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The Measure of Light Pollution and the Populations of Cities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Arthur R. Upgren*
Affiliation:
Van Vleck Observatory

Abstract

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A program to measure the night sky brightness has been in progress for some years in order to calibrate the extent of the night sky brightness surrounding the Van Vleck Observatory. Both the central intensity and the areal extent of the brightest sky caused by campus and city were repeatedly measured in order to gauge the extent of the problem. For this purpose, portable visual photometers were designed which have remained stable and usable for nearly a decade. They are now useful for the measurement of the effects of increases in urban growth and of the more flexible attitude of the campus administration toward excess campus lighting. The inability to define city populations which realistically model and predict the measured sky brightness is the largest source of uncertainty. The observatory is in the Northeastern Corridor where the observed brightness is the sum of the illumination from a number of overlapping city sources. Present light pollution studies have not correctly defined the model for the population of an urban area. The two paradigmatic definitions now available for use are shown to be flawed for light pollution comparisons. An algorithm, unlike any in present use, must be sought which distinguishes between individual core cities within metropolitan areas.

Type
Light Pollution
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1991

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