Modeling light pollution from population data and implications for National Park Service lands
Albers S and Duriscoe D. 2001. Modeling light pollution from population data and implications for National Park Service lands. Protecting Dark Skies. 18(4):56-68
"From introduction," there are many factors that affect nighttime sky brightness, both natural and human-made. It is useful to think of what the main light sources are and how this light is scattered. The natural sources come from stars, the Milky Way, airglow, and moonlight. Human-made sources include streetlights and other outdoor lights, concentrated largely in towns and cities. Light is scattered by air molecules, natural and anthropogenic particulates, and haze (an enlargement of these particulates related to atmospheric moisture). The result of all these factors is what we see at night in terms of the sky brightness. To help clarify the further discussion, some simplifications will be helpful. We will assume no moonlight and relatively low levels of particulates and haze—in other words, that we are looking at the night sky under conditions that are among the best for a given location. We also neglect things such as surface albedo, which affects how much light is directed upward from city lights. The main remaining factor is city lights, whose effect is approximately related to population, and natural airglow (a continuous aurora-like glow) that actually varies during the course of the sunspot cycle. The darkest sites on earth have a brighter glow than those in outer space for two main reasons: the scattering of starlight by the atmosphere, and airglow.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Albers, Steve; Duriscoe, Dan
- Units
- ACAD , APIS , ARCH , ASIS , BADL , BAND , BIBE , BICY , BISC , BITH , BLRI , BOHA , BRCA , BUFF , CABR , CACH , CACO , CAHA , CANY , CARE , CAVE , CHAT , CHCH , CHCU , CHIC , CHIR , CHIS , COLM , CORO , CRLA , CRMO , CUVA , DETO , DEVA , DEWA , DINO , DRTO , EVER , FOSU , GATE , GETT , GICL , GLAC , GLCA , GOGA , GRBA , GRCA , GRSA , GRSM , GRTE , GUIS , GUMO , HAFE , HOSP , HOVE , INDE , INDU , ISRO , JELA , JOTR , KICA , LABE , LAKE , LAVO , LIRI , LOSA , MACA , MEVE , MORA , MORU , MUWO , NABR , NACE , NATR , NAVA , NEPE , NERI , NIMI , NOCA , OLYM , ORPI , OZAR , PEFO , PETR , PINN , PIPE , PORE , RABR , REDW , ROMO , SAGU , SAMO , SCBL , SEQU , SHEN , SUCR , TAPR , THRO , TICA , UPDE , VAFO , VOYA , WHSA , WICA , WUPA , YELL , YOSE , ZION
- Keywords
- human impact, light, nighttime