08377-9","article-title":"Spatiotemporal variations of air pollutants based on ground observation and emission sources over 19 Chinese urban agglomerations during 2015\u20132019","volume":"12","author":"Tao","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"eaau9413","DOI":"10.1126\/sciadv.aau9413","article-title":"Forty years of reform and opening up: China\u2019s progress toward a sustainable path","volume":"5","author":"Lu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Adv."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1142\/S2345748120500086","article-title":"China\u2019s Strategies and Policies for Regional Development During the Period of the 14th Five-Year Plan","volume":"8","author":"Wei","year":"2020","journal-title":"Chin. J. Urban Environ. Stud."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108410","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ecolind.2021.108410","article-title":"Efficiency evaluation and influencing factors of energy saving and emission reduction: An empirical study of China\u2019s three major urban agglomerations from the perspective of environmental benefits","volume":"133","author":"Guo","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ecol. Indic."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105939","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landusepol.2021.105939","article-title":"Integrated regional development: Comparison of urban agglomeration policies in China","volume":"114","author":"Li","year":"2022","journal-title":"Land Use Policy"},{"key":"ref_12","unstructured":"National Bureau of Statistics of China (2019). Statistics, China City Statistical Yearbook."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108375","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ecolind.2021.108375","article-title":"Quantitative measurement on urbanization development level in urban Agglomerations: A case of JJJ urban agglomeration","volume":"133","author":"Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"Ecol. Indic."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5","DOI":"10.1038\/s42949-022-00048-y","article-title":"Urban land expansion: The role of population and economic growth for 300+ cities","volume":"2","author":"Mahtta","year":"2022","journal-title":"npj Urban Sustain."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"113088","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2022.113088","article-title":"Mapping Annual Urban Evolution Process (2001\u20132018) at 250 m: A normalized multi-objective deep learning regression","volume":"278","author":"Wang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Bai, Z., Wang, Y., and Balz, T. (2022). Beijing Land Subsidence Revealed Using PS-InSAR with Long Time Series TerraSAR-X SAR Data. Remote Sens., 14.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs14112529"},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"125970","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jhydrol.2021.125970","article-title":"Common fate of sister lakes in Hulunbuir Grassland: Long-term harmful algal bloom crisis from multi-source remote sensing insights","volume":"594","author":"Chen","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Hydrol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112832","DOI":"10.1016\/j.rse.2021.112832","article-title":"Multi-decadal analysis of high-resolution albedo changes induced by urbanization over contrasted Chinese cities based on Landsat data","volume":"269","author":"Guo","year":"2022","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103338","DOI":"10.1016\/j.scs.2021.103338","article-title":"Quantitative Evaluation of Urban Expansion using NPP-VIIRS Nighttime Light and Landsat Spectral Data","volume":"76","author":"Zheng","year":"2021","journal-title":"Sustain. Cities Soc."},{"key":"ref_20","first-page":"40","article-title":"Night on Earth: Mapping decadal changes of anthropogenic night light in Asia","volume":"22","author":"Small","year":"2013","journal-title":"Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf."},{"key":"ref_21","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_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1843","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2019.2949797","article-title":"Building a Series of Consistent Night-Time Light Data (1992\u20132018) in Southeast Asia by Integrating DMSP-OLS and NPP-VIIRS","volume":"58","author":"Zhao","year":"2019","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"168","DOI":"10.1038\/s41597-020-0510-y","article-title":"A harmonized global nighttime light dataset 1992\u20132018","volume":"7","author":"Li","year":"2020","journal-title":"Sci. Data"},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Li, X., Zhou, Y., Zhao, M., and Zhao, X. (2023, February 11). Harmonization of DMSP and VIIRS Nighttime Light Data from 1992\u20132021 at the Global Scale. Figshare. Dataset. 2022. Available online: https:\/\/figshare.com\/articles\/dataset\/Harmonization_of_DMSP_and_VIIRS_nighttime_light_data_from_1992-2018_at_the_global_scale\/9828827\/7."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123830","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jclepro.2020.123830","article-title":"Satellite-based mapping of the Universal Thermal Climate Index over the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration","volume":"277","author":"Wang","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Clean. Prod."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105759","DOI":"10.1016\/j.atmosres.2021.105759","article-title":"Review of advances in urban climate study in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, China","volume":"261","author":"Li","year":"2021","journal-title":"Atmos. Res."},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2019.04.088","article-title":"Spatiotemporal differentiation and the factors influencing urbanization and ecological environment synergistic effects within the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration","volume":"243","author":"Wang","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Environ. Manag."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103167","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijdrr.2022.103167","article-title":"Analysis on the spatial-temporal evolution of urban agglomeration resilience: A case study in Chengdu-Chongqing Urban Agglomeration, China","volume":"79","author":"Lu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Int. J. Disaster Risk Reduct."},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"Doll, C.N. (2008). Ciesin Thematic Guide to Night-Time Light Remote Sensing and Its Applications, Center for International Earth Science Information Network of Columbia University."