Abstract
Light pollution is a type of pollution that climaxes in cities and occurs increasingly away from them, due to the increase of artificial lighting and inappropriate lighting design (selection of luminaires, aiming, illuminance/luminance levels, and spectral characteristics). Increasingly, light pollution also affects the countryside due to local lighting but also distant lighting propagating from urban areas. This has a significant impact on ecosystems and astronomical observing sites. This work analyzes the main facts about light pollution (causes, impact, and solutions) and studies the methods, parameters, and special requirements for planning of light pollution protected areas. This dark sky park planning methodology is implemented as a case study in mount Parnon which has been selected due to its significance as a Natura 2000 protected area and because it is Greece’s most popular astronomical observing site. Mount Parnon is located close to two major cities as well as significant highways, however the site itself remains dark due to its sparse population. Planning a dark sky park involves a complete study of facts regarding the specific site. Existing lighting installations are surveyed in detail by recording types of luminaires and lamps and recording their positions in a map. Lighting illuminance levels are measured by photometers and spectra are analyzed using a spectrometer. Sky brightness levels measurements are performed using specialized photometers and light pollution origins are traced using wide-field photography. Finally, a proposal is made for a dark sky park scheme suited to the specific case of the site.
Highlights
Light pollution poses a significant threat to our health, the dark skies, and the natural environment
It is imperative to push for measures against light pollution because research regarding its impact on human health has helped make headlines worldwide
The imminent switch to light-emitting diode (LED) lighting for most of the exterior lighting globally needs to take place in a way that reduces light pollution using full-cutoff luminaires of proper luminous intensity and warm, if not amber, color temperature [24]
Summary
In recent years there has been a strong effort for making lighting design [1,2,3,4] and corresponding lighting systems [5,6,7,8] sustainable and environmentally friendly [9] either by selecting efficient luminaires [10,11], lighting controls [12,13,14,15], or embodying more efficient lighting design [16,17,18] or daylight [19,20,21,22,23]. Light pollution can be defined as the presence of excess, poorly directed, and unnecessary artificial lighting at night which in the natural environment crosses the boundary of fulfilling basic lighting needs and may become obtrusive or harmful. In its most visible form, light pollution appears as skyglow which is defined as the artificial diffuse luminance of the night sky [27]. Light pollution appeared as a consequence of urbanization and industrialization that took place in the 20th century [29]. Light pollution owes its significant expansion to lighting malpractices including luminaire shielding, aiming, and maintenance. Light pollution would not have appeared in the levels we have today if simple technical requirements were enforced early in the quick expansion of artificial lighting
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