Now you can see holiday lights from space, thanks to NASA
Data also reveals surprising clues into cultural differences across the globe
Clark Griswold's isn't the only house visible from space during the holidays. New satellite data collected by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration not only reveal that Christmas decorations are, in fact, visible from space, but offer a unique view of societal patterns and cultural differences across the globe.
Research scientist Miguel Roman and his colleagues at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center initially started using daily satellite photos to examine the nighttime light output in 70 U.S. cities in 2012, so they could study greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas.
They noticed that lights started getting brighter on Black Friday and stayed bright through New Year’s Day. Over two years, they discovered that the U.S., particularly suburban areas, shines 20 to 50 percent brighter at night during the Christmas-to-New Year’s holiday season than the rest of the year.
Similarly, they saw more nighttime lighting in the Middle East coincided with the monthlong celebration of Ramadan, when daytime fasting forces meals and social gatherings to take place after dark. Some Middle Eastern cities shine more than 50 percent brighter at night during the Muslim holiday than any other time of year.
Despite the fact that the U.S. is home to a variety of ethnic and religious groups, holiday lighting appears to be a nationwide phenomenon. During Ramadan, however, the researchers observed that nighttime lighting patterns varied throughout the Middle East.
Some Saudi Arabian cities increased their nighttime light output by 60 to 100 percent during Ramadan, while Turkish cities saw a much smaller increase in light usage, and parts of Lebanon, Iraq and Syria either had no increase at all or actually decreased their light output.
Even within Cairo, where the researchers first noticed the Ramadan illumination, the degree of nighttime brightness varied between neighborhoods, with the poorest and most devout areas tending to not use lights at all while observing Ramadan. But at the end of the month, during the Eid al-Fitr festivities commemorating the close of Ramadan, light use increased across all neighborhoods and socioeconomic groups, suggesting that religious beliefs and cultural traditions are as important as factors like price in driving the demand for energy.
“Whether you’re rich or poor, or religious or not, everybody in Egypt is celebrating the Eid, or the end of Ramadan,” Roman said.
In examining holiday lighting patterns, Roman and his team have discovered a more sociological approach to studying the human impact on the earth. Not only can satellite data tell us where the majority of carbon emissions take place, but it can offer insight into how different religious and cultural habits contribute to climate change.
