Darkness Map

Data Visualization and Mapping Project, 2010

We have all seen satellite images of planet Earth at night, but aside from expressing that cities are bright, or that nighttime power is primarily a first-world commodity, these images do not portray much practical information. The Darkness Map aims to communicate dark and light levels around New York City on a human scale.

Inspired by a desire to find dark areas in a city dominated by nighttime lighting for commerce, entertainment and public safety, the Darkness Map visualizes the nighttime light levels on New York City's sidewalks. Data is collected by capturing video of each city block, tagging it with a GPS location, then analyzing it algorithmically to generate the average brightness of each frame. The final form is a map visualization that depicts the lightness and darkness of city streets at night.

The Darkness Map is a collaboration with Scott Wayne Indiana and Rune Madsen.

For more information, please visit www.darknessmap.com

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