Application of night-time light remote sensing technology in improvements of runway safety

Based on multi-phase night-time light remote sensing data obtained by the Luojia-1 satellite (LJ1-01), the visual interpretation of images and statistics of night-time light is adopted to conduct a comparative analysis of the light intensity information of the airport runway within 1 km and the surroundings of Beijing Capital Airport and Daxing Airport. The results demonstrate that there are multiple strong light sources within 1 km of Beijing Capital Airport, yet their configurations are not consistent with navigation lights. Meanwhile, at present, the overall interference around Beijing Daxing Airport is relatively weak. As neighboring areas develop, interferences by non-aviation light may increase and require constant attention. To the best of our knowledge, this study reports the application of night-time light remote sensing technology in the identification of non-aviation light and the improvement of runway safety for the first time. In addition, advantages and limitations of satellite remote sensing in runway safety are discussed from aspects such as data availability, technical feasibility, and economic effectiveness.