A new method of measuring and monitoring light pollution in the night sky

In urban centres the natural cycles of day and night have dramatically been altered by artificial lighting, creating a perpetually lit environment that is rarely considered an issue. Artificial lights are illuminating roadways, structures and public plazas with lighting schemes that are, in most cases, inefficient. Consequently, light pollution has greatly impacted the night by reflecting and refracting light into the atmosphere. Without appropriate consideration of integrating artificial lighting into the urban environment, our “night sky” experience is at risk due to poor approaches to public realm design. This study qualitatively explores light pollution analyzing it based on the environment, society and economy as a whole. A literature review, key informants, and case studies contribute to a greater understanding of light and create a framework to develop a design reference to light efficient urban development. This study examines the need for a shift in public perception, broadening an understanding of the effects of light pollution, and provides design considerations to aid urban night sky awareness, planning and design.

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Light pollution in the night sky of Toruń in the summer season

Bulletin of Geography Physical Geography Series ◽

10.2478/bgeo-2019-0017 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 91-100 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dominika Karpińska ◽

Mieczysław Kunz

Keyword(s):

Land Cover ◽

Land Development ◽

Summer Season ◽

City Centre ◽

Light Pollution ◽

Single Family ◽

Family Housing ◽

Sky Brightness ◽

Night Sky ◽

The City

Abstract The paper presents results of research on light pollution in the night sky of Toruń. A permanent network of measuring stations has been established in the city, consisting of 24 sites representing various types of land development and land cover: single-family housing, city centre, multi-family housing, areas overgrown with vegetation and open areas. Within this network, a repeatable direct measurement of the sky brightness using an SQM photometer was carried out over a period of three consecutive months in the summer season, i.e. from June to September 2017. The measurement sessions were conducted in similar weather and astronomical conditions. Based on the obtained data, a spatial distribution of light pollution was determined, ranges of values obtained during the measurements were provided, and the results were additionally referred to the distinguished land cover categories and land development types.

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Light pollution around Tonantzintla Observatory

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921311003589 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 5 (S260) ◽

Author(s):

José A. Vázquez-Mata ◽

Héctor M. Hernández-Toledo ◽

Luis A. Martínez-Vázquez ◽

Atanacio Pani-Cielo

Keyword(s):

Continuous Monitoring ◽

Astronomical Observatory ◽

Light Pollution ◽

Local Authorities ◽

The North ◽

Large Growth ◽

Sky Brightness ◽

Night Sky ◽

Sky Conditions

AbstractBeing close to the cities of Puebla to east and Cholula to the north, both having potential for large growth, the National Astronomical Observatory in Tonantzintla (OAN-Tonantzintla) faces the danger of deteriorating its sky conditions even more. In order to maintain competitiveness for education and scientific programs, it is important to preserve the sky brightness conditions. through: 1) our awareness of the night sky characteristics in continuous monitoring campaigns, doing more measurements over the next years to monitor changes and 2) encouraging local authorities about the need to regulate public lighting at the same time, showing them the benefits of such initiatives when well planed and correctly implemented.

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Emission spectra of light-pollution sources determined from the light-scattering spectrometry of the night sky

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society ◽

10.1093/mnras/stz3260 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 491 (4) ◽

pp. 5586-5594

Author(s):

Miroslav Kocifaj ◽

František Kundracik ◽

Ondrej Bilý

Keyword(s):

Light Scattering ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Spectral Composition ◽

Emission Spectra ◽

Pollution Sources ◽

Light Pollution ◽

Ambient Atmosphere ◽

Artificial Light ◽

Measuring Device ◽

Night Sky

ABSTRACT The emission spectrum of a light-pollution source is a determining factor for modelling artificial light at night. The spectral composition of skyglow is normally derived from the initial spectra of all artificial light sources contributing to the diffuse illumination of an observation point. However, light scattering in the ambient atmosphere imposes a wavelength-specific distortion on the optical signals captured by the measuring device. The nature of the emission, the spectra and the light-scattering phenomena not only control the spectral properties of the ground-reaching radiation, but also provide a unique tool for remote diagnosis and even identification of the emission spectra of the light-polluting sources. This is because the information contained in the night-sky brightness is preferably measured in directions towards a glowing dome of light over the artificial source of light. We have developed a new method for obtaining the emission spectra using remote terrestrial sensing of the bright patches of sky associated with a source. Field experiments conducted in Vienna and Bratislava have been used to validate the theoretical model and the retrieval method. These experiments demonstrate that the numerical inversion is successful even if the signal-to-noise ratio is small. The method for decoding the emission spectra by the light-scattering spectrometry of a night sky is a unique approach that enables for (i) a systematic characterization of the light-pollution sources over a specific territory, and (ii) a significant improvement in the numerical prediction of skyglow changes that we can expect at observatories.

