Night Light Data

Harmonized DMSP/OLS data

Country-level  (1992-2023). Download here. 

(Please cite Beyer, R.C., Hu, Y. and Yao, J., 2026. The Bright Side of Heteroskedasticity: Measuring Quarterly Economic Growth from Outer Space. )

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VIIRS nighttime lights data

Country-level  (2013m1-2024m5). Download here.

District-level  (2013m1-2026m3). Download here. This version calculates the mean of nighttime lights (unit: nW·cm⁻²·sr⁻¹) for each district (GADM 3.6 Admin-2 regions). To obtain the sum, multiply the mean by area (unit: km²).

DMSP/OLS nighttime lights data

Country-level  (1992-2013). Download here.

District-level  (1992-2013). Download here. 

Note: Satellite data are from the Earth Observations Group and aggregated to district and country levels using GADM maps.