Scientific Theme: Advanced Modeling and Observing Systems

Scientific Theme: Planetary Metabolism
Time series of national gas flaring volume estimates extending from 1992 through 2005.
MILESTONE NGDC07.4:
Develop the first global map of poverty rates derived from satellite data.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS NGDC07.4:
CIRES has assisted NOAA in developing a global poverty map that has been produced at 30-arc second resolution
using a derived poverty index calculated by dividing population count (LandScan 2004) by the brightness of
satellite-observed nighttime lighting for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft. Inputs to
the LandScan product include satellite-derived land cover and topography, plus human settlement outlines derived
from high-resolution imagery. The poverty estimates have been calibrated using national-level poverty data from the
World Development Indicators (WDI) 2006 edition. The total estimate of the numbers of individuals living in
poverty is 2.3 billion, slightly under the WDI estimate of 2.6 billion. This significant work demonstrates a new
technique for determining global poverty rates. It is expected that this technique will become increasingly more
accurate as new reference data for calibration of poverty estimates become available and as improvements are made
in the satellite observation of human activities related to economic activity and technology access.
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/dmsp/download_poverty.html.
Develop the first global map of poverty rates derived from satellite data.
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