Night Sky Brightness Measurements:

Review and Prospects

Dr Chun Shing Jason PUN
The University of Hong Kong

1
2015-Light Pollution Theory, Modeling, and Measurements, Jovence, Quebec, CANADA
The globe at night

2
 Measurement of Light Pollution
• Light Pollution: environmental degradation due to
artificial lighting
• Effects of light pollution can be
– “Local” (light nuisance, light trespass), often
assessed from effects on ecological systems and on
humans’ health; Measured by luxmeters, etc
– “Extended” (sky glow), assessed from atmospheric
and astronomical effects.
• Night sky brightness measurements include BOTH
artificial sky-glow and natural components
(airglow, zodiacal/star/Galactic light, etc) 3
 Night Sky Brightness (NSB)
Measurements
• Astronomical photometry
• Wide-field photometry
• Remote sensing
• Citizen science
• Dedicated NSB devices
• Night sky spectroscopy
• Others
– Visual Photometer
– Comets, …

4
 Astronomical photometry
• Photometric measurements of the night sky using optical
telescope
• Equipment:
– CCD camera (or photomultiplier tubes, PMT)
– Telescope
– Filters
• Advantages:
– Photometric accuracy is very high (error ≤ ±0.02 mag arcsec-2)
– Multiple bands measurement
• Disadvantages:
– Highest cost (personnel, equipment)
– Low geographical (at the observatory) & temporal (relatively
few observations per nights) coverages

5
 Astronomical photometry: Patat (2008)
Patat, F. 2008, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 481, 575

• Very Large Telescope (VLT), La

Silla Paranal Observatory, Chile
• Sensor: FOcal Reducer/low
Dispersion Spectrograph (FORS1)
• Filters: photometric broadband
Johnson-Cousins UBVRI
• Period: year 2000-2006
• Data collection: about 10,000
images from more than 650
separated nights

6
Photo credit: ESO
 Methodology
More details at Patat, F. 2003a, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 400, 1183
Flowchart: Patat, F. 2003b, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 401, 797

observatory
imaging on object &
telescope + sensor standard star fields
calibrated
NSB data pre-processing
(bias, dark & flat-field)
color extract NSB
transformation (Patat 2003b)
standard zenith equations
NSB
color aperture
transformation photometry
coefficients 7
 Result highlights

• UBVRI NSB correlated

with solar activity.
• V, R, and I results show
a 6-month oscillation
pattern
Zenith-corrected dark time NSB
measured at Paranal 9
 Wide-field photometry
• Photometric measurements of the night sky using
wide-field light correctors
• Equipment: all-sky camera, wide-field lens (e.g., fish-
eye lens), etc
• Advantages:
– Relatively low cost (compare with traditional photometry)
– Can be portable, i.e., larger geographic coverage
– Collect information on directional distribution of light
pollution
• Disadvantages:
– Absolute calibration over the entire frame and over time
can be a challenge
10
 Wide-field photometry: Duriscoe et. al. (2007)
Duriscoe et al. 2007, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 119, 192

• Location: over 80 locations throughout the US

• Lens: Nikon 35 mm f/1.4, Nikon 50 mm f/1.8
• Mount: Celestron NexStar
• Sensors: Apogee AP260EP, Finger Lakes
Instruments MaxCam CM9, SBIG STL 1001E,
Finger Lakes Instruments IMG 1001E
• Filter: Custom Scientific Bessell V
• Period: 2001+
• Data collection: over 300 all-sky observations
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 Flowchart:
Methodology
data pre-processing
(bias, dark & flat-field)

sky imaging &

telescope setup standard star fields

aperture
photometry

mosaic all-sky data extract NSB

(sample points evenly every 2deg) 12
 Result highlights
• Light domes identified.
• Total light from the city
sky glow higher than
any permanent celestial
objects except the
Moon.
• City effects detected up
to 100 - 170 km from
the city center

13
 Natural sky brightness Model
Duriscoe, 2013, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 125, 1370
• Moonless natural sky V-band brightness model
• Considered: zodiacal light, airglow, integrated starlight,
diffuse galactic light
• Deduce the artificial component from all sky images

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Wide-field photometry: Rabaza (2014)
Rabaza, D. 2014, Lighting Research & Technology, 46, 5

