Studying urban development and change in the contiguous United States using two scaled measures derived from nighttime lights data and population census

We investigated urban development trend in contiguous United States based on metropolitan areas (MAs), using two scaled measurements for 1990, 2000 and 2010. Linear population density (LPD) was used to compare the same MA over time. Population area growth index (PAGI) was adopted to compare different MAs at the same time. We found that (1) DMSP-OLS nighttime stable lights data are effective for delineating extent of developed areas; (2) both measurements show the growth of developed land have slowed from 1990 to 2010; (3) both measurements show clear regional pattern in urban development in contiguous United States.