University of Wismar

Faculty of Architecture and Design

Master-Thesis

LIGHT POLLUTION IMPACT ON HUMANS & ANIMALS

CASE STUDY IN DUBAI

Thesis prepared for the degree of

Master of Arts

Submitted by: Nabil Magdy Hassan Khalil

Born in 02/04/1988

Master Architectural lighting and design management

First Mentor: Prof. Dr.Thomas Römhild

Second Mentor: Prof. Dr. Chanyaporn Chuntamara

th
Dubai, U.A.E., 4 August 2017
 Abstract

Since 1879 the year which Thomas Edison filed the patent for the first electric bulb, the
effects of light pollution were underestimated; human society has changed ever since and today
lighting became an essential factor of modernized life leaving the people hardly experience total
darkness; so we are continuously exposed to artificial illumination. Only in the past few decades
the attention towards the negative impact of artificial lighting was put into the test and lately this
artificial light at night is considered as a pollutant.

Although there is sufficient knowledge of all kinds of pollutants, light pollution remains a
phenomenon difficult to identify or even measure. Data on the consequences of artificial light for
the biological world are also insufficient and still developing, which makes it difficult to originate
useful technical and political measures to reduce the possible effects of pollution. This
dissertation is an attempt to deliver a study that covers all the aspects of light pollution.

The research design included both, desk and field research. In the desk part it‘s starting
with the different interpretations of light pollution definition by various parties and the sources
that cause this phenomenon. Then it‘s listing the different types of light pollution and how the
sky is being measured to classify the level of light pollution in the different locations. At the end
of the desk part I demonstrate how light pollution affects our sky, animals, humans, economy,
and the planet‘s ecosystem and the actions that governmental authorities, independent
organizations, and local movements take to reduce these effects.

In the field research I put the focus lens on the city of Dubai, describing the night time
lighting status and the different sources of artificial light that may cause the light pollution. I‘m
finalizing this part with a field survey measuring the local sky-glow at 45 different locations
covering the city. After collecting the measurements the data was displayed on a geographic
information system (GIS) map for a better understanding and analyze. A GIS map is found to be
a promising approach to produce detailed light pollution maps that feature a high accuracy at a
regional and local level. The map is indicating intense levels of light pollution correlating
between population density and the heavy usage of artificial night lighting.

Modeled maps based on local measurements have the advantage of being relatively
cheap in their production compared to other approaches like satellite surveys and they facilitate
the creation of scenarios as well. Various interest groups, municipalities and the individual
citizens are supposed to find interest in light pollution data and maps at a local level. Further
research is nevertheless needed to enhance the model and to increase the significance of the
presented light pollution maps.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

After an intensive period of six months, today is the day to write this note of thanks as
the finishing touch of my thesis. It has been a period of intense learning for me, not only in the
scientific arena, but also on a personal level. Writing this thesis has had a great impact on me.
I‘d like to reflect on the people who have supported and helped me so much throughout this
period.

Many individuals deserve thanks for the advice and guidance they provided throughout
this project. First and foremost, I deeply thank my academic advisors, Prof. Dr.Thomas Römhild
and Prof. Dr. Chanyaporn Chuntamara, for accepting me as mentors. A very special gratitude
goes out to my colleagues at work for helping and providing the moral support to reach to the
point of finishing this thesis. I am also grateful to my friends who have encouraged me along the
way.

Finally and most importantly, I would like to thank my parents for their continued love,
understanding, and support throughout my graduate studies. I could not have finished this
research without their encouragement, keeping my life organized while being super busy and
unconditional emotional support.

Thank you very much, everyone!

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 Table of Contents
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................................................... 1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................................. 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................................... 4
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................................... 6
LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................................... 8
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................... 9
CHAPTER I: TOPIC´S DEFINITION .......................................................................................................... 10
1.1 THE CHOICE OF RESEARCH TOPIC ....................................................................................................... 10
1.2 RESEARCH GOALS............................................................................................................................... 11
1.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES....................................................................................................................... 11
1.4 METHODS AND IMPLEMENTATION .......................................................................................................... 11
PART II. CONTEXTUAL APPROACH ....................................................................................................... 13
CHAPTER 2. LIGHT POLLUTION ................................................................................................................... 13
2.1 Definition ....................................................................................................................................... 13
2.2 Sources of Light Pollution ............................................................................................................. 14
2.2.1 Street lights ............................................................................................................................................ 14
2.2.2 Buildings and Monuments ...................................................................................................................... 15
2.2.3 Sports Facilities ...................................................................................................................................... 17
2.2.4 Road vehicles ........................................................................................................................................ 18
2.2.5 Vessels .................................................................................................................................................. 19
2.2.6 Gas flares ............................................................................................................................................... 20
2.2.7 Security Lighting..................................................................................................................................... 21
2.2.8 Advertising (billboards and flashing signs) ............................................................................................. 22
2.2.9 Rivers, Ponds, and Fountains ................................................................................................................ 23
2.3 Types of Light Pollution ................................................................................................................. 24
2.3.1 Light Trespass ....................................................................................................................................... 24
2.3.2 Over-illumination .................................................................................................................................... 25
2.3.3 Glare ...................................................................................................................................................... 26
2.3.4 Clutter .................................................................................................................................................... 27
2.3.5 Sky Glow ................................................................................................................................................ 27
2.4 Measuring and Mapping Light Pollution ........................................................................................ 28
2.4.1 Bortle Scale ............................................................................................................................................ 28
2.4.2 Star counts ............................................................................................................................................. 29
2.4.3 Cameras ................................................................................................................................................ 30
2.4.4 Photo-sensors ........................................................................................................................................ 30
2.4.5 Satellites ................................................................................................................................................ 30
2.4.6 Current Status ........................................................................................................................................ 31
2.5 Units for Assessing Sky Brightness .............................................................................................. 33
2.5.1 NELM ..................................................................................................................................................... 33
2.5.2 MPSAS .................................................................................................................................................. 33
2.5.3 Conversion between units ...................................................................................................................... 34
2.6 Impacts of Light Pollution .............................................................................................................. 35
2.6.1 Effects on the Sky .................................................................................................................................. 35
2.6.2 Effects on Animals ................................................................................................................................. 37
2.6.2.1 Insects ............................................................................................................................................ 38