• Location: Spain
• Lens: AF DX Fisheye-Nikon 10.5 mm f/2.8 G ED
(180 deg FOV)
• Sensor: SBIG STL-11000 M
• Filters: narrow-band interference filters centered
at 438.2, 527.8, 555.0, 568.4, 577.8, 598.3 and
618.0 nm
• Period: ?
• Data collection: ?
• Calibration: integrating sphere
 Methodology

setup

calibration (integrating sphere,

synthetic flat field)

data processing

data collection
 Result highlights
• Monochromatic
luminance and radiance
of the sky background 438.2 nm:
mercury emissions (circles)
measured
• Color information may
reveal the kind of lamps
that emitted the main
components of the
obtrusive light detected
527.8 nm
 Remote sensing
• Data: night-time remote-sensed data such as:
– Operational Linescan System, Defense Meteorological Satellite
System (OLD-DMSP)
– Day-Night Band, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite
(DNB-VIIRS, Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership)
– International Space Station (ISS)
– aerial photos
• Advantages:
– Large geographic coverage (up to global scale)
• Disadvantages:
– Low temporal coverage
– Low geographic resolution for sub-city analysis (DMSP)
– Single band of observation (except ISS)
– Absolute calibration over the large spatial coverage and over
time 18
Remote Sensing: Cinzano et. al. (2001)
Cinzano, P. et. al. 2001, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 328, 689

• Data: cloud-free composite of OLD-DMSP

• Scale: worldwide
• Sampled period: 28 nights during 1996-1997
• Band: converted to photometric astronomical V
band at zenith
• Calibration: radiance data based on a pre-flight
irradiance calibration of the OLS PMT
• Light propagation model:
– Rayleigh scattering by molecules, Mie scattering by
aerosols, atmospheric extinction along light paths and
Earth curvature
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 Result highlights
• The World Atlas of the Sea Level Artificial
Night Sky Brightness

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 Result highlights
• Light pollution is a global-scale problem affecting
nearly every country of the world
– the night sky appears more seriously endangered than
commonly believed
• Large numbers of people have lost their dark sky
– For more than 1/4 of the world population, the sky
brightness is even greater than that measured on
nights close to full moon in the best astronomical sites
• Sky quality near astronomical observatories
severely degraded in less than 20 years
21
 Remote Sensing: A. Sánchez de Miguel et. al. (2014)
A. Sánchez de Miguel et. al. 2014, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer , 139, 109

• Data: OLD-DMSP
• Scale: Spain
• Sampled period & calibrations: radiance
calibrated (1996–1997, 2006), non-calibrated
(1992-2010)
• Study theme: relationship between the
radiance received by the satellite and the
energy consumption (official data from the
government)
22
 Result highlights
• Strong correlation
between the radiance
and energy consumption
• Derived the electricity
consumption for street
lighting in Spain from
1992 to 2010
– doubled in the last 18
years in most provinces

23
Remote Sensing: Kuechly et. al. (2012)
Kuechly, A. U. et. al. 2012, Remote Sensing of Environment, 126, 39

• Data: mosaic image from

aerial(3000 m) photography
• Spatial resolution: 1 m
• Coverage: Berlin, Germany
• Sampled period: single flight
during 20:40 - 23:23 local time
(UT+2) 11 September 2010
• Sensor: Finger Lakes
Instruments camera (interline
transfer CCD)
• Lens: Sigma 24 mm F1.8 DG
• Filters: Luminance, Red, Green,
Blue
24
 Result highlights

DMSP 2006 data 25

 Result highlights

ISS Aerial mosaic

(45m resolution) (1m resolution) 26
 Remote Sensing: Kyba 2015
Kyba, C. et. al. 2015, Remote Sensing, 7, 1

• Data: OLD-DMSP, DNB-VIIRS, ISS, aerial

• Locations: 6 European cities, USA
Tegel airport in Berlin, Germany

OLD-DMSP DNB-VIIRS aerial

(~2.7km) (~750m) (~1m)

27
 Result highlights
• City light changes dynamically over the course
of the evening

ISS images of Madrid at different times of night 28

 Result highlights
• Difference patterns in light emission in
different cities

Upwelling radiance of six European cities in the

VIIRS two-month composite dataset

ISS images of six European cities

29
 Result highlights
• Different lighting sources

color difference of many of the smaller streets in the former East

(orange) and West (white) in Berlin from ISS image 30
 Citizen science
• Count the number of star visible by naked eyes
• Equipment: eyes
• Advantages:
– Required no special skills other than identification of
constellations
– Large geographical & temporal coverages with low cost
– Estimate light pollution condition near city centers
– Spread of messages of dark sky conservation
• Disadvantages:
– Photometric error would be very large (particularly
projects with visual observations)