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Evidence That Reduced Air and Road Traffic Decreased Artificial Night-Time Skyglow during COVID-19 Lockdown in Berlin, Germany

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs12203412 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (20) ◽

pp. 3412

Author(s):

Andreas Jechow ◽

Franz Hölker

Keyword(s):

Road Traffic ◽

Satellite Image ◽

Color Temperature ◽

Light Pollution ◽

Artificial Light ◽

Night Time ◽

Sky Brightness ◽

Night Sky ◽

The Impact ◽

Night Sky Brightness

Artificial skyglow, the brightening of the night sky by artificial light at night that is scattered back to Earth within the atmosphere, is detrimental to astronomical observations and has an impact on ecosystems as a form of light pollution. In this work, we investigated the impact of the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the urban skyglow of Berlin, Germany. We compared night sky brightness and correlated color temperature (CCT) measurements obtained with all-sky cameras during the COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020 with data from March 2017. Under normal conditions, we expected an increase in night sky brightness (or skyglow, respectively) and CCT because of the transition to LED. This is supported by a measured CCT shift to slightly higher values and a time series analysis of night-time light satellite data showing an increase in artificial light emission in Berlin. However, contrary to this observation, we measured a decrease in artificial skyglow at zenith by 20% at the city center and by more than 50% at 58 km distance from the center during the lockdown. We assume that the main cause for the reduction of artificial skyglow originates from improved air quality due to less air and road traffic, which is supported by statistical data and satellite image analysis. To our knowledge, this is the first reported impact of COVID-19 on artificial skyglow and we conclude that air pollution should shift more into the focus of light pollution research.

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Landscape Potential and Light Pollution as Key Factors for Astrotourism Development: A Case Study of a Slovak Upland Region

Land ◽

10.3390/land9100374 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (10) ◽

pp. 374

Author(s):

Radoslava Kanianska ◽

Jana Škvareninová ◽

Stanislav Kaniansky

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Socioeconomic Development ◽

Multicriteria Analysis ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

Light Pollution ◽

Land Utilization ◽

Recreation Area ◽

Negative Effect ◽

Night Sky ◽

Study Sites

Astrotourism is considered to be a modern form of ecotourism. The main resource for astrotourism is a high-quality night sky, but this is very sensitive to natural as well as anthropogenic factors; for example, land utilization and expansion of urban areas often cause the negative effect of light pollution. The aim of the study is to perform a lighting survey by night sky brightness (NSB) measurements using the sky quality meter (SQM-L) at 20 study sites of the Slovenské stredohorie Upland region (Slovakia) and to assess the region’s potential for astrotourism development (PAD) using a multicriteria analysis. The NSB values ranged from 19.90 (city Žiar nad Hronom at Žiarska kotlina Basin) to 21.54 mag/arcsec2 (recreation area Poľana at Poľana Mountains). At 14 out of 20 study sites, the NSB values even reached 21.2 mag/arcsec2, as recommended by the International Dark-Sky Association for dark-sky parks. Four study sites were categorized as sites with medium PAD, and sixteen with low PAD. No study site reached a high or very high PAD. The best conditions for astrotourism development are fulfilled mainly by the Poľana Mountains geographical unit. The findings can be used for sustainable astrotourism development, land management, and planning to ensure socioeconomic development, together with nature and dark-sky conservation.

