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grdi-vnl-raster·dataset

Global Deprivation Index: Night-Lights Layer

GRDI VNL Constituent Raster
land NASA VEDA COG
In plain English

What it measures. One ingredient of the worldwide relative-deprivation map, using how brightly each area glows at night as a clue to its level of development and activity.

How it's made. Built from VIIRS satellite night-time lights imagery, fed into the larger Global Gridded Relative Deprivation Index.

How & where you'd use it. Helps reveal less-developed regions where dimmer night lighting can signal underserved communities.

What's measured

grdivnlraster

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2020-01-01 → 2020-12-31
  • Spatial extent-180, -55.983, 179.817, 82.183
  • FormatsCOG

What you can do with it

  • Track deforestation, fire scars and land-cover change
  • Monitor crop and vegetation health (NDVI/EVI)
  • Map how built-up vs. green an area is over time
Official description

Global Gridded Relative Deprivation Index (GRDI) VIIRS Night Lights (VNL) Constituent raster

Get the data

veda_access.py
# NASA VEDA — open STAC API, anonymous (cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs)
from pystac_client import Client

cat = Client.open("https://openveda.cloud/api/stac")
col = cat.get_collection("grdi-vnl-raster")
items = list(col.get_items())          # browse the analysis-ready COGs
# open an asset with rioxarray:
# import rioxarray; da = rioxarray.open_rasterio(items[0].assets["cog_default"].href)
NASA VEDA is an open STAC catalog — browse and stream the cloud-optimized GeoTIFFs anonymously (no login).