ABSTRACT
This chapter presents how night-time imagery has been used as a proxy measure of population, economic activity, human development, exurban development and energy. In recent years, night-time satellite imagery produced by the Defence Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan System (DMSP OLS) has been used to model numerous human phenomena including population, population density, economic activity, energy consumption, CO2 emissions, pavement and the human ecological footprint. The readily available empirical measures obtained from satellites allow for improved theory to guide both urban growth models and many other areas of urban geography. Radiance calibrated measures of the earth at night as provided by the DMSP's Operational Linescan System, provide a direct measure of energy emitted into space as night-time light by the cities of the world. Human well-being manifests from an interaction of human, social, built and natural capital. Improving human well-being is increasingly recognised as one of the "desirable ends" that society needs to allocate its resources towards.
