Evaluation of Urban Microscopic Nighttime Light Environment Based on the Coupling Observation of Remote Sensing and UAV Observation

Abstract

The urban canopy refers to the spatial area at the average height range of urban structures. The light environment of the urban canopy not only influences the ecological conditions of the canopy layer region but also serves as an indicator of the upward light influx of artificial nighttime light in the urban environment. Previous research on urban nighttime light environment mainly focused on the urban surface layer and urban night sky layer, lacking attention to the urban canopy layer. This study observes the urban canopy layer with the flight and photography functions of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and combines color band remote sensing data with ground measurement data to explore the relationship between the three levels of the urban nighttime light environment. Furthermore, a three–dimensional observation method is established for urban nighttime light environments based on a combination of three observation methods. The research results indicate that there is a good correlation between drone aerial photography data and remote sensing data (R2 = 0.717), as well as between ground–measured data and remote sensing data (R2 = 0.876). It also shows that UAV images can serve as a new path for the observation of urban canopy nighttime light environments because of the accuracy and reliability of UAV aerial data. Meanwhile, the combination of UAV photography, ground measurement, and remote sensing data provides a new method for the monitoring and control of urban nighttime light pollution.