Evolution of Brightness and Color of the Night Sky in Madrid
Major schemes to replace other streetlight technologies with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lamps are being undertaken across much of the world. This is predicted to have important consequences for nighttime sky brightness and color. Here, we report the results of a long-term study of these characterist...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Remote Sensing |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/8/1511 |
| _version_ | 1797537680095969280 |
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| author | José Robles Jaime Zamorano Sergio Pascual Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel Jesús Gallego Kevin J. Gaston |
| author_facet | José Robles Jaime Zamorano Sergio Pascual Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel Jesús Gallego Kevin J. Gaston |
| author_sort | José Robles |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Major schemes to replace other streetlight technologies with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lamps are being undertaken across much of the world. This is predicted to have important consequences for nighttime sky brightness and color. Here, we report the results of a long-term study of these characteristics focused on the skies above Madrid. The sky brightness and color monitoring station at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (inside the city) collected Johnson B, V, and R sky brightness data, Sky Quality Meter (SQM), and Telescope Encoder Sky Sensor-WiFi (TESS-W) broadband photometry throughout the night, every night between 2010–2020. Our analysis includes a data filtering process that can be used with other similar sky brightness monitoring data. Major changes in sky brightness and color took place during 2015–2016, when a sizable fraction of the streetlamps in Madrid changed from High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) to LEDs. The sky brightness detected in the Johnson B band darkened by 14% from 2011 to 2015 and brightened by 32% from 2015 to 2019. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:19:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cb5f7ad8a3f54836a210ae8186e74292 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2072-4292 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:19:43Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Remote Sensing |
| spelling | doaj.art-cb5f7ad8a3f54836a210ae8186e742922023-11-21T15:36:25ZengMDPI AGRemote Sensing2072-42922021-04-01138151110.3390/rs13081511Evolution of Brightness and Color of the Night Sky in MadridJosé Robles0Jaime Zamorano1Sergio Pascual2Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel3Jesús Gallego4Kevin J. Gaston5Departamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Facultad CC. Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plaza de las Ciencias 1, 28040 Madrid, SpainDepartamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Facultad CC. Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plaza de las Ciencias 1, 28040 Madrid, SpainDepartamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Facultad CC. Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plaza de las Ciencias 1, 28040 Madrid, SpainEnvironment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UKDepartamento de Física de la Tierra y Astrofísica, Facultad CC. Físicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Plaza de las Ciencias 1, 28040 Madrid, SpainEnvironment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall TR10 9FE, UKMajor schemes to replace other streetlight technologies with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) lamps are being undertaken across much of the world. This is predicted to have important consequences for nighttime sky brightness and color. Here, we report the results of a long-term study of these characteristics focused on the skies above Madrid. The sky brightness and color monitoring station at Universidad Complutense de Madrid (inside the city) collected Johnson B, V, and R sky brightness data, Sky Quality Meter (SQM), and Telescope Encoder Sky Sensor-WiFi (TESS-W) broadband photometry throughout the night, every night between 2010–2020. Our analysis includes a data filtering process that can be used with other similar sky brightness monitoring data. Major changes in sky brightness and color took place during 2015–2016, when a sizable fraction of the streetlamps in Madrid changed from High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) to LEDs. The sky brightness detected in the Johnson B band darkened by 14% from 2011 to 2015 and brightened by 32% from 2015 to 2019.https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/8/1511light pollutionphotometrysky brightnessstreet lighting retrofit |
| spellingShingle | José Robles Jaime Zamorano Sergio Pascual Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel Jesús Gallego Kevin J. Gaston Evolution of Brightness and Color of the Night Sky in Madrid Remote Sensing light pollution photometry sky brightness street lighting retrofit |
| title | Evolution of Brightness and Color of the Night Sky in Madrid |
| title_full | Evolution of Brightness and Color of the Night Sky in Madrid |
| title_fullStr | Evolution of Brightness and Color of the Night Sky in Madrid |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evolution of Brightness and Color of the Night Sky in Madrid |
| title_short | Evolution of Brightness and Color of the Night Sky in Madrid |
| title_sort | evolution of brightness and color of the night sky in madrid |
| topic | light pollution photometry sky brightness street lighting retrofit |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/8/1511 |
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