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 2.6.2.2 Birds ............................................................................................................................................... 41
2.6.2.3 Sea Turtles ..................................................................................................................................... 43
2.6.2.4 Amphibians and Marine Animals .................................................................................................... 45
2.6.2.5 Mammals ........................................................................................................................................ 49
2.6.3 Effects on Humans ................................................................................................................................. 51
2.6.4 Effects on the Economy ......................................................................................................................... 59
2.6.5 Effects on the Ecosystem ....................................................................................................................... 61
2.7 Practices to limit the effects of Light Pollution ............................................................................... 61
2.7.1 Cut-off lighting ........................................................................................................................................ 62
2.7.2 Shielding ................................................................................................................................................ 63
2.7.3 Appropriate Light Sources ...................................................................................................................... 66
2.7.4 Zoning .................................................................................................................................................... 69
2.7.5 Curfew and Occupancy Sensors ............................................................................................................ 70
2.7.6 Mitigation Strategies............................................................................................................................... 70
2.8 Initiatives Worldwide ..................................................................................................................... 71
2.8.1 IES ......................................................................................................................................................... 72
2.8.2 CIE ......................................................................................................................................................... 73
2.8.2.1 CIE Guidelines for minimizing sky glow .......................................................................................... 73
2.8.2.2 CIE Guide on the limitation of obtrusive light .................................................................................. 74
2.8.3 International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) ............................................................................................... 74
2.8.4 Globe at Night Program ......................................................................................................................... 75
2.8.5 Loss of the Night (Verlust der Nacht) Project ......................................................................................... 76
2.8.6 World Wide Fund for Nature .................................................................................................................. 76
2.8.7 Other Projects and Activities .................................................................................................................. 78

PART III. CASE OF STUDY ....................................................................................................................... 79

3.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 79
3.2 GEOGRAPHIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW OF DUBAI CITY ................................................................ 79
3.3 EXTENT OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT LIGHT POLLUTION IN DUBAI.................................................................. 80
3.4 TYPES OF EXTERNAL LIGHTING IN DUBAI THAT MAY CAUSE LIGHT POLLUTION ......................................... 81
3.5 RESEARCH PURPOSE .......................................................................................................................... 85
3.6 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................... 86
3.6.1 Outline of the Survey .................................................................................................................. 86
3.6.2 Sky Quality Meter (SQM) ........................................................................................................... 86
3.6.3 Selection of Observing Times .................................................................................................... 87
3.6.4 Selection of Observing Sites ...................................................................................................... 88
3.7 DATA COLLECTION AND REPORTING ..................................................................................................... 89
3.8 RESULTS AND ANALYSIS ...................................................................................................................... 92
3.9 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................ 93
BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................................................................... 98
APPENDIX ................................................................................................................................................ 107

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 List of Figures

Figure 1: World Atlas of Artificial Sky Brightness ......................................................................................................... 10

