Using toponym data, population data, and night-time light data, we visualized the development index of the Yi, Wa, Zhuang, Naxi, Hani, and Dai ethnic groups on ArcGIS as well as the distribution of 25 ethnic minorities in the study area. First, we extracted the toponym data of 25 ethnic minorities in the study area, combined with night-time light data and the population proportion data of each ethnic group, then we obtained the development index of each ethnic group in the study area. We compared the development indexes of the Yi, Wa, Zhuang, Naxi, Hani, and Dai ethnic groups with higher development indexes. The results show that the Yi nationality’s development index was the highest, reaching 28.86 (with two decimal places), and the Dai nationality’s development index was the lowest (15.22). The areas with the highest minority development index were concentrated in the core area of the minority development, and the size varied with the minority’s distance. According to the distribution of ethnic minorities, we found that the Yi ethnic group was distributed in almost the entire study area, while other ethnic minorities had obvious geographical distribution characteristics, and there were multiple ethnic minorities living together. This research is of great significance to the cultural protection of ethnic minorities, the development of ethnic minorities, and the remote sensing mapping of lights at night.

Aiming at the problem that the estimation of electric power consumption (EPC) by using night-time light (NTL) data is mostly concentrated in large areas, a method for estimating EPC in rural areas is proposed. Rural electric power consumption (REPC) is a key indicator of the national socio-economic development. Despite an improved quality of life in rural areas, there is still a big gap between electricity consumption between rural residents and urban residents in China. The experiment takes REPC as the research target, selects Dehong (DH) Dai Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province as an example, and uses the NTL data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Day–Night Band (DNB) carried by the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) Satellite from 2012 to 2017, toponym and points-of-interest (POI) data as the main data source. By performing kernel density estimation to extract the urban center and rural area boundaries in the prefecture, and combining the county-level boundary data and electric power data, a linear regression model of the total rural NTL intensity and REPC is estimated. Finally, according to the model, the EPC in ethnic minority rural areas is estimated at a 1-km spatial resolution. The results show that the NPP-REPC model can simulate REPC within a small average error (17.8%). Additionally, there are distinct spatial differences of REPC in ethnic minority areas.

Geology forms the basis for underground space development. In mountainous plateau areas, developing underground spaces requires detailed analyses and appraisal. This study used the index scale analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to analyze the geological conditions and to propose an evaluation system suitable for Kunming, China. An evaluation model was established using mathematical principles, and a geological suitability evaluation of Kunming was conducted using GIS. According to the evaluation, underground space in Kunming considered suitable, medium suitable, unsuitable, and forbidden for development accounts for 37.81%, 20.38%, 17.61%, and 24.2% of its total area, respectively. Soft soil and karst topographies are the primary disqualifying factors, followed by groundwater and geological fault zones. Our results reveal that most of the underground spaces in the plateau area are suitable for development. However, there are areas where construction should be strictly regulated, such as those adjacent to geological fault zones. With this study, the superiority of the index scale method was demonstrated, and the consideration criteria of the evaluation system and indexes in plateau cities were proposed.