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Author |
Biggs, J.D.; Fouché, T.; Bilki, F.; Zadnik, M.G. |
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Title |
Measuring and mapping the night sky brightness of Perth, Western Australia: Night sky brightness of Perth |
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Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
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Volume |
421 |
Issue |
2 |
Pages |
1450-1464 |
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Keywords |
scattering; atmospheric effects; light pollution; techniques: photometric |
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Abstract |
In order to study the light pollution produced in the city of Perth, Western Australia, we have used a hand-held sky brightness meter to measure the night sky brightness across the city. The data acquired facilitated the creation of a contour map of night sky brightness across the 2400 km2 area of the city – the first such map to be produced for a city. Importantly, this map was created using a methodology borrowed from the field of geophysics – the well proven and rigorous techniques of geostatistical analysis and modelling.
A major finding of this study is the effect of land use on night sky brightness. By overlaying the night sky brightness map on to a suitably processed Landsat satellite image of Perth we found that locations near commercial and/or light industrial areas have a brighter night sky, whereas locations used for agriculture or having high vegetation coverage have a fainter night sky than surrounding areas. Urban areas have intermediate amounts of vegetation and are intermediate in brightness compared with the above-mentioned land uses. Regions with a higher density of major highways also appear to contribute to increased night sky brightness.
When corrected for the effects of direct illumination from high buildings, we found that the night sky brightness in the central business district (CBD) is very close to that expected for a city of Perth’s population from modelling work and observations obtained in earlier studies. Given that our night sky brightness measurements in Perth over 2009 and 2010 are commensurate with that measured in Canadian cities over 30 years earlier implies that the various lighting systems employed in Perth (and probably most other cities) have not been optimised to minimize light pollution over that time.
We also found that night sky brightness diminished with distance with an exponent of approximately −0.25 ± 0.02 from 3.5 to 10 km from the Perth CBD, a region characterized by urban and commercial land use. For distances from 10 out to about 40 km from the CBD the radial variation of night sky brightness steepens to have an exponent value of approximately −1.8 ± 0.2. This steepening is associated with land use because vegetation cover increases with further distance from the CBD. |
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Curtin Institute of Radio Astronomy, Department of Imaging and Applied Physics, Curtin University, Bentley 6102, WA, Australia |
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0035-8711 |
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257 |
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Kocifaj, M.; Aubé, M.; Kohút, I. |
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Title |
The effect of spatial and spectral heterogeneity of ground-based light sources on night-sky radiances: Light pollution for heterogeneous sources |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2010 |
Publication |
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society |
Abbreviated Journal |
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Volume |
409 |
Issue |
3 |
Pages |
1203-1212 |
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Keywords |
light pollution; scattering; atmospheric effects; methods: numerical |
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Nowadays, light pollution is a permanent problem at many observatories around the world. Elimination of excessive lighting during the night is not only about reduction of the total luminous power of ground-based light sources, but also involves experimenting with the spectral features of single lamps. Astronomical photometry is typically made at specific wavelengths, and thus the analysis of the spectral effects of light pollution is highly important. Nevertheless, studies on the spectral behaviour of night light are quite rare. Instead, broad-band or integral quantities (such as sky luminance) are preferentially measured and modelled. The knowledge of night-light spectra is necessary for the proper interpretation of narrow-band photometry data. In this paper, the night-sky radiances in the nominal spectral lines of the B (445 nm) and V (551 nm) filters are determined numerically under clear-sky conditions. Simultaneously, the corresponding sky-luminance patterns are computed and compared against the spectral radiances. It is shown that spectra, patterns and distances of the most important light sources (towns) surrounding an observatory are essential for determining the light pollution levels. In addition, the optical characteristics of the local atmosphere can change the angular behaviour of the sky radiance or luminance. All these effects are evaluated for two Slovakian observatories: Stará Lesná and Vartovka. |
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259 |
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Krisciunas, K.; Bogglio, H.; Sanhueza, P.; Smith, M.G. |
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Light Pollution At High Zenith Angles, As Measured at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory1 |
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Journal Article |
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2010 |
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Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |
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Publ Astron Soc Pac |
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122 |
Issue |
889 |
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373-377 |
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Astronomical Phenomena and Seeing; Cerro Tololo; Garstang model; skyglow; light pollution; measurements |
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On the basis of measurements of the V-band sky brightness obtained at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in 2006 December and 2008 December we confirm the functional form of the basic model of Garstang. At high zenith angles we measure an enhancement of a factor of 2 over Garstang’s later model when there is no marine cloud layer over La Serena/Coquimbo. No corresponding enhancement is found in the B band. |
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0004-6280 |
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261 |
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Luginbuhl, C.B.; Duriscoe, D.M.; Moore, C.W.; Richman, A.; Lockwood, G.W.; Davis, D.R. |
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From the Ground Up II: Sky Glow and Near-Ground Artificial Light Propagation in Flagstaff, Arizona |
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Journal Article |
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2009 |
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Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific |
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Publ Astron Soc Pac |
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121 |
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876 |
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204-212 |
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Astronomical Phenomena and Seeing; Flagstaff; Arizona; sky brightness; measurements; light pollution; skyglow |
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We present panoramic sky brightness measures in the Johnson V band made at the US Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station. We find that these measures show much less sky glow from Flagstaff than expected using the total light output and unshielded fraction determined recently by Luginbuhl et al. and Garstang’s 1991 modeling approach. We suggest the difference arises principally from the diminution of upward-directed light after emission from light fixtures and reflection from the ground due to interaction with structures and vegetation. This interaction not only reduces the effective albedo, it also disproportionately reduces flux emitted upward at angles near the horizontal. We explore the size and consequences of this factor in light pollution modeling, and propose a modified upward angular distribution function to account for this effect. |
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262 |
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Vázquez-Mata, J.A.; Hernández-Toledo, H.M.; MartÃnez-Vázquez, L.A.; Pani-Cielo, A. |
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Title |
Light pollution around Tonantzintla Observatory |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2009 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. IAU |
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5 |
Issue |
S260 |
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Keywords |
light pollution; observatories; sky brightness; Tonantzintla; Mexico; skyglow |
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Being 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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1743-9213 |
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IDA @ john @ |
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263 |
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