Final Report: Evaluation of Night Sky Model and Human Perception of Night Sky Glow
Carr EL, Stocking TS, Yocke MA, Yonkow N. 1989. Final Report: Evaluation of Night Sky Model and Human Perception of Night Sky Glow. SYSAPP-89/106; PX -0001-8-0667; CX-0001-4-0055. Systems Application, Inc.. San Rafael, CA
The National Park Service, Air Quality Division, contracted with Systems Applications, Inc. to develop and evaluate a mathematical model for assessing night sky glow caused by man's activities near national parks. The model has been applied to both Canyonlands and Bryce Canyon national parks to assess the effects of nighttime lighting of the night sky. An extensive evaluation of the model's ability to predict the observed brightness was performed using data collected during a field experiment conducted at Bryce Canyon in June 1988. After some minor model modifications, results show good agreement between observations and predictions from the night glow model. A second experiment was conducted in October 1988 to quantify human perceptibly of night sky glow caused by nighttime lighting. The experiment answered and quantified two important parameters: (1) the brightness value at which the glow dome is barely perceptible (i.e ., at what level might the edge of a glow dome be first detected by an observer), 4.0 :< 10-4 lm/m2/sr, and (2) the perceived edge of the glow dome (i.e., at what value: will most people agree that a perceptible edge of a glow dome can be seen), 6.0 x l0-4 lm/m /sr.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Carr, Edward; Stocking, Thomas; Yocke, Mark; Yonkow, Niki
- Date of Issue
- 1989-08
- Publisher
- Systems Application, Inc.
- Units
- BRCA , ORPI
- Keywords
- Air Quality, Astronomy, Light Pollution, Physical Sciences, telescope, Visibility