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 Citizen science: Globe at Night
• Locations and data collection (2014 campaign):
20,746 observations from 103 countries / regions
• Period: since 2006

32
Methodology

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Result highlights

35
 Result highlights
Kyba, C. et. al. 2013, Scientific Reports, 3, 1835

• Naked eye limiting magnitude strongly

correlates with the observed values of emitted
light measured by the DMSP (worldwide) and
estimated from the World atlas of artificial
skyglow (European and North America)
• Standard deviation of an individual
observation at 1.2 mag arcsec-2

36
 Dedicated NSB measuring devices
• Semi-conductor light sensors
• Equipment: DigiLum luminance meter, Mark Light Meter,
Sky Quality Meter (SQM), etc
• Advantages:
– Balance between accuracy (±0.1 mag arcsec-2) and
cost (∼USD 300 per unit)
– Easy to use
– High data sampling frequency (several seconds)
• Disadvantages:
– Single band measurement
– Lacking directional NSB information

37
 Dedicated device: Puschnig et. al. (2014)
Puschnig, J. et. al. 2014, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer , 139, 64

• Location: Vienna (one urban, one rural)

• Sensor: Sky Quality Meter - Lens Ethernet
(SQM-LE)
• Period: Mar 2012–Mar 2013
• Data collection: every 7 seconds throughout
the evening, more than 2x106 individual data
points at urban Vienna

38
 Methodology

Figure source: Unihedron

• Sky Quality Meter – Lens Ethernet (SQM-LE)

• Gives NSB in the unit of mag arcsec-2
• Claimed accuracy of ±0.1 mag arcsec−2 by
manufacturer
39
 Methodology
FWHM ∼20o

peak ∼540nm

FWHM
∼240nm

Spectral response function of SQM- Angular response function of

LE (solid), quantum efficiency (dashed), and SQM-LE
filter transmittance (dotted) (Cinzano 2007)
(Cinzano 2005)

40
 Result highlights
• Detailed temporal
variations of NSB
– Curfews at 11pm and NSB density plot @ Vienna
mid-night,
thunderstorms,
firework
• Effects of NSB vs cloud
amount and moonlight
identified moonlight impacts on rural
NSB observations
41
 Dedicated device: Feng et. al. (2014)
Feng et. al. 2014, Geography Teaching, 4, 61 (in Chinese)

• Astronomy club of a
local high school
• Location: over 10
locations in Wuxi,
Jiangsu province, China
• Sensor: 9 SQM-L
• Data collection: NSB in
different locations,
change in NSB from
zenith distance, etc
42
 Result highlights
Strong positive
NSB (mag arcsec-2)

correlation between
NSB and distance from
city center

distance from city center (km)

Increase in
NSB with
NSB (mag arcsec-2)

decreasing
angle off
horizon
elevation angle (deg) 43
 Dedicated device: Pun et. al. (2014)
Pun C. S. J. et. al. 2014, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer, 139, 90

• The Hong Kong Night Sky Monitoring Network (NSN)

• Coverage: 18 locations in Hong Kong (10 urban, 6 rural,
2 not-classified)
• Sensor: SQM-LE
• Period: May 2010 – now
• Data collection: every 1 to 5 minutes throughout the
evening, 4.6 million data points reported
• Live data display: (1) project webpage
http://nightsky.physics.hku.hk/; 2 (weather agency)
http://www.hko.gov.hk/gts/astronomy/astro_portal.ht
ml
44
Methodology

Data transfer through 3G network, no fixed

internet connection required
45
 Methodology

46
Image courtesy of Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center, The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth
 Result highlights
- NSB depends on location

47
 Result highlights
- NSB depends on time
TST (urban)
WTS (urban)

TSW (urban)

GFS (not-classified, airport)

iObs (rural)

AP (rural)

48
 Result highlights
- moonlight impacts on rural NSB observations

49
 Night Sky Spectroscopy
• Equipment:
– Spectrograph
– Telescope (optional)
– CCD camera
• Advantages:
– Identify the sources of light pollution (type of lighting,
e.g., high pressure sodium lamps, mercury lamps, etc)
by studying features detected in the sky spectra
• Disadvantages:
– No single “standard” spectrum of lamp
– Absolute calibration a challenge (e.g., need
spectrophotometric standard stars)
50
 Night sky spectroscopy: Patat (2003)
Patat, F. 2003a, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 400, 1183

• Location: Very Large Telescope (VLT), La Silla

Paranal Observatory, Chile
• Telescope: 8.2m ESO Antu/ Melipal telescope
• Sensor: FOcal Reducer/low Dispersion
Spectrograph (FORS1)
• Slit and grism: 1” long slit and 150I grism
• Period: 25 Feb 2001 (moonless)
• Data cllection: high signal-to-noise, flux calibrated
night sky spectrum