Figure 2: Thesis Structure ............................................................................................................................................ 12
Figure 3: Street Lighting – City of Dubai ...................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 4: Burj Al Arab at Jumeriah Beach during Night – City of Dubai ....................................................................... 16
Figure 5: Al Farooq Mosque at night, Dubai ................................................................................................................. 16
Figure 6: Burj Khalifa façade lighting at night - City of Dubai ....................................................................................... 17
Figure 7: Dubai Cricket Stadium .................................................................................................................................. 18
Figure 8: Car headlight in rainy weather condition ....................................................................................................... 19
Figure 9: NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman Tweeted this photo of Thailand at night on Aug. 18, 2014 ......................... 20
Figure 10: Non-stop flaring lights in the Niger Delta – red dots pinpoint gas flares ...................................................... 21
Figure 11: India-Pakistan Security border at night ....................................................................................................... 22
Figure 12: 3D billboard – The City of Dubai ................................................................................................................. 23
Figure 13: Water Canal - City of Dubai ........................................................................................................................ 23
Figure 14 Terms and concepts in light pollution visualized .......................................................................................... 24
Figure 15: Illustration of a light trespass; spilling unwanted light .................................................................................. 25
Figure 16: Illustration of a light clutter example ............................................................................................................ 27
Figure 17: The Sky glow of Dubai City ......................................................................................................................... 28
Figure 18: Bortle Dark-Sky Scale ................................................................................................................................. 29
Figure 19: Sky Quality Meter (SQM) device ................................................................................................................. 30
Figure 20: DMSP – Block 5D-3 Spacecraft .................................................................................................................. 31
Figure 21: The World Atlas of the Artificial Night Sky Brightness ................................................................................. 32
Figure 22: NELM and MPSAS relation ......................................................................................................................... 34
Figure 23: light pollution halo encroaching into the sky in this star-trail photograph taken. Photo by Justin Tilbrook ... 35
Figure 24: A spectrogram of a galaxy in the constellation Hercules, taken by the 200 inch telescope at Palomar ...... 36
Figure 25: Insect attraction to street lamps in Tudela, Spain ....................................................................................... 39
Figure 26: Ephoron virgo .............................................................................................................................................. 40
Figure 27: Blacktailed Goodwits ................................................................................................................................... 42
Figure 28 : Blackbird - Turdus merula .......................................................................................................................... 43
Figure 29: A sea turtle swimming close by one of the attractions of Dubai city; Burj Al-Arab....................................... 43
Figure 30: Baby Sea turtles crawling towards the light................................................................................................. 44
Figure 31: Before and after exchanging the lights of a property located towards a sea coast with long wave length
turtle friendly lighting .................................................................................................................................................... 44
Figure 32: Tadpoles of the same age exposed to different nocturnal illuminations. The tadpole in A, from the darkest
lighting treatment, is metamorphosing. The tadpole in B still retains the larval body form and is not yet ready to
metamorphose ............................................................................................................................................................. 46
Figure 33: (a) Calling male túngara frog preyed upon by frog-biting midges; (b) female (bottom) in amplexus with a
male (top) covered with biting midges; (c) female (bottom) with a biting midge on her nostril that was passed from the
male during amplexus. ................................................................................................................................................. 46
Figure 34: Northern Green Frog ................................................................................................................................... 47
Figure 35: Redback Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) .............................................................................................. 47
Figure 36: A variety of zooplankton organisms ............................................................................................................ 48
Figure 37: Diel vertical migration (DVM) ...................................................................................................................... 48
Figure 38: Tammar wallaby .......................................................................................................................................... 50
Figure 39: visual system anatomy ................................................................................................................................ 51
Figure 40: Spectral sensitivity of retinal rod and cone cells in the human eye ............................................................. 52
Figure 41: Construction of Rods and Cones photoreceptors in the retina .................................................................... 53
Figure 42: The nerve tracts in the eye-brain system .................................................................................................... 55
Figure 43: Effects of a 2-h light exposure at 460 and 550 nm on salivary Melatonin levels ......................................... 56
Figure 44: The Hypothalamus and Pineal Gland.......................................................................................................... 57

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Figure 45: Premature babies, like the one being cared for in Vanderbilt's neonatal intensive care unit, may benefit
from exposure to a day/night lighting cycle .................................................................................................................. 58
Figure 46: Cut-off Classifications ................................................................................................................................. 62
Figure 47: Shield is fitted to the light fixture, in order to reduce back-spill to the windows of adjacent properties ........ 64
Figure 48: Unshielded globe lights at the main street in Liberal, Kansas in U.S.A. ...................................................... 64
Figure 49: Partially shielded globe lights ...................................................................................................................... 65
Figure 50: clouds at the far distances from light sources will be illuminated. One street light will have minimal effect,
but the combined effect of thousands will be cumulative ............................................................................................. 65
Figure 51: A 2015 Newell's Shearwater fledgling gets released by school teacher Rhonda Cabello, photograph by
Constance Johnson ..................................................................................................................................................... 66
Figure 52: Spectral distribution of a cold white LED with 5700K widely used for current street lighting installations ... 67
Figure 53: Spectral distribution of a warm white LED with 2700K which is considered friendlier outdoor lights
compared to cold white lights ....................................................................................................................................... 67
Figure 54: Spectral distribution of an HPS light source ................................................................................................ 68
Figure 55: Spectrum of a low-pressure sodium lamp. The intense yellow band is the atomic sodium D-line emission,
comprising about 90% of the visible light emission for this lamp type .......................................................................... 68
Figure 56: Outdoor luminaire distribution measuring system ....................................................................................... 72
Figure 57: Globe at Night 2017 Observation dates Postcard ....................................................................................... 76
Figure 58: Earth Hour 2017 Highlights ......................................................................................................................... 77
Figure 59: The lights of the tallest building in the world Burj Khaifa and other building in the surrounding are turned off
during the Earth Hour initiative ..................................................................................................................................... 77
Figure 60: Dubai Map ................................................................................................................................................... 80
Figure 61: Dubai City at night ....................................................................................................................................... 81
Figure 62: Burj Khalifah Facade lighting ...................................................................................................................... 82
Figure 63: Almas Tower at night .................................................................................................................................. 83
Figure 64: Dubai Marina ............................................................................................................................................... 83
Figure 65: Advertising Board on the side of a highway road in Dubai illuminated by up-lighting flood lights ................ 84
Figure 66: Advertising Board on the side of in the center of the city of Dubai illuminated from the top ........................ 84
Figure 67: Street Lighting in Deira, Dubai .................................................................................................................... 85
Figure 68: The Sky Quality Meter................................................................................................................................. 87
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Figure 69: Visual dark sky representation in (mag/arcsec ) ........................................................................................ 87
Figure 70: A demonstration of the different phases of the night time ........................................................................... 88
Figure 71: Geographic distribution of the observation sites ......................................................................................... 89
Figure 72: Light pollution generated contour map of the measurements taken at different sites for Dubai city ............ 92
Figure 73: Number of readings for each site classification as a percentage of the total number of readings ............... 92
Figure 74: Deira Clock-tower art monument, Dubai ..................................................................................................... 95
Figure 75: Khalifa Al Tajer mosque in Deira, Dubai ..................................................................................................... 96
Figure 76: Map showing roadway measured sites ..................................................................................................... 107
Figure 77: Generated contour map of the roadway measured sites........................................................................... 107
Figure 78: Roadway sites measurements .................................................................................................................. 107
Figure 79: Map showing residential measured sites .................................................................................................. 108
Figure 80: Generated contour map of the residential measured sites ........................................................................ 108
Figure 81: Residential sites measurements ............................................................................................................... 108
Figure 82: Map showing recreational measured sites ................................................................................................ 109
Figure 83: Generated contour map of the recreational measured sites ..................................................................... 109
Figure 84: Recreational sites measurements ............................................................................................................. 109
Figure 85: Map showing commercial measured sites ................................................................................................ 110
Figure 86: Generated contour map of the commercial measured sites ...................................................................... 110
Figure 87: Commercial sites measurements .............................................................................................................. 110
Figure 88: Generated contour map of the industrial measured sites .......................................................................... 111
Figure 89: Map showing industrial measured sites .................................................................................................... 111
Figure 90: Industrial sites measurements .................................................................................................................. 111

