Resources of dark skies in German climatic health resorts

Abstract

Illumination of nocturnal environments is increasing steadily worldwide. While there are some benefits for mankind, light at night affects animals, plants, and human health by blurring the natural distinction between day and night. International regulations exist to protect the environment for the maintenance of human health but nocturnal darkness is not considered. In Germany, cities and communities labeled as Climatic Health Resorts provide for high standards in air quality. However, their degree of nocturnal darkness is unexplored so far. In our study, we examined the degree of nocturnal darkness in German Climatic Health Resorts by two datasets based on georeferenced remote sensing data. The majority of Climatic Health Resorts (93.1%) are able to offer a relative respite (≥ 20 mag/arcsec2) from a degraded nocturnal environment, while only 3.4% are able to offer a dark, if by no means pristine, night environment (≥ 21 mag/arcsec2). Climatic Health Resorts emit less light as well as are less affected by night sky brightness compared to the average of non-classified communities. In combination with daytime requirements, the resorts provide conditions for a more distinct day-and-night-cycle than non-classified communities.