51
 Result highlights
• Light-polluted lines
e.g., Hg I (3650,
3663, 4047, 4078,
4358 and 5461 Å)
and NaI (4978, 4983,
5149 and 5153 Å)
very weak in the
Paranal’s sky spectra

52
 Night sky spectroscopy: Puschnig et. al. (2014)
Puschnig, J. et. al. 2014, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer , 139, 64

• Location: Vienna University Observatory

• Spectrograph: SBIG DSS-7 + ST7
• Telescope: 0.8 m in diameter
• Period: 1 February 2012
• Data collection: point the telescope to the
south or to the south-east (i.e. towards the
city center of Vienna) at an elevation of
~45deg, 300s integration time
53
 Result highlights
• Strong spectral lines detected at 546 nm (fluorescent
lamps, common in residential areas) and 611 nm
(high pressure sodium, use in streetlamps and
highway lamps)

54
 Others - Cometary (Ściężor 2013)
Ściężor T., 2013, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 435, 303

• The method is based on measurements of the surface

brightness of the faintest diffuse objects visible in the sky.
• DC value: describes the degree of condensation of the
comet on the sky background
– DC = 0 indicates totally diffuse; DC = 9 means stellar
• surface brightness of the weakest comet (DC=0, 1 or 2) can
be used as an approximate value of NSB
• Advantages:
– If archival observations of comets are available, NSB in the past
can be traced back to determine long-term changes in NSB.
• Disadvantages:
– Results depends on observer skills and experiences.

55
 Others - Cometary (Ściężor 2013)
Ściężor T., 2013, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 435, 303

• Location: several locations in Poland

• Period: 1994 - 2009
• Comet observations: 451 comet observations
(comets dimmer than 7 mag)
• Result highlights:
– no change in NSB in
ecologically clean areas
– clear increase in light
pollution for sites located on
the border of heavily light-
polluted and less light-
polluted areas
– clear decrease in light
pollution for sites had fall in
industry
56
 Night Sky Brightness Measurements
Application Geographic Temporal Cost Accuracy Major pro Major con
coverage coverage

   
Traditional Analyze night High accuracy High cost
sky properties
CCD of a site in
photometry detail

   
Wide-field Analyze Directional Calibration
sources of light information challenge
photometry pollution

   
Remote Analyze light Large Calibration
pollution geographic challenge
sensing conditions coverage
across cities

   

Citizen Analyze light Spread light Low accuracy
pollution pollution for visual-only
science conditions messages, contributions
across regions cheap, large
coverage

   
Dedicated Analyze light Cheap and Single-band
pollution accurate only, lack
NSB devices conditions directional
within regions information

   
Night sky Analyze Obtain Calibration
sources of light spectral challenge
spectroscopy pollution information

57
 Measurement of Light Pollution:
Prospects
• Combining features of different methods for better
results
• Take advantage of the dedications of citizens beyond
communities of amateur astronomers
• Take advantage of the widespread technology
available
• Long-term spectroscopic (at least multi-band)
monitoring of night sky at urban locations
• Connecting the remote-sensing data and the ground-
based night sky measurements (looking down vs
looking up) 58
 Dedicated device + Multi-band observation
Spoelstra, H. 2014, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy & Radiative Transfer , 139, 82
Kyba, C. et. al. 2012, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 425, 701

Spoelstra (2014): 5 color filters on a wheel Kyba et. al. (2012): 5 SQMs with different filters

• Results highlights:
– More blue light when the night sky is clear (Spoelstra, 2014)
– Red is the new black (Kyba et. al. 2012) 59
Citizen science + converted-NSB meter: Dark
Sky Meter IYL 2015 Edition (iPhone app)

60
 Citizen science + Wide-field photometry:
Hoshizora Kodan (the alliance of starlight distributors)
See more: http://dcdock.kodan.jp/?lang=en

• Location: over 2,000

points in Japan
• Equipment: commercial
Digital Single Lens
Reflector camera (DSLR)
• Both automatic-fixed and
temporary set up
• Filters: N/A (RGB in
sensor)
• Period: 2008+
61
62
 Methodology

zenith sky imaging

using standard
camera setup OR parameters
camera setup
(automated) (manual)

NSB extraction
(auto)

upload RAW image to an

63
online interface
 Result highlights

Brightness of Night Sky [mag/arcsec2]

