The Spatio-temporal Dynamics Estimation of Economic Growth in Border Regions, China, using DMSP-OLS imagery

China has opened its doors to foreign countries from late 1970s, and it has experienced tremendous economic growth in recent years. Meanwhile, an economic-development gap between regions has emerged to be a socio-economic issue in the nation. This research investigated the spatio-temporal dynamics of economic growth, associated with Chinese border regions, using DMSP-OLS time-series imagery at the scales of neighboring countries, zones and cities. To do this, the sum of lights was calculated from the satellite images with inter-calibration, intra-annual calibration, and inter-annual calibration. In addition, subsequent spatio-temporal analyses were made on the basis of coefficient of variation, annual average growth rate, compound annual growth rate and SOL-weighted centroids. This study found the decrease of economic growth gap between border zones. On the contrary, it was also revealed that unequal city-level growth in economy still remains in border regions of China. Such a socio-economic problem might be influenced by geopolitical relationship between the nation and neighboring countries. Both DMSP-OLS and SNPP-VIIRS DNB nighttime imagery would need to be incorporated in future research for making spatio-temporal analysis spanned to the most recent year.