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"104","DOI":"10.1016\/j.isprsjprs.2017.10.005","article-title":"An easily implemented method to estimate impervious surface area on a large scale from MODIS time-series and improved DMSP-OLS nighttime light data","volume":"133","author":"Pok","year":"2017","journal-title":"ISPRS J. Photogramm. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"33","article-title":"What is so great about nighttime VIIRS data for the detection and characterization of combustion sources?","volume":"35","author":"Elvidge","year":"2013","journal-title":"Proc. Asia-Pac. Adv. Netw."},{"key":"ref_32","first-page":"67","article-title":"The research of the Yangtze River Delta Core Area\u2019s City network characteristics based on Baidu index","volume":"33","author":"Xiong","year":"2013","journal-title":"Econ. Geogr."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5369","DOI":"10.1109\/JSTARS.2020.3022178","article-title":"Exploring the Spatial-Temporal Dynamics of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration Based on Night-Time Light Remote Sensing Technology","volume":"13","author":"Chen","year":"2020","journal-title":"IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Obs. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_34","first-page":"1025","article-title":"Image-Based Atmospheric Corrections\u2014Revisited and Improved","volume":"62","author":"Chavez","year":"1996","journal-title":"Photogramm. Eng. Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Schott, J.R., Salvaggio, C., and Volchok, W.J. (1988). Radiometric Scene Normalization Using Pseudoinvariant Features, Elsevier.","DOI":"10.1016\/0034-4257(88)90116-2"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Liu, Y., Yang, Y., Jing, W., Yao, L., Yue, X., and Zhao, X. (2017). A New Urban Index for Expressing Inner-City Patterns Based on MODIS LST and EVI Regulated DMSP\/OLS NTL. Remote Sens., 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/rs9080777"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9853","DOI":"10.3390\/rs6109853","article-title":"Evaluating Saturation Correction Methods for DMSP\/OLS Nighttime Light Data: A Case Study from China\u2019s Cities","volume":"6","author":"Ma","year":"2014","journal-title":"Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"230","DOI":"10.1016\/S0034-4257(00)00169-3","article-title":"Classification and Change Detection Using Landsat TM Data: When and How to Correct Atmospheric Effects?","volume":"75","author":"Song","year":"2001","journal-title":"Remote Sens. Environ."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5821","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2016.2572724","article-title":"A Robust Method to Generate a Consistent Time Series From DMSP\/OLS Nighttime Light Data","volume":"54","author":"Zhang","year":"2016","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Geoence Remote Sens."},{"key":"ref_40","first-page":"12","article-title":"Application of GIS to predict malaria hotspots based on Anopheles arabiensis habitat suitability in Southern Africa","volume":"64","author":"Gwitira","year":"2018","journal-title":"Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"108375","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biocon.2019.108375","article-title":"Identifying important at-sea areas for seabirds using species distribution models and hotspot mapping","volume":"241","author":"Cleasby","year":"2020","journal-title":"Biol. Conserv."},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, J., Liu, H., Liu, H., and Huang, H. (2021). Spatiotemporal Evolution of Multiscale Urbanization Level in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region Using the Integration of DMSP\/OLS and NPP\/VIIRS Night Light Datasets. Sustainability, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/su13042000"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105773","DOI":"10.1016\/j.landusepol.2021.105773","article-title":"Tracking the history of urban expansion in Guangzhou (China) during 1665\u20132017: Evidence from historical maps and remote sensing images","volume":"112","author":"Liu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Land Use Policy"},{"key":"ref_44","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8315","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-12274-6","article-title":"Spatial and temporal distribution of population in urban agglomerations changes in China","volume":"12","author":"Lyu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_45","first-page":"102460","article-title":"Comparing hillside urbanizations of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong\u2013Hong Kong\u2013Macau greater Bay area urban agglomerations in China","volume":"102","author":"Yang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Appl. Earth Obs. Geoinf."},{"key":"ref_46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"101071","DOI":"10.1016\/j.uclim.2021.101071","article-title":"Ecological efficiency and its determining factors in an urban agglomeration in China: The Chengdu-Chongqing urban agglomeration","volume":"41","author":"He","year":"2022","journal-title":"Urban Clim."},{"key":"ref_47","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"0554011","DOI":"10.1088\/1748-9326\/10\/5\/054011","article-title":"A global map of urban extent from nightlights","volume":"10","author":"Zhou","year":"2015","journal-title":"Environ. Res. Lett."},{"key":"ref_48","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"115565","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jenvman.2022.115565","article-title":"Urbanisation and ecosystem health in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River urban agglomerations, China: A U-curve relationship","volume":"318","author":"Chen","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Environ. Manag."},{"key":"ref_49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"05020013","DOI":"10.1061\/(ASCE)UP.1943-5444.0000586","article-title":"Regional Disparity in Urbanizing China: Empirical Study of Unbalanced Development Phenomenon of Towns in Southwest China","volume":"146","author":"Xiong","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Urban Plan. Dev."}],"container-title":["Remote Sensing"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/15\/10\/2546\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T19:33:51Z","timestamp":1760124831000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2072-4292\/15\/10\/2546"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,12]]},"references-count":49,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,5]]}},"alternative-id":["rs15102546"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/rs15102546","relation":{},"ISSN":["2072-4292"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2072-4292","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,5,12]]}}}