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Clayson, H. (2019). Illuminated Paris, Essays on Art and Lighting in the Belle Époque. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Abstract: The City of Light. For many, these four words instantly conjure late nineteenth-century Paris and the garish colors of Toulouse-Lautrec’s iconic posters. More recently, the Eiffel Tower’s nightly show of sparkling electric lights has come to exemplify our fantasies of Parisian nightlife. Though we reflect longingly on such scenes, in Illuminated Paris, Hollis Clayson shows that there’s more to these clichés than meets the eye. In this richly illustrated book, she traces the dramatic evolution of lighting in Paris and how artists responded to the shifting visual and cultural scenes that resulted from these technologies. While older gas lighting produced a haze of orange, new electric lighting was hardly an improvement: the glare of experimental arc lights—themselves dangerous—left figures looking pale and ghoulish. As Clayson shows, artists’ representations of these new colors and shapes reveal turn-of-the-century concerns about modernization as electric lighting came to represent the harsh glare of rapidly accelerating social change. At the same time, in part thanks to American artists visiting the city, these works of art also produced our enduring romantic view of Parisian glamour and its Belle Époque.
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Kocifaj, M., Wallner, S., & Solano-Lamphar, H. A. (2019). An asymptotic formula for skyglow modelling over a large territory. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 485(2), 2214–2224.
Abstract: An analytical framework to predict skyglow due to distant sources is presented, which can be applied to model sky brightness from the zenith toward the horizon along a vertical plane crossing the hemisphere in the azimuthal position of a light source. Although various powerful algorithms have been developed over the last few decades, the time needed for calculation grows exponentially with increasing size of the modelling domain. This is one of the key issues in skyglow computations, because the numerical accuracy improves only slowly as the modelling domain extends. We treat the problem theoretically, by introducing an analytical formula that is well-suited for light sources located at intermediate and long distances from an observation point and allows tremendous time savings in numerical analyses, while keeping the error at a low level. Field experiments carried out in Eastern Austria provided a unique opportunity to validate the model using real-sky luminance data. The fact that the theoretical model allows the prediction of sky luminance within an acceptable error tolerance is not only in line with the experimental data, but also provides new means of remote characterization of light emissions from artificial sources. The method is particularly attractive for rapid and simple retrieval of the amount of light escaping upwards from the dominant light sources surrounding the observation point. We expect that the method can advance the numerical modelling of skyglow substantially, because it allows real-time computations for very large territories.
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Palmer, M., Gibbons, R., Bhagavathula, R., & Holshouser, D. (2018). Roadway Lighting’s Impact on Altering Soybean Growth – Volume 2: LED versus HPS Color Spectral Impact. Technical Report, FHWA-ICT-18-009.
Abstract: The impact of roadway lighting on soybean plant growth and development, was measured in situ at three locations in the state of Illinois. These locations were situated in close proximity of each other for the purpose of evaluating whether there was a difference in the soy response to HPS roadway lighting, versus soy lit by a specific model of 4,000K LED roadway lighting. The plant data collection included the reproductive-stage, the plant moisture content, and the dried seed weight after harvest. The impact of the type of roadway lighting on the reproduction stage and normalized yield was within the modeling confidence limits at a level of 90%. Modifications are recommended to the specification for roadway lighting trespass. This will minimize the impact on soybean plants based on the two roadway luminaire designs included in this study.
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Zielinska-Dabkowska, K. M., & Xavia, K. (2018). An overview of the cognitive and biological effects of city nighttime illumination including a London case study. The Centre for Conscious Design, .
Abstract: Current scientific research demonstrates how critical the effects of city nighttime illumination are upon cognitive and biological health1 – which needs to be adequately acknowledged, understood and addressed by conscious cities and the plans they develop. Until recent decades, the design of nighttime lighting was determined mostly by electrical engineers who often applied technical standards to meet the requirements of vehicle-focused cities. Unfortunately, consideration of pedestrians and their visual needs to navigate throughout urbanscapes at night were ignored, and so too, was the impact that artificial lighting might have on them, and the environment. Today, the majority of urban city lighting has been installed without full awareness of its impact, and as a result, artificial light at night (ALAN) and light pollution have become an obvious public nuisance, a health risk and an environmental burden2,3. While poor lighting has its drawbacks, a lack of lighting can have many positive aspects, and urban settings can benefit from protecting, preserving and promoting natural darkness. We present two recent planning and design initiatives of London, in the UK, where the quality of light and value of darkness were not given the degree of attention and consideration they deserve. This paper has particular relevance for urban policy makers, city planners, architects, designers, consultants and researchers as it explores the various problems caused by the obvious lack of responsible nighttime illumination.
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Manning, R., Newman, P., Barber, J., Monz, C., Hallo, J., & Lawson, S. (2018). Principles for Studying and Managing Natural Quiet and Natural Darkness in National Parks and Other Protected Areas. The George Wright Forum, 35(3), 350–362.
Abstract: A substantial body of research on natural quiet and natural darkness in national
parks, and protected areas more broadly, has been reported in the scientific and professional literature in recent years. However, this literature is widely scattered over many academic and professional journals that cover both the natural and social sciences. To help integrate and synthesize this body of work, we surveyed this diverse literature and collected representative examples in a book (Manning et al. 2018). We conclude our book with a series of principles
that we have distilled to help guide park managers to protect natural quiet and natural darkness. This paper presents those principles.
Much of our book focuses on national parks in the United States, and in the remainder of this paper the phrase “the national parks” refers to them. But we feel that the principles we have derived from our review of the scientific and professional literature on natural quiet and natural darkness apply equally well to a variety of parks and protected areas in the United States and elsewhere.
Natural quiet is generally defined as the sounds of nature uninterrupted by human-caused noise, and natural darkness is darkness unaffected by human-caused light. It is important to note that natural quiet and natural darkness do not necessarily mean absolute quiet or darkness, as the natural world often generates sounds of its own (e.g., birds calling, wind blowing,
rivers rushing) and has sources of illumination (e.g., the glow of celestial bodies and the fluorescence of some plants and animals).
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