On the feasibility of using ceilometer backscatter profile as input data for skyglow simulation

Abstract

Atmospheric conditions can significantly affect the sky brightness originating from artificial lights. Previous works studied the cloudiness, cloud base height, optical depth of cloud, aerosol optical depth and aerosol scale height as atmospheric parameters affecting night sky brightness. Instead of using these parameters as a simplification of the real cloud and aerosol profile, we processed the raw backscatter data of a laser ceilometer instrument. Sky brightness was obtained from camera images available at the same meteorological observation site. Case studies are shown in selected cases, where we analyzed the correspondences with the backscatter data and the camera images. We performed Monte Carlo simulations with the dominant light sources to verify the numerical predictions of sky radiances. Although the limitations of the ceilometer device to obtain optical properties of the atmosphere, ceilometers provide valuable source of data for evaluation of the light pollution measurements.