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The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness

Science Advances ◽

10.1126/sciadv.1600377 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 2 (6) ◽

pp. e1600377 ◽

Cited By ~ 376

Author(s):

Fabio Falchi ◽

Pierantonio Cinzano ◽

Dan Duriscoe ◽

Christopher C. M. Kyba ◽

Christopher D. Elvidge ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use Planning ◽

The United States ◽

Global Scale ◽

Light Pollution ◽

The World ◽

Visible Effect ◽

Sky Brightness ◽

Night Sky ◽

States Experience ◽

Land Surfaces

Artificial lights raise night sky luminance, creating the most visible effect of light pollution—artificial skyglow. Despite the increasing interest among scientists in fields such as ecology, astronomy, health care, and land-use planning, light pollution lacks a current quantification of its magnitude on a global scale. To overcome this, we present the world atlas of artificial sky luminance, computed with our light pollution propagation software using new high-resolution satellite data and new precision sky brightness measurements. This atlas shows that more than 80% of the world and more than 99% of the U.S. and European populations live under light-polluted skies. The Milky Way is hidden from more than one-third of humanity, including 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of North Americans. Moreover, 23% of the world’s land surfaces between 75°N and 60°S, 88% of Europe, and almost half of the United States experience light-polluted nights.

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GLOBE at Night in China

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921314013167 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 10 (H16) ◽

pp. 733-733

Author(s):

Hongfeng Guo

Keyword(s):

Citizen Science ◽

Light Pollution ◽

International Activity ◽

Night Sky ◽

Save Energy

AbstractThe GLOBE at Night citizen-science campaign was introduced in China in 2010. Observations and works made by students are presented. The students were guided to participate in this meaningful international activity by 1) taking light pollution observations of the night sky at different locations, 2) becoming aware of the severity of the effects of light pollution, and 3) making the whole society aware of the importance to save energy by reducing light pollution.

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Light pollution in Beijing and effects on Xinglong Station of National Astronomical Observatory

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921314013313 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 10 (H16) ◽

pp. 749-749

Author(s):

Ligen Lu ◽

Baozhou Zhang ◽

Jian Liu ◽

Shanshan Zeng

Keyword(s):

Astronomical Observatory ◽

Light Pollution ◽

City Center ◽

Measurement Results ◽

Night Sky ◽

The City ◽

Negligible Influence ◽

County Town

AbstractA night-sky luminance survey was carried on in Beijing to assess the level of light pollution. The luminance of the zenith night sky and skies in four directions at six sites with different distances from the city center was measured by using a photometric luminance meter. The Xinglong Station of National Astronomical Observatory was included to study the impacts of city lights on an astronomical observatory. The survey shows that the night-sky luminance decreases with increasing distance from the city center. Measurement results indicate that outdoor lighting in the Xinglong county town which is close to the observatory has non-negligible influence on the night sky at Xinglong Station.

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Mapping Light Pollution, a CubeSat

10.35543/osf.io/zem47 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Anil Kumar Bheemaiah

Keyword(s):

Imaging System ◽

Point Sources ◽

Pollution Monitoring ◽

Light Pollution ◽

Light Sources ◽

Dual Use ◽

Far Right ◽

Delta Sleep ◽

The Creation ◽

Night Sky

Abstract:A key addition to the series of papers on non - lethal and reversible weapons, as a trail to peace, creating confidence through technocracy, this paper is on the design of linear light pollution monitoring satellites for combating the ugly menace of night sky pollution and towards PID roles in the creation of DSS support based on SaaS services for precision use of EMI based sleep inducing payloads in very light drones, potentially replacing inaccurate drone bombing.Keywords: PID systems, GIS, Cognitive Geography, Panoptic segmentation, Mapillary, DSS systems, SaaS, EMI Delta Sleep,LiFi, Integration filters(™).What: A dual use technology based on SaaS computing to map point sources of light pollution on the surface of the Earth with filters to distinguish stationary and moving sources. Dual use of this technology in remedying light pollution of the night sky for minimal circadian rhythm disruption and allied health disorders, and in the creation of filters for PID systems , useful in use cases, of anti insurgency strategy, with sleep weapon EMI integration as drone payloads.(Bheemaiah, n.d.)How:Light pollution is mapped using a cubesat imaging system originally developed for LiFi last mile connectivity from street lamps for 6G networking, but instead adopted on the trail-map to peace as a Peace Weapon(™) in anti insurgency strategy.Why:PID systems using moving light sources are critical in detecting insurgency across the pakistan India border, the LOC can be monitored using the above cubesat for confidence building measures as a PID system, to deter infiltration by subversives, preventing expensive disruption by infiltration of sabotage minded subversives.(“[No Title]” n.d.), Similar conflicts calling for peaceful resolution by reversible lethality is called for in technocracy, an apolitical far right strategy towards lasting peace, as endowed by K.O.D(™) or the King Of Doves(™), a symbol of peace.

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