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 List of Tables

Table 1: Countries and territories with the largest non-polluted areas ......................................................................... 32
Table 2: Countries and territories with the largest polluted areas; all of these countries have more than half of their
inhabitants living under extremely bright skies ............................................................................................................. 33
Table 3: cutoff classifications and descriptions ............................................................................................................ 63
Table 4: Description of the environmental zones according to the CIE Zoning System ............................................... 69
Table 5: Recommendations for the limitation of sky glow as per CIE 126-1997 .......................................................... 74
Table 6: Maximum values of vertical illuminance on properties ................................................................................... 74
Table 7: List of reading locations details and their average SQM measurements ........................................................ 91

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Introduction

Outdoor lighting is an obligatory element of modern civilized societies to keep on per-

forming various activities at night. However, poorly designed lighting systems and excessive
illumination levels lead to a huge waste of energy and money. Any misuse of electric lighting not
serving its originally intended purposes means a huge waste of energy and resources of the
Earth.

A study states that the economic power of a country can be measured and estimated by
checking its light emissions1. According to the Walker Law, the night sky brightness varies from
one location to another location, depends on the element of population, economic activity and
location distance from the nucleus of the population2. Light pollution is considered bad for at
least three reasons:

A- It reduces the number of visible stars and disturbs the scientific observation of
the sky and this type is classified as Astronomical light pollution.
B- It threatens the entire ecosystems, substantially altering the behavioral patterns
of the animal population (orientation, foraging, reproduction, migration,
communication etc.) and this type is classified as Ecological light pollution.
C- Wasted light means also wasted energy resources.

The first individuals to notice the problem were astronomers as their work relies on the
free sight on the stars. Increasingly, researchers of different fields of study – particularly medical
scientists and biologists acknowledge the negative effects of excessive light. It has been proved
that artificial light causes irritation. Some human health disorders were also found to be linked
with prolonged exposure to light during night, mainly because of alterations to the circadian
rhythm. Humans are not the only living being affected but also animals and the rest of the planet
habitants. All these effects and disruption in the ecosystem caused by light pollution along with
the possible ways to reduce it will be demonstrated in details through the second chapter of this
research.

In the last chapter I put the spot light on Dubai city. It is a metropolitan city famous for its
spectacular city night lights. With mixed land utilization within a small area, along with a complex
geological landscape and robust human activities, the night sky condition of Dubai city makes
for an interesting case study for the effect of human activities on the quality of night sky.

At the end of research in the conclusions I summarized my main findings; then I present
selected findings from the existing literature and finally suggest some possible directions for
future research.

1
Gallaway, Terrel, Reed N. Olsen, and David M. Mitchell. "The economics of global light pollution." Ecological
Economics 69, no. 3 (2010), 658-665.
2
Walker, M. F. "The effects of urban lighting on the brightness of the night sky." Publications of the Astronomical
Society of the Pacific 89 (1977), 405.

9
Chapter I: Topic´s definition

1.1 The Choice of Research Topic

The pollution of the natural environment is progressively topical in the public debate. The
concerns of polluted air and water are well known, addressed and mitigated since many
decades. Other types of pollution such as light pollution have only recently come into the
perspective of authorities and the wider public. Economic aspects have additionally assisted to
raise interest in the light pollution topic: Municipalities in charge of public lighting have
understood the potential cost savings from reducing light levels.

Artificial lighting has become an integral part of our culture. It conveys a feeling of safety
and wealth. Nevertheless, scientists warn of detriment effects of excessive light emissions and
other negative consequences of night lighting. In densely populated countries, naturally dark
areas have become rare. A recent study estimates that one-third of the world population can no
longer see the Milky Way with their naked eyes3.

Understanding the effects of living in a light-polluted environment on humans, animals and

the environment in general is an important aspect for our continuous pursuit for better
surroundings. The experience of studying light pollution provided me an excellent opportunity to
be acknowledged with interdisciplinary researches. The topics in light pollution cover biology,
technology, astronomy, environment, economy, and society.

