scholarly journals The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (6) ◽  
pp. e1600377 ◽  
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.

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

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-100 ◽  
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.

scholarly journals Light pollution around Tonantzintla Observatory

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.

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

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.

scholarly journals Measurements of Night Sky Brightness in the Veneto Region of Italy: Sky Quality Meter Network Results and Differential Photometry by Digital Single Lens Reflex

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Bertolo ◽  
Renata Binotto ◽  
Sergio Ortolani ◽  
Simone Sapienza
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection Agency ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Veneto Region ◽  
First Results ◽  
Differential Photometry ◽  
Sky Brightness ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
The University ◽  
Night Sky Brightness

In this paper, we present the implementation of a monitoring network for artificial light at night (ALAN), based on Sky Quality Meter devices (SQM) installed in seven locations of the Veneto region. The system is coordinated by the Regional Environmental Protection Agency (ARPA-Veneto) and the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Padova, in collaboration with a local dark-sky association, Venetostellato. A new centralized database containing zenith night sky brightness (NSB) data was implemented to collect data from all SQM stations of the regional territory, not only in real time (since 2017), but in some stations since 2011. We now have a dataset to determine how light pollution is affecting astronomical observatories. A WEB portal was created to offer different downloads from these NSB data. We present the results of some elaborations for the 2018 dataset (statistics, histograms, annual and cumulative plots) for seven monitoring sites. For Ekar and Pennar sites, we also present the NSB monthly trend from 2014 until the time of the study. We purchased a reflex camera with a fish eye lens, appropriately calibrated with the software (SW) Sky Quality Camera, which allowed us to study ALAN using differential photometry. Here, we present our first results obtained by studying the night evolution of light pollution in the urban location of Padova.

scholarly journals Economics of Light Pollution

1991 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 89-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim B. Hunter ◽  
David L. Crawford
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
The United States ◽  
Electricity Production ◽  
Environmental Harm ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Economic Costs ◽  
Light Levels ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
The Individual

ABSTRACTLittle attention has been directed toward the environmental and economic costs of light pollution. We estimate that 2.5 percent of the total United States electricity production is expended on nighttime outdoor lighting. About 30 percent of all outdoor nighttime lighting ends up in the night sky. This is equivalent to 17.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, more than the individual electrical production of many countries, including Chile, Cuba, Hungary, Ireland, Indonesia, Israel, Libya, Peru, Syria, or Vietnam. About one half of light pollution arises from direct upward lighting and one half from reflections off the ground and buildings. Light pollution directly costs the country at least a billion dollars a year in unnecessary electricity charges, in addition to the associated environmental harm from the mining and burning of fossil fuels to generate this wasted electricity. The equivalent of 8.2 million tons of coal (or 30 million barrels of oil) are burned annually in the United States simply to light up the night sky. The proper use of full cut-off shielding, timers, and appropriate light levels, if widely instituted, could reduce the overall urban sky glow by at least a factor of four in the next few decades.

scholarly journals Circalunar variations of the night sky brightness – an FFT perspective on the impact of light pollution

2019 ◽  
Vol 492 (2) ◽  
pp. 2622-2637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Puschnig ◽  
Stefan Wallner ◽  
Thomas Posch
Keyword(s):  
National Parks ◽  
Fourier Transforms ◽  
Small Towns ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Sky Brightness ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
Pollution Impacts ◽  
Seasonal Signal ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Night Sky Brightness

