Netzel, H., & Netzel, P. (2016). High resolution map of light pollution over Poland. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 181(in press), 67–73.
Abstract: In 1976 Berry introduced a simple mathematical equation to calculate artificial night sky brightness at zenith. In the original model cities, considered as points with given population, are only sources of light emission. In contrary to Berry׳s model, we assumed that all terrain surface can be a source of light. Emission of light depends on percent of built up area in a given cell. We based on Berry׳s model. Using field measurements and high-resolution data we obtained the map of night sky brightness over Poland in 100-m resolution. High resolution input data, combined with a very simple model, makes it possible to obtain detailed structures of the night sky brightness without complicating the calculations.
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Petržala, J. (2018). Feasibility of inverse problem solution for determination of city emission function from night sky radiance measurements. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 213, 86–94.
Abstract: The knowledge of the emission function of a city is crucial for simulation of sky glow in its vicinity. The indirect methods to achieve this function from radiances measured over a part of the sky have been recently developed. In principle, such methods represent an ill-posed inverse problem. This paper deals with the theoretical feasibility study of various approaches to solving of given inverse problem. Particularly, it means testing of fitness of various stabilizing functionals within the Tikhonov’s regularization. Further, the L-curve and generalized cross validation methods were investigated as indicators of an optimal regularization parameter. At first, we created the theoretical model for calculation of a sky spectral radiance in the form of a functional of an emission spectral radiance. Consequently, all the mentioned approaches were examined in numerical experiments with synthetical data generated for the fictitious city and loaded by random errors. The results demonstrate that the second order Tikhonov’s regularization method together with regularization parameter choice by the L-curve maximum curvature criterion provide solutions which are in good agreement with the supposed model emission functions.
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Petržala, J., & Kocifaj, M. (2017). Research on spectral factors towards determining nocturnal ground irradiance under overcast sky conditions in densely populated regions. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 189, 126–132.
Abstract: Light pollution is closely correlated with the meteorological factors, specifically cloudiness that is one of the major amplifiers of night sky radiances in urban regions. Although the decisive effects of cloud deck on artificial nighttime skyglow have been recognized experimentally, the radiative transfer modelling in a heterogeneous nocturnal environment illuminated from many light sources is a non-trivial problem that is difficult to solve both theoretically and numerically. A satisfactorily accurate evaluation of ground-reaching diffuse light is, however, an important issue as some optical properties (e.g. horizontal irradiance) are usually difficult to obtain with common instruments. Overcast sky represents a special class of situations in which clouds can act as amplifiers of the light pollution of the city.
In this paper we proceeded with a simple two-stream approach to solve the scalar radiative transfer equation (RTE) under overcast conditions. The technique we are using allows for a rapid prediction of ground irradiances in densely populated regions assuming various emission functions. We have shown that the classical RTE concept can be adopted in determining the diffuse irradiance, while the model abilities are illustrated in a set of numerical experiments for low and high turbidity states.
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Posch, T., Binder, F., & Puschnig, J. (2018). Systematic measurements of the night sky brightness at 26 locations in Eastern Austria. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 211, 144–165.
Abstract: We present an analysis of the zenithal night sky brightness (henceforth: NSB) measurements at 26 locations in Eastern Austria focussing on the years 2015-2016, both during clear and cloudy to overcast nights. All measurements have been performed with ’Sky Quality Meters’ (SQMs). For some of the locations, simultaneous aerosol content measurements are available, such that we were able to find a correlation between light pollution and air pollution at those stations. For all locations, we examined the circalunar periodicity of the NSB, seasonal variations as well as long-term trends in the recorded light pollution. The latter task proved difficult, however, due to varying meteorological conditions, potential detector ’aging’ and other effects. For several remote locations, a darkening of the overcast night sky by up to 1 magnitude is recorded – indicating a very low level of light pollution –, while for the majority of the examined locations, a brightening of the night sky by up to a factor of 15 occurs due to clouds. We present suitable ways to plot and analyze huge long-term NSB datasets, such as mean-NSB histograms, circalunar, annual (’hourglass’) and cumulative (’jellyfish’) plots. We show that five of the examined locations reach sufficiently low levels of light pollution – with NSB values down to 21.8 magSQM/arcsec2 – as to allow the establishment of dark sky reserves, even to the point of reaching the ’gold tier’ defined by the International Dark Sky Association. Based on the ’hourglass’ plots, we find a strong circalunar periodicity of the NSB in small towns and villages ( < 5.000 inhabitants), with amplitudes of of up to 5 magnitudes. Using the ’jellyfish’ plots, on the other hand, we demonstrate that the examined city skies brighten by up to 3 magnitudes under cloudy conditions, which strongly dominate in those cumulative data representations. Nocturnal gradients of the NSB of 0.0–0.14 magSQM/arcsec2/hr are found. The long-term development of the night sky brightness was evaluated based on the 2012-17 data for one of our sites, possibly indicating a slight ( 2%) decrease of the mean zenithal NSB at the Vienna University Observatory.
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Pravettoni, M., Strepparava, D., Cereghetti, N., Klett, S., Andretta, M., & Steiger, M. (2016). Indoor calibration of Sky Quality Meters: linearity, spectral responsivity and uncertainty analysis. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 181(in press), 74–86.
Abstract: The indoor calibration of brightness sensors requires extremely low values of irradiance in the most accurate and reproducible way. In this work the testing equipment of an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory for electrical testing, qualification and type approval of solar photovoltaic modules was modified in order to test the linearity of the instruments from few mW/cm2 down to fractions of nW/cm2, corresponding to levels of simulated brightness from 6 to 19 mag/arcsec2. Sixteen Sky Quality Meter (SQM) produced by Unihedron, a Canadian manufacturer, were tested, also assessing the impact of the ageing of their protective glasses on the calibration coefficients and the drift of the instruments. The instruments are in operation on measurement points and observatories at different sites and altitudes in Southern Switzerland, within the framework of OASI, the Environmental Observatory of Southern Switzerland. The authors present the results of the calibration campaign: linearity; brightness calibration, with and without protective glasses; transmittance measurement of the glasses; and spectral responsivity of the devices. A detailed uncertainty analysis is also provided, according to the ISO 17025 standard.
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