Interest in light pollution has been gaining momentum in recent years. Artificial light is
dominant in our societies and only recently has research into light-at-night and light pollution
gone beyond the obvious astronomical concerns. Interested astronomers, scientists,
academics, and amateur investigators are taking steps to study our night environment, and
measure the light pollution in quantitative methods resulting world maps which show the artificial
sky brightness compared to the natural sky brightness and Fig.1 is a model of that.

Figure 1: World Atlas of Artificial Sky Brightness4

3
P. Cinzano, F. Falchi, and C.D. Elvidge, "The first World Atlas of the artificial night sky brightness," Monthly Notices
of the Royal Astronomical Society 328, no. 3 (2001):689-701
4
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/06/10/20/352302FE00000578-3635633-image-a-14_1465586967791.jpg.

10
 This map in figure (1) shows that about 83% of the world population lives under light-
polluted skies. Although the great number of people living under unpleasant night sky condition
there‘s no enough exposure on studying why are we losing our beautiful nights? How these
affect humans and other habitants? How can we control it?

I have the belief that this research could be of use for the community by providing
knowledge and information that could be used a base for further studies and research leading to
an increased awareness towards the implications of light pollution.

1.2 Research Goals

My main goal is to derive an answer to the question what is Light Pollution? A secondary
goal is to conduct a field survey to document the night time sky brightness condition of the city
of Dubai. Ultimately, the resulting notes would be used to help to position the topic of light
pollution on the agenda of municipalities and into the heads of the population.

1.3 Research Objectives

In support of these mentioned goals, the following objectives have been created:

• Investigate the definition of light pollution and why is it a problem

• Analyze the causes and types of light pollution
• Explore the effects of light pollution on humans
• Examine does exposure to artificial light at-night constitute a risk to animals
• Investigate if light pollution is a concern to economy or to the ecological systems,
and if so to what extent
• Identify and survey problems associated with light pollution in the city Dubai

A comprehensive literature review was conducted for each stated point leading to my
ultimate aim at the end of this research.

1.4 Methods and implementation

To map out the light pollution topic a literature and field work have been implemented.
The literature study was consisting of electronic and non-electronic sources. Books, articles of
scientific journals, research reports and other electronic documents have contributed with
information in the different aspects of the subject of light pollution.

The second part of this work is based on the field research done by me studying the
night time in Dubai. This study has undertaken the task of determining the sky brightness of
Dubai and presenting the results on an easy readable GIS model. The structure of this thesis is
demonstrated in the chart below.

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 Chapter 1
Topic´s definition Choice of
Research Topic
Light Pollution Definition

Goals
Sources of Light Pollution

Objectives
Types of Light Pollution

Methods and
implementation
Measuring and Mapping
Light Pollution
Introduction
Units for Assessing Sky
Brightness

Geographic and
Impacts of Light Pollution Demographic
Overview of Dubai
City
Practices to limit the
effects of Light Pollution

Extent of
Knowledge about
Initiatives Worldwide Light Pollution in
Chapter 2 Dubai
literature study
Types of External
Lighting that may
Light Pollution cause light
Chapter 3 Pollution
Field Study
Field Study
Purpose

Research
Methodolgy

Data Collection
and Reporting

Results & Analysis

DISCUSSION AND
CONCLUSIONS

Figure 2: Thesis Structure

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Part II. Contextual approach

Chapter 2. Light Pollution

2.1 Definition

Since the existence of human beings, lighting is one of the most essential tools in
everyday life, due to the dependence of vision to carry out various kinds of works. Since the
beginning of human existence on our planet earth, we started to create controlled lights for
different reasons but the main one was to extend the active hours of human beings beyond the
daytime. Through time humans were able to develop several techniques to enlighten our
surroundings starting with fire till our nowadays LED lights. As a consequence, we can use
lights virtually anywhere, and whenever we want. However, not all the light emitted by devices is
aimed towards the positions where lighting is needed or even whenever is needed and from that
point wasted light was considered as a pollutant.

Pollution as an impairment of purity is a qualitative category. Quantitatively, it might be

immeasurable, negligible, dangerous, fatal …etc. These kinds of classifications are observer
dependent. Pollution can be further categorized according to the environment being polluted
whether it‘s the air, water, soil…etc. In case of light, the polluting matter is in the form of photons
of corresponding energy or electromagnetic waves artificially added to the environment.

There are various definitions and interpretations for the term ―Light Pollution‖, depending
on the background and the interest of the definer. It was first mentioned in the early 1970s,
when astronomers in the U.S.A. discovered the increasing trend of night sky luminance, and
sites suitable for astronomical observations became more difficult to find. Definition for light
pollution published at science magazine by Dr. Kurt W. Riegel, assistant professor of astronomy
at the University of California is “Unwanted sky light produced by man because of population
growth and increased outdoor illumination per capita (Riegel 1973) 5”.

The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) defined it as ―Light pollution is any adverse
effect of artificial light, which includes sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased
visibility at night, and energy waste‖6. Another technical interpretation for light pollution is
defined as; “The emission of luminous flux from artificial sources during the night whose
intensities, direction, and/or spectral ranges are unnecessary for the activities foreseen in the
areas to be illuminated7”.

