COVID-19 PANDEMIC ASSESSMENT BY NIGHT-LIGHTS

Abstract

Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) - Day/Night Band (DNB) images have been used as an indicator of socioeconomic activity in annual time-series as well as within a year, given the availability of monthly composites. The capacity of VIIRS monthly data to reveal the socioeconomic activity disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is explored here. The light emissions for each municipality in Greece are examined. In specific, monthly 2020 values are compared to the corresponding 2017-9 monthly average values, taken to represent the 'normality'. Two interesting results are derived. First, the impact of the pandemic is actually visible despite the fine spatial scale. Second, and less expected, the magnitude of night-lights dimming is not proportional to the magnitude of the pandemic impact. Dense urbanized areas tend to fluctuate less than sparse urban areas. At the same time it is shown that tourism-dependent areas, that normally attract a high amount of seasonal population and activity, are substantially more affected. © 2021 IEEE.