{"uid":"cap_i3cl8KkzgLWESx-8hobLt","slug":"econsignalpulse-viirs-nighttime-lights-vs-gdp-divergence-69d20a46","name":"EconSignalPulse VIIRS Nighttime Lights vs GDP Divergence","description":"VIIRS satellite nighttime-lights analysis versus official GDP — detects divergence between reported activity and satellite evidence across 100+ countries. For hedge-fund and intelligence agents.","url":"https://econsignalpulse.vercel.app/api/econsignal/nightlights","method":"GET","headers":{},"bodySchema":{"type":"object","$schema":"https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema","required":["input"],"properties":{"input":{"type":"object","required":["type","method"],"properties":{"type":{"type":"string","const":"http"},"method":{"enum":["GET","HEAD","DELETE"],"type":"string"},"queryParams":{"type":"object","properties":{"iso2":{"type":"string","description":"ISO2 country code for World Bank data — e.g. CN | RU | NG | VE | PK"},"lang":{"type":"string","description":"en | es | fr | de | ja | zh | ko | pt | ar | hi (default: en)"},"period":{"type":"string","description":"1y | 3y | 5y | 10y (default: 5y)"},"country":{"type":"string","description":"Country name or ISO2 — e.g. \"China\" | \"Russia\" | \"Nigeria\" | \"Venezuela\" | \"Pakistan\""}}}},"additionalProperties":false},"output":{"type":"object","required":["type"],"properties":{"type":{"type":"string"},"errors":{"type":"object","description":"Documented error responses, keyed by HTTP status code","additionalProperties":{"type":"object","required":["description"],"properties":{"example":{"type":"object"},"description":{"type":"string"}}}},"example":{"type":"object"}}}}},"responseSchema":{"type":"json","example":{"official_gdp":{"source":"National Bureau of Statistics China","reported_growth_2022_pct":3,"reported_growth_2023_pct":5.2},"query_summary":{"iso2":"CN","country":"China","signal_basis":"VIIRS NOAA-20 nighttime lights composite"},"satellite_signal":{"low_activity_regions":["Northeast rust belt — Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang showing flat/declining signal"],"high_activity_regions":["Yangtze River Delta","Pearl River Delta","Chengdu-Chongqing"],"nightlights_growth_trend":"Consistent with 2-3% real growth in manufacturing belt; lower than official 5.2% in 2023","electricity_vs_gdp_divergence":"Electricity +6.9% while GDP +5.2% — electricity typically tracks GDP closely; gap suggests mix shift toward services (lower power intensity)","electricity_consumption_growth_pct":6.9},"divergence_analysis":{"verdict":"Moderate divergence — GDP plausibly in 3.5-5.5% range; official figure within bounds but upper end appears optimistic","confidence":"Medium","methodology_note":"Nightlights correlate strongly with industrial/manufacturing GDP; services sector (growing share of Chinese economy) has lower light signature","historical_context":"China nightlights diverged significantly from official GDP in 2015-2016 (provincial GDP sums exceeded national total by 10%)"},"investment_implications":"CNY positioning and EM equity exposure should discount to 4-4.5% real growth range rather than headline 5.2%. Manufacturing-facing sectors most at risk of disappointment."}},"example":null,"exampleRequest":null,"tags":["x402"],"displayCostAmount":"0.15","displayCostAsset":"USDC","priceDynamic":false,"priceHint":null,"priceStatus":"priced","priceSource":"probe","requiresHandshake":false,"reviewCount":0,"rating":{"score":"0.00","successRate":"0.00","reviews":0,"stars":null,"state":"unrated"},"availabilityStatus":"unknown","priceObserved":null,"sessionDeposit":null,"pricing":{"kind":"static","summary":"$0.15/call","primary":{"kind":"static","protocol":"x402","network":"base","amountUsd":"0.15","per":"call","confidence":"exact"},"accepted":[{"kind":"static","protocol":"x402","network":"base","amountUsd":"0.15","per":"call","confidence":"exact"}]},"paymentMethods":[{"uid":"pm_opgQe_6ImyC-YWV15B0FZ","protocol":"x402","methodType":"crypto","chain":"base","mode":"charge","costAmount":"0.15","costPer":"request","priority":0,"asset":"0x833589fCD6eDb6E08f4c7C32D4f71b54bdA02913","unit":"request","depositMicros":null,"planRef":null}],"brandName":null,"brandSlug":null,"brandBaseUrl":null,"brandDocsUrl":null,"whatItDoes":"Analyzes VIIRS satellite nighttime-light data against official GDP figures to detect divergence between reported economic activity and satellite evidence across 100+ countries","exampleAgentPrompt":"Show me the satellite nighttime-lights divergence versus official GDP for China — I want to see whether the reported growth numbers are backed up by actual satellite evidence of economic activity.","exampleUseCases":[{"title":"Validate emerging market growth claims","prompt":"Check the nighttime-lights data against the official GDP for Vietnam over the last year — I need to know if their reported economic expansion is actually showing up in the satellite imagery."},{"title":"Screen for statistical reporting fraud","prompt":"Run the VIIRS analysis on Russia and Belarus — I want to identify if their official GDP figures are consistent with what the satellite data shows about actual nighttime economic activity on the ground."},{"title":"Detect hidden economic contractions","prompt":"Compare the satellite nighttime-lights trends to the official numbers for several African nations — flag any countries where the lights are dimming but GDP is still reported as growing."}],"resultDescription":"Returns a structured report including VIIRS-derived nighttime light intensity metrics, official GDP figures, a computed divergence score, and anomaly signals indicating whether reported economic activity appears consistent with satellite evidence — covering the requested country from a 100+ country dataset.","failureModes":["Unsupported or unrecognized country code returns an error or empty result","Satellite data lag may cause divergence readings to be behind latest GDP releases","Payment not processed (x402 flow failure) returns 402 with payment instructions","Temporary satellite data unavailability may return stale or cached readings","Highly small or data-sparse countries may have low-confidence nightlight signals"],"whenToPreferThis":"Use this endpoint when you need to cross-validate official GDP or economic activity figures against independent satellite evidence — particularly for countries with questionable statistical reporting, authoritarian governments, or opaque data agencies. Prefer this over pure GDP lookup endpoints when the goal is detecting data manipulation, economic deception, or unreported contractions.","instructions":null,"reviewSummary":null,"reviewSummaryHighlights":null,"reviewSummaryConcerns":null,"reviewSummaryGeneratedAt":null,"activationCount":0,"lastUsedAt":null,"lastSuccessfullyRanAt":null,"lastHealthCheckAt":"2026-09-15T12:43:07.340Z","isFirstParty":false}