5
K. W. Riegel, "Light Pollution: Outdoor lighting is a growing threat to astronomy," Science 179, no. 4080
(1973):1285
6
International Dark-Sky Association | IDA | Light Pollution, accessed August 13, 2017, http://www.darksky.org
7
Hugo E Schwarz, Light Pollution: The Global View: Proceedings of the International Conference on Light Pollution,
La Serena, Chile, Held 5-7 March 2002 (Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, 2003), 97

13
 From all these different explanations of the phenomenon we can realize it has different
implications on the various aspects of nature. These impacts affect living being on every scale;
whether they‘re insects or even mammals, all are affected. The impacts are reaching to humans
as well which means that our health and economy are endangered. The next parts will go deep
into these impacts showing how light pollution decreases our planet‘s quality of life.

2.2 Sources of Light Pollution

In its origin, light pollution is a side effect of the industrial development. It therefore
occurs mainly in densely populated areas of industrialized countries or counties encouraging
night activities like Las Vegas, Singapore, and Dubai. The most important causes for light
pollution are large cities, industrial areas, street lighting, illuminated advertising and flood-
lighting. Studies have found ‗street lights‘ to be the dominant source of upward directed light
emissions, followed by ‗industrial/commercial/service areas‘ and ‗public service areas‘ (schools,
hospitals)8. Other sources with a considerable perturbation potential include the illumination of
façades, the headlights of motor vehicles and the use of so called ‗sky beamers‘.

Finally, inappropriate lighting technology can lead to light pollution. In the planning and
implementation of (public) lighting the optimal, most effective and light pollution friendly
technology has to be selected: this usually consists of light sources that are fully shielded
towards the sky and neighboring buildings. Further, the intensity of illumination should be
controllable and should be possible to be managed flexibly according to the time of service;
meaning that the light intensity needs to be higher during times with high traffic volumes than in
the early morning hours when less traffic is on the streets.

Much of the light pollution is simply caused by ignorance. The relatively low cost of
electric energy in many countries encourages people to act in an irresponsible way. Additionally,
the consequences of light pollution aren‘t known to all people. Awareness campaigns could help
to inform about the negative consequences of misguided and excessive light. The reduction of
light spill can lead to important savings because light is only produced and emitted where it is
needed. This leads to a strong incentive for municipalities and individuals to rethink where and
how intensively they use light in outdoor areas.

2.2.1 Street lights

Street lighting are considered the dominant terrestrial source of light pollution, however
not that with the most intense emissions. To some extent this is because street lights are more
prone to upward unshielded or reflected light emissions, but it also results from the huge
numbers of such lights and the lighting being unconstrained by other factors (e.g. lighting from

8
Helga U. Kuechly et al., "Aerial survey and spatial analysis of sources of light pollution in Berlin, Germany,"
Remote Sensing of Environment 126 (2012): 39-50

14
within buildings is filtered through windows). Good estimates of the actual numbers of street
lights appear to be lacking therefore municipalities and governmental authorities should be
contacted to collect this information while considering getting back to them in a regular basis to
keep the records updated of the estimate for the number of active street lights through our
globe.

Figure 3: Street Lighting – City of Dubai

2.2.2 Buildings and Monuments

The internal and, particularly, external lighting of buildings contributes substantially to

nighttime views of major cities like Paris, New york, Dubai …etc. Structures, such as castles,
churches, mosques, palaces, museums, temples, monuments and old bridges, etc., have a
unique shape, finish and arrangement. In the daytime, they are seen as elements of the colorful
landscape of the city. At night, if the external walls of the buildings are lit with well-designed
artificial outdoor lighting, their appearance may change considerably from that in daytime. Their
bright walls will stand out against the dark sky and the dark, unlit surroundings. To see such a
difference in the appearance of the buildings is a joy for the visitors of the city.

15
 Figure 4: Burj Al Arab at Jumeriah Beach during Night – City of Dubai9

The lighting attracts tourists and promotes the movement in the city at night, when
nothing would be visible, unless lighting is installed. The nighttime scheme is quite different from
the daytime scene, because the light comes from a different direction. During daytime, the
daylight comes from the sky, whereas at night, the artificial illumination comes mostly from the
ground.

Figure 5: Al Farooq Mosque at night, Dubai10

The well-lit high-rise buildings in major towns have a function of a landmark. The
landmarks give orientation and help drivers and tourists travelling in an unfamiliar city at night.
The lighting of the building must be designed carefully so as to fit in the surrounding landscape
and not interrupt the landscape in other parts of city. If a building is over-lighted, then
surrounding elegant buildings and the landscape will be reduced into black darkness.
Sometimes, over-lighting of a building leads to a competition in the lighting of other nearby

9
"Burj Al Arab At Jumeriah Beach During Night," , n.d.https://www.askideas.com/media/41/Burj-Al-Arab-At-
Jumeriah-Beach-During-Night.jpg.
10
"Al Farooq Mosque," , n.d.http://umayalighting.com/projects/al-farooq-mosque.

16
buildings. The consequence is wasting energy and spoiling the landscape. The lighting of
buildings must always be designed in conjunction with town planning and the nearby landscape.

For lighting buildings, there is a maximum distance between the luminaires and the
façade that allows an optimal lighting of the facades. When the buildings are very tall, the
available space is often not enough to reach that optimum distance. When the whole facade is
to be lit from below, the angle of elevation needed to aim the luminous flux up to the top of the
building is very high. Under such lighting conditions, a major part of the luminous flux projected
upward is reflected and wasted toward the sky and may make the sky glow stronger. This
reflection is greatest for glass facades of most types of office buildings, but may be considerable
as well for other structures. Furthermore, it is difficult to aim the projectors properly, so that a lot
of light may 'miss' the building altogether, and disappear directly into the sky. This type of spill
light is often the largest contribution to urban sky glow11.

