The Research on Urban Expansion and Spatial Correlation Based on VIIRS/DNB Data: A Case Study of Shandong Province

Abstract

The appearance of nighttime light (NTL) data allows us to experience urban development from more angles. This paper uses VIIRS/DNB monthly composite data to extract the urban built-up areas of 17 cities in Shandong Province. Then the built-up area extraction results in 2012 and 2017 are compared to determine the expansion type of each city. Finally, based on the intensity of city lights, we calculated the correlation between cities to show the strength of the connections between them. We find that the NTL values of Qingdao, Jinan, Yantai, and Weifang occupy the top four in Shandong Province, and this result is consistent with economic statistics. Laiwu, Qingdao, and Weifang have shown strong spatial expansion. Based on the growth area of built-up areas and urban development patterns in the past five years, the 17 cities in Shandong Province can be divided into four types: central expansion type (Jinan), multi-core development type (Rizhao), satellite diffusion type (Weifang) and mixed type (Zibo). We have summarized the characteristics of various types. There is little change in the spatial correlation between cities in 2012 and 2017. Cities such as Jinan, Zibo, Weifang, and Qingdao are closely related to other regions. The location degree of the city is also highest in these four cities, and the north and south sides of Shandong Province are lower.