Modeling the spatiotemporal dynamics of electric power consumption in mainland China using saturation-corrected DMSP/OLS nighttime stable light data

Abstract

Obtaining timely and accurate data on the spatiotemporal dynamics of electric power consumption (EPC) is crucial for the effective utilization of electric power in China. The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System (DMSP/OLS) nighttime stable light (NSL) data have good potential for estimating EPC effectively at large scales. However, saturated lighted pixels contained within the NSL data limit the accuracy of EPC estimation. We developed a new method to correct the saturated lighted pixels, using the SPOT VEGETATION (SPOT/VGT) 10-day synthesis product (S10) normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data and then modeled the spatiotemporal dynamics of EPC in Mainland China from 2000 to 2008. The results demonstrated the reliability of our approach with an average R value of 0.93 (P<0.001) and an average relative error of -28.92%. EPC in Mainland China showed an average annual growth rate of 13.46% during the study period from 1198.23 billion kWh in 2000 to 3290.51 billion kWh in 2008. EPC in Mainland China also showed clear regional variation. Northern coastal China and eastern coastal China consumed 37.61% of the total EPC in Mainland China, with only 25.96% of the population and 6.11% of the area.