This dataset is experimental and should only be used for situational awareness and data corroboration.

Derived power loss maps derived from Black Marble BRDF nighttime lights at:

https://maps.disasters.nasa.gov/arcgis/home/item.html?id=fadb9531b94e4da4845c2e5b69994fd3

Dates of Image:

Pre-Event: August 2024

Post-Event: September 22, 2024-September 31, 2024

Methodology:

The base ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) Data was joined with U.S. Census Bureau Places and Counties to provide additional information on the areas affected. The county(s) and place(s) each ZIP Code fell into (with multiple listed when they covered multiple of the generally larger geometries) are joined.

Only a subset of the raw black marble data was used. Certain areas were filtered out into an “Analyzed areas” map, which shows subsets of counties that were retained after certain data extents were removed:

• Baseline (August 2024) data with low radiance (<1) is removed from the county geometry as it is background.
• Cloud cover from the date of interest (in this example, September 29th) is removed from the county geometry.
• Counties are only included within the bounding box of the Black Marble data that was provided.

Once the extent was finalized, the Black Marble Data was modified:

• Negative out-of-range values were changed to 0.
• The revised black marble pixels were extracted to the analyzed area geometry:
• A SUM of all radiance values pixels (with the revised out-of-range values) in the edited geometry was calculated for baseline and event day data.
• The difference between pre and post-event total light intensity in each county was calculated to measure percent light intensity loss. This is indicated in popups as Light Intensity Loss (percentage).

The percentage of analyzed area (with area omitted due to being background in the baseline or cloud-covered in the day of Black Marble) is also available in the attribute table. Lower values may reflect lower confidence in the percent Power Loss depending on where the cloud cover is, especially in circumstances where the primary light source in a given geometry is obfuscated.

Suggested Use:

NASA's Black Marble Nighttime Light product suite is a state-of-the-art daily global collection of standard products for monitoring nighttime lights (NTL). Utilizing the Visible Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) aboard the Suomi-NPP, NOAA-20, and NOAA-21 satellites.

Grey represents cloud cover. Note that these maps are experimental and subject to change and development and should be used only for situational awareness.

Satellite/Sensor:

Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day/Night Band (DNB) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Platform (SNPP), NOAA-20, and NOAA-21

SNPP: August 2024 composite, September 22-24, 2024, October 1, 2024

NOAA-20: September 25 - September 31, 2024, October 2, 2024 - October 4, 2024

Resolution:

500 meters

Credits:

NASA Black Marble Science team

Disasters Response Coordination System

U.S. Census Bureau (geometry)

Please cite the following two references when using this data:

Román MO, Stokes EC, Shrestha R, Wang Z, Schultz L, Carlo EA, Sun Q, Bell J, Molthan A, Kalb V, Ji C. Satellite-based assessment of electricity restoration efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. PloS one. 2019 Jun 28;14(6):e0218883.

Román MO, Wang Z, Sun Q, Kalb V, Miller SD, Molthan A, Schultz L, Bell J, Stokes EC, Pandey B, Seto KC. NASA's Black Marble nighttime lights product suite. Remote Sensing of Environment. 2018 Jun 1;210:113-43.

Point of Contact:

Ranjay Shrestha

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

E-mail: ranjay.m.shrestha@nasa.gov

Additional Links:

NASA’s Black Marble Product Suite

Román, M.O. et al. (2019) Satellite-based assessment of electricity restoration efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. PLoS One, 14 (6).

Román, M.O. et al. (2018) NASA’s Black Marble nighttime lights product suite. Remote Sensing of Environment. 210, 113–143.

TIGER/Line Shapefiles

Esri REST Endpoint:

See URL section on right side of page.