ABSTRACT Circa-monthly activity conducted by moonlight is observed in many species on Earth. Given the vast amount of artificial light at night (ALAN) that pollutes large areas around the globe, the synchronization to the circalunar cycle is often strongly perturbed. Using 2-yr data from a network of 23 photometers (Sky Quality Meters; SQM) in Austria (latitude ∼48°), we quantify how light pollution impacts the recognition of the circalunar periodicity. We do so via frequency analysis of nightly mean sky brightnesses using Fast Fourier Transforms. A very tight linear relation between the mean zenithal night sky brightness (NSB) given in $\mathrm {mag_{SQM}\, arcsec^{-2}}$ and the amplitude of the circalunar signal is found, indicating that for sites with a mean zenithal NSB brighter than 16.5 $\mathrm {mag_{SQM}\, arcsec^{-2}}$ the lunar rhythm practically vanishes. This finding implies that the circalunar rhythm is still detectable (within the broad bandpass of the SQM) at most places around the globe, but its amplitude against the light polluted sky is strongly reduced. We find that the circalunar contrast in zenith is reduced compared to ALAN-free sites by factors of $\frac{1}{9}$ in the state capital of Linz (∼200 000 inhabitants) and $\frac{1}{3}$ in small towns, e.g. Freistadt and Mattighofen, with less than 10 000 inhabitants. Only two of our sites, both situated in national parks (Bodinggraben and Zöblboden), show natural circalunar amplitudes. At our urban sites, we further detect a strong seasonal signal that is linked to the amplification of anthropogenic skyglow during the winter months due to climatological conditions.

GEOPHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN 1954

Geophysics ◽  
1955 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 654-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sigmund Hammer
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Middle East ◽  
World Wide ◽  
Far East ◽  
Geophysical Methods ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
The Far East ◽  
Almost Everywhere ◽  
The World

Geophysical activity in explorations for petroleum on a global scale in 1954 was 6.3% lower than the record high of 1953. Notable increases in geophysical effort in Europe, the Middle East, and the Far East were not sufficient to overcome the very substantial decreases in the United States and Canada. The reduction occurred mainly in seismic operations, which decreased globally by 8.4%. Gravity activity was on the increase almost everywhere with the world‐wide rise of 7.1%. Magnetic and miscellaneous other geophysical methods also showed moderate increases in the neighborhood of one percent.

scholarly journals Sky Brightness at the Kitt Peak National Observatory

1991 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 19-19
Author(s):  
C.A. Pilachowski ◽  
J.L. Africano ◽  
B.D. Goodrich ◽  
W.S. Binkert
Keyword(s):  
Solar Cycle ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Rapid Growth ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
National Observatory ◽  
Yellow Band ◽  
Control Programs ◽  
Sky Brightness ◽  
Night Sky

ABSTRACTWe report on the results of a program to measure the brightness of the night sky at the Kitt Peak National Observatory during the recent minimum in the solar cycle, a time noted for the darkest nighttime skies. We have measured sky brightness using a 0.9-meter telescope with a photoelectric photometer on seven nights in 1986 and the first half of 1987. During this period, the average sky brightness in the V (yellow) band is 21.92 magnitudes per square arc-sec. This corresponds to an increase of only 6.5 percent over the natural sky illumination, as compared to an increase of over 10 percent predicted by R. Garstang from the presence of cities and towns in southern Arizona. The continued dark skies over Kitt Peak, despite the rapid growth of Tucson’s population, can only be attributed to the effectiveness of light pollution control programs in place since 1972.

scholarly journals The Night Sky Monitoring Network in Hong Kong

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (H16) ◽  
pp. 740-740
Author(s):  
Chun S. J. Pun ◽  
Chu W. So ◽  
Chung F. T. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Land Usage ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Hong Kong Sar ◽  
Sky Brightness ◽  
Night Sky ◽  
Night Sky Brightness

AbstractThe Night Sky Monitoring Network is a project that aims to study the extent, distribution, and properties of the light pollution condition in the populous metropolis of Hong Kong. Continuous measurements of the Night Sky Brightness (NSB) at strategically chosen locations that cover a wide range of population density and land usage were made, with over 2.5 million NSB readings collected in 18 months up to June 2012. Results from the project are presented, with focus on the contrast between the urban and rural night sky profiles, and light pollution contributions from artificial lightings. This project is supported by the Environment and Conservation Fund of the Hong Kong SAR government (ECF 10/2009, ECF 1/2007).

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