Figure 6: Burj Khalifa façade lighting at night - City of Dubai12

To establish good results without causing light pollution, a highly skilled design
technique and high level of lighting engineering is essential. Lighting designers are urged not to
use upward floodlighting for tall, slender structures, like spires of churches, bridges, etc., but to
come up with other solutions to reduce the wasted light and energy.

2.2.3 Sports Facilities

Not everyone has the luxury of playing sports at daytime while the sun is still in the sky.
Most of the people are busy at their work locations at daytime and night is their free time to

11
Kohei Narisada, Light Pollution Handbook ([Place of publication not identified]: Springer, 2014), 452-453
12
"Burj Khalifa" , n.d.https://www.flickr.com/photos/fadibou/8125764531.

17
practice their sports. To enable these people to enjoy sports every day in the evening after
work, sports lighting is needed.

One more observation to add is that poor lighting - in terms of low or overly high
illuminance levels or unstudied aiming of the luminaires - for outdoor sports facilities may cause
unpleasant playing experience for the players and even discomfort and disability glare for
spectators and road users13. In view of the fact that sports are one of the most significant fields
of human activities in spare time, those wastes and low efficiency have to be avoided as much
as possible whether the facility is a big stadium or a small recreational court.

A fact to be known is that any consumption of energy, even if small, accelerates the
global atmospheric temperature rise. It also increases the amount of particles and vapors that
float in the atmosphere14. An increase in particles and vapors in the atmosphere will increase
the scattering of lights, and hence the sky luminance by other lighting installations. If good
lighting installations without excessive illuminance on the field or spill light on the outer side of it
are installed in sports grounds, many people can enjoy sports at night. Of course, the lighting
must be switched off as soon as the outdoor activities have stopped.

Figure 7: Dubai Cricket Stadium15

2.2.4 Road vehicles

The contribution of car head lighting to light pollution has never been studied in detail.
Car headlights are considered source of glare - disability or discomfort - in many cases and the
chances get higher when certain conditions occur such as rains, curves, road salt, dirt on the
road, and road bumps affecting the eyes of other drivers and pedestrians.

In rainy condition the water drops will fall on the lens of the headlamps will cause scatter
of the light which increase the glare probability. The influence of driving in a dirty condition after
13
Dr. Ir. DA Schreuder, Public and vehicle lighting in residential areas (SWOV, Voorburg, 1979), 3-17
14
United States, Quadrennial Technology Review: An Assessment of Energy Technologies and Research
Opportunities (2015), 157-162
15
"Dubai Cricket Stadium," , n.d.http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_YjF5rgKuMuY/TAgCC53v1PI/AAAAAAAAG-
M/KJW9q_n46Q4/s1600/dubai-cricket-stadium-5.jpg.

18
some while a thin layer of dirt began to form. This layer scattered the light, thereby increasing
the glare. After a while, however, the layer of dirt becomes so heavy that most light is absorbed.
The glare decreases, but so does the overall light output16.

Figure 8: Car headlight in rainy weather condition

On another level, casual observation from hills, or from airplanes, shows that the
contribution may at times be considerable, more in particular in the directions just above and
close to the horizon. Satellite studies did show that in the photographs taken from a satellite, a
great number of bright points can be seen along the trunk roads carrying heavy traffic at night
throughout the major island of Japan. However, most rural roads do not have continuous road
lighting. The bright points seen on these roads are lights from the headlights of automobiles
travelling on these roads.

It‘s comprehensibly in densely populated areas in highly industrialized cities is likely that
the light pollution from other outdoor lighting installations –like e.g. sport stadiums, industrial
sites, advertising etc. - is more severe than that of vehicle lighting. However, in the sparsely
populated areas, where most important astronomical observatories are located, it is likely that
vehicle lighting is about the only form of outdoor lighting present, and that - due to the small
amount of traffic - many cars will drive on high beams. Consequently, it seems to be highly
desirable to pay close attention to the dangers of light pollution by vehicle lighting.

2.2.5 Vessels

It sounds incredible, but fishing boats can be added up to the light pollution causes. The
main reason is that for some kind of fish, notably squid, fishing is done by night, and bright lights
are mounted on the fish boats to attract more water creatures. This illumination is so intense
and persistent that can be considered as a light pollution contributor.

Although these lights are transient, many shipping boats are grouped along common
routes around coastlines and across oceans and these fishing fleets whilst operating over much

16
Rune Elvik, The Handbook of Road Safety Measures (Bingley, UK: Emerald, 2009), 574-577

19
larger extents tend disproportionately to focus activities on quite constrained areas. The used
lights in these boats not only contribute to the sky brightness where the fishing activity is being
held but also has adverse effects on the marine life will be discussed in a later part of this
research.

Figure 9: NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman Tweeted this photo of Thailand at night on Aug. 18, 2014

2.2.6 Gas flares

Another less known, but very important aspect recorded in the light maps are the so
called gas flares. Gas flare, is a gas combustion device used in industrial plants such as
petroleum refineries, chemical plants, and natural gas processing plants as well as at oil or gas
production sites having oil wells, gas wells, offshore oil and gas rigs and landfills. Gas flaring at
many oil and gas production sites protects against the dangers of over-pressuring industrial
plant equipment.