120 16.1
Relative Brightness of Night Sky [%]

100
Brightness 16.3
20:00 decreases by 40%
80 after Earthquake 16.5
22:00

60 16.9
0:00

40 17.3

20 18.0

0
01-Nov-2010 01-Dec-2010 01-Jan-2011 01-Feb-2011 01-Mar-2011 01-Apr-2011 01-May-2011 01-Jun-2011

• 2011 March 11 earthquake leads to 40% lower

night-sky brightness at 20:00 in Tokyo compared
with the brightness during Feb-2011.
• A consequence of power saving in the area. 64
 The Global at Night Sky Brightness
Monitoring Network (GaN-MN)
globeatnight-network.org
• Co-organizers:
– Office of Astronomy Outreach, International
Astronomy Union (IAU)
– National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
– The University of Hong Kong

• Endorsed by the IAU Executive Committee

Working Group for the International Year of
Light 2015 as a major Cosmic Light program
– Expand the sky brightness monitoring
network (NSN) worldwide
– In the award letter, “Suggestions were to
“coordinate ... with others who are pursuing
the educational aspect in other regions.”
65
 The Global at Night Sky Brightness
Monitoring Network (GaN-MN)
• Project aims:
– Standardized night sky measurement method for
worldwide research on light pollution
– highlight the negative environmental impacts of
abusive artificial lighting for the general public and
policy makers
– sustain light pollution public education and
promote public engagement by live worldwide
night sky brightness data and night sky measuring
programs

66
 The Global at Night Sky Brightness
Monitoring Network (GaN-MN)
• Methodology and highlights:
– Standardized observing
method:
• SQM-LE
– Reasonable cost and sturdy
• Standard Unihedron housing
– reduce inconsistency in optical
window attenuation
• 30 seconds sampling interval
• Standardized calibration
scheme

67
 The Global at Night Sky Brightness
Monitoring Network (GaN-MN)
• Methodology and highlights:
– Data
• Live display of NSB on Google Maps
• Sharing of data archive among stations
– Easy to join
• Materials needed: SQM-LE, housing, internet
connection (minimal configuration), power supply,
mounting
• Minimal maintenance except troubleshooting on
power or network sometime

68
 The Global at Night Sky Brightness
Monitoring Network (GaN-MN)
• Current stations:
Organization Country /region Operational date
Taipei Astronomical Museum (TAM) Taipei, Taiwan 2014-11-19
National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) Tokyo, Japan 2014-12-19
The University of Hong Kong (HKU) Hong Kong 2014-12-26
National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) Taiwan 2014-12-30
Chungbuk National University Observatory (CNUO) South Korea 2015-01-27
Yeongyang Firefly Astronomical Observatory (YFAO) South Korea 2015-01-24
Lulin Observatory (LUO) Taiwan 2015-03-27
Ho Koon Nature Education cum Astronomical Centre Hong Kong 2015-04-18
(HKn)

69
 The Global at Night Sky Brightness
Monitoring Network (GaN-MN)
• Stations under planning (more are coming!):
Organization Country /region

Korean Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) (x10 South Korea
purchased)
National Tsing Hua University (~ 6 – 8) Taiwan
National University of Mongolia Ulan Bator,
Mongolia
Xinglong Observing Station of National Astronomical Beijing, China
Observatories, Chinese Academy of Science
Tianyi Astronomical Society, Jiangsu Tianyi High School (x10) Wuxi, China
Regulus SpaceTech/Science Education Institute Manila, Philippines
Nepal Sanskrit University Kathmandu, Nepal
70
The Story of Light Festival, A project for IYL2015 Mumbai, India
71
 The Global at Night Sky Brightness
Monitoring Network (GaN-MN)
unusual use of lighting

CNUO
(cloudy)

72
 The Global at Night Sky Brightness
Monitoring Network (GaN-MN)
• Easy to join in the effort
• All you need are:
– A working SQM-LE with the standard Housing from
Unihedron
– Power supply and internet connection
• Benefits:
– Present your results real-time to the world
– Gain access to light pollution measurements from
around the world
– Let’s fight light pollution together!

73
 Please join us!

For more information on the Globe at Night Sky

Brightness Monitoring Network (GaN-MN),
please visit globeatnight-network.org

Or Email us at: socw@connect.hku.hk, or

outreach@iau.org
74
 A big section of the general public cares
about light pollution (if properly
informed).

• Organized a Light Pollution Research Competition in Hong Kong in

2014
• Middle school students spending multiple nights taking over 100 data
points going all around the city using public transportation. 75