NASA satellites spy holiday lights from space

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- NASA is doing its best to get in the holiday spirit. On Wednesday, the space agency released a number of images showing what holiday lights look like from 518 miles above Earth's surface.

Scientists at NASA also used data collected by the agency's Suomi NPP satellite and its Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite to determine when and where lights shine brightest over the holidays. They found major cities shine up to 50 percent brighter over Christmas and New Years.

The new data isn't part of some intergalactic holiday light competition, its being collected and analyzed as a way to understand urban energy use patterns and ultimately improve conservation and allocation of resources.

"In the United States, the lights started getting brighter on the day after Thanksgiving and continued through New Years Day," NASA officials wrote in a recent news release. "The science team found that light intensity increased by 30 to 50 percent in the suburbs and outskirts of major cities."

In the composite images released by NASA, the color green is used to denote a uptick in energy use and light output during the holidays, while yellow suggests no change and red represents a decrease.

"It's a near ubiquitous signal," explained lead researcher Miguel Román. "Despite being ethnically and religiously diverse, we found that the U.S. experiences a holiday increase across most urban communities. These lighting patterns are tracking a national, shared tradition."