Artifical light is an issue of increasing public concern. This project from the Irish Central Statistics Office (CSO) uses satellite data and R packages to provide estimates of artificial light emissions in Ireland at national, regional and local level. Comparative statistics for international locations are also provided. This is the first report from the CSO to be based on satellite data and it demonstrates how satellite imagery could be used to produce high-quality official statistics.

The data source for this project is the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Day-Night Band (VIIRS-DNB) sensor.