Light pollution and Measurement and global effects
Light pollution and Measurement and global effects
Skyglow refers to the "glow" effect that can be seen over populated areas. It is the combination of all light reflected from what it has illuminated escaping up into the sky and from all of the badly directed light in that area that also escapes into the sky, being scattered (redirected) by the atmosphere back toward the ground. This scattering is very strongly related to the wavelength of the light when the air is very clear (with very little aerosols). Rayleigh scattering dominates in such clear air, making the sky appear blue in the daytime. When there is significant aerosol (typical of most modern polluted conditions), the scattered light has less dependence on wavelength, making a whiter daytime sky. Because of this Rayleigh effect, and because of the eye's increased sensitivity to white or blue-rich light sources when adapted to very low light levels (see Purkinje effect), white or blue-rich light contributes significantly more to sky-glow than an equal amount of yellow light. Sky glow is of particular irritation to astronomers, because it reduces contrast in the night sky to the extent where it may even become impossible to see any but the brightest stars. where to buy cheap LED Strip? Lightereryday is a good choice.
The Bortle Dark-Sky Scale, originally published in Sky & Telescope magazine, is sometimes used (by groups like the U.S. National Park Service) to quantify skyglow and general sky clarity. The nine-class scale rates the darkness of the night sky and the visibility of its phenomena, such as the gegenschein and the zodiacal light (easily masked by skyglow), providing a detailed description of each level on the scale (with Class 1 being the best).
Light is particularly problematic for amateur astronomers, whose ability to observe the night sky from their property is likely to be inhibited by any stray light from nearby. Most major optical astronomical observatories are surrounded by zones of strictly enforced restrictions on light emissions.
"Direct" skyglow is reduced by selecting lighting fixtures which limit the amount of light emitted more than 90 degrees above the nadir. The IESNA definitions include full cutoff (0%), cutoff (2.5%), and semi-cutoff (5%). "Indirect" skyglow produced by reflections from vertical and horizontal surfaces is harder to manage; the only effective method for preventing it is by minimizing over-illumination. But it has to be taken into account that according to late 2010 publications reported by Monthly Notices of Royal Astronomical Society ("Campaign of sky brightness and extinction measurements by using a portable CCD Camera", F. Falchi) Italian regions using full cut off lighting only does not increse skyglow. Anyway light reflected upwards by dark surfaces such as roads or building can be considered as minor, so debate about contribution of "indirect" skyglow will last long.
Measuring the effect of sky glow on a global scale is a complex procedure. The natural atmosphere is not completely dark, even in the absence of terrestrial sources of light and illumination from the Moon. This is caused by two main sources: airglow and scattered light. recommend directory: LED Power Supply 110-220V AC to 12V DC.
At high altitudes, primarily above the mesosphere, there is enough UV radiation from the sun of very short wavelength that ionization occurs. When these ions collide with electrically neutral particles they recombine and emit photons in the process, causing airglow. The degree of ionization is sufficiently large to allow a constant emission of radiation even during the night when the upper atmosphere is in the Earth's shadow. Lower in the atmosphere all of the solar photons with energies above the ionization potential of N2 and O2 have already been absorbed by the higher layers and thus no appreciable ionization occurs.
Apart from emitting light, the sky also scatters incoming light, primarily from distant stars and the Milky Way, but also the zodiacal light, sunlight that is reflected and backscattered from interplanetary dust particles.
The amount of airglow and zodiacal light is quite variable (depending, amongst other things on sunspot activity and the Solar cycle) but given optimal conditions the darkest possible sky has a brightness of about 22 magnitude/square arcsecond. If a full moon is present, the sky brightness increases to 18 magnitude/sq. arcsecond, 40 times brighter than the darkest sky. In densely populated areas a sky brightness of 17 magnitude/sq. arcsecond is not uncommon, or as much as 100 times brighter than is natural.
To precisely measure how bright the sky gets, night time satellite imagery of the earth is used as raw input for the number and intensity of light sources. These are put into a physical model of scattering due to air molecules and aerosoles to calculate cumulative sky brightness. Maps that show the enhanced sky brightness have been prepared for the entire world.
Inspection of the area surrounding Madrid reveals that the effects of light pollution caused by a single large conglomeration can be felt up to 100 km (62 mi) away from the center. Global effects of light pollution are also made obvious. The entire area consisting of southern England, Netherlands, Belgium, west Germany, and northern France have a sky brightness of at least 2 to 4 times above normal (see above right). The only places in continental Europe where the sky can attain its natural darkness is in northern Scandinavia and in islands far from the continent.
In North America the situation is comparable. From the east coast to west Texas up to the Canadian border there is very significant global light pollution. recommend directory: Heavy Duty Industrial Series Power Supply 110-220V AC to 12V DC.
Know More About How Mexico Fits Into The International Economy Tips On How To Arrive Up With An Helpful Advertising Blueprint For bHIP Global Before purchasing a tablet pc, there are something you need to know Social Media Marketing Puts Up A Global Face To A Brand Emerging Trends in Global Human Resource Management Use Environment Friendly Products to Mitigate the Impact of Global Warming Purchasing Beads From Bead Stores Visionshopsters added new report on Global Silicon Photonics Market Global Anesthesia and Respiratory Devices Market (2010 - 2015) How Businesses Can Help Global Poverty and Still Make a Profit Global SaaS-based BI Market 2009 2013 Global SaaS-based Data Warehousing Market 2009 2013 Global SaaS-based E-Commerce 2009 2013