Gas flare has a lot of implications on the environment, health, and economics. Apart
from being a source of air and light pollution, studies relate it to climate change, acid rains,
variety of adverse health impacts such as lung damage, skin problems, and ultimately losing
billions of dollars‘ worth of gas which is literally burnt off daily in the atmosphere17.

17
Ajugwo, Anslem O.. "Negative Effects of Gas Flaring: The Nigerian Experience." Journal of Environment Pollution
and Human Health 1.1 (2013):6-8.

20
 Figure 10: Non-stop flaring lights in the Niger Delta – red dots pinpoint gas flares18

Flames of these gas flares throw so much light that nearby communities ―do not see the
difference between night time and day time‖, says Kentebe Ebiaridor, an environmental activist
with the organization Environmental Rights Action (ERA), based in Port Harcourt, in the Niger
Delta. Some of the flares in the country have been burning non-stop for more than forty years.
There‘s no better way to describe how the situation is than a testimony of a resident near by a
gas flare19.

―Light pollution subjects the living organism around the vicinity of the flare to 24-hour
daylight. This affects diurnality and night-time patterns in animals. The flares drive away game;
it affects the reproduction of fish as well as sending fish to deep sea areas‖, explained
Pyagbara, an activist with the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People20.

2.2.7 Security Lighting

Security lighting and especially the domestic form of it can often be a nuisance to other
residents, or cause general light pollution if not carefully installed. A self-awareness conscious
should compromise between the desire to increase the security of the property and the possible
effect that unnecessarily obtrusive and glaring light, due to improper light installation.

There is no clear scientific evidence that increased outdoor lighting deters crimes. It may
make us feel safer, but has not been shown to make us safer. A 2015 study published in the
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health found that night lights don‘t prevent accidents

18
"Non-stop flaring lights in the Niger Delta – red dots pinpoint gas flares locations," , n.d.http://16746-presscdn-
0-67.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Non-stop-flaring-lights-in-the-Niger-Delta
%E2%80%93-red-dots-pinpoint-gas-flares-locations.jpg.
19
"Where’s the off Switch for Nigerian Energy Waste? — Earth Journalism Network," Earth Journalism Network,
accessed May 15, 2017, http://earthjournalism.net/stories/where2019s-the-off-switch-for-nigerian-energy-waste.
20
“Where’s the off Switch for Nigerian Energy Waste? — Earth Journalism Network,"

21
or crime, but do cost a lot of money. The researchers looked at data on road traffic collisions
and crime in 62 local authorities in England and Wales and found that lighting had no effect,
whether authorities had turned them off completely, dimmed them, turned them off at certain
hours, or substituted low-power LED lamps21.

Outdoor lighting is intended to enhance safety and security at night, but too much
lighting can actually have the opposite effect. Visibility should always be the goal. Glare from
bright, unshielded lights actually decreases safety because it shines into our eyes and constricts
our pupils. This can not only be blinding, it also makes it more difficult for our eyes to adjust to
low-light conditions. Studies report that security lighting can be counter-productive. A study was
conducted in a Sweden city named Övertorneå, to investigate the consequences of switching off
the lights. It turned out that turning off lights halved the number of thefts and burglary.

One of the great examples of excessive security lighting which demonstrates how
lighting can affect our plant in a negative way is the winding border between Pakistan and India
is lit by security lights that have a distinct orange tone as in figure (11). It‘s hard to imagine the
amount of infrastructure, energy, and human resources to build a

Figure 11: India-Pakistan Security border at night

2.2.8 Advertising (billboards and flashing signs)

Many of the large sign boards in the cities and on highways are lit up by powerful lights
that focus on the boards from below. Lights end up reflected upwards off the boards. Other type
of billboards is the backlit video signs which consume a lot of energy, diffuse the light above the
horizon, and being operating for nearly the whole night without any consideration of switching

21
Rebecca Steinbach et al., "The effect of reduced street lighting on road casualties and crime in England and
Wales: controlled interrupted time series analysis," Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 69, no. 11
(2015): 1118

22
them of or even dimming them down. Restaurants, discos, pubs, games and shops in the cities
also use a lot of light to attract customers. Many of the lights they use are not directed to any
particular place, making its dispersion more than intended. Such intense lighting has the
potential to influence nearby sensitive resources and contribute to sky glow.

Figure 12: 3D billboard – The City of Dubai

2.2.9 Rivers, Ponds, and Fountains

One more minor source of light pollution would be the reflections of luminous surfaces or
the luminaires with various colors on the rippling water surface make the landscape at night
beautiful, fantastic, and attractive. The luminaires to be located on the banks or bridges of
rivers, lakes, or ponds, must carefully be selected and located. Projection lighting for fountains
at night presents the size and dynamics of the water jets of the fountains.

Figure 13: Water Canal - City of Dubai

23
2.3 Types of Light Pollution

Light pollution is a broad term that refers to multiple problems, all of which are caused by
ineffective, unappealing, or needless use of artificial light. Specific categories of light pollution
include light trespass, over- illumination, glare, light clutter, and sky glow. A single offending
light source often falls into more than one of these categories.

Figure 14 Terms and concepts in light pollution visualized

2.3.1 Light Trespass

Light trespass occurs when unwanted light enters one's property, for instance, by shining
over a neighbor's fence. A common light trespass problem occurs when light beams enter the
window of one's home from outside, causing problems such as sleep deprivation or the blocking
of an evening view (Fig. 15).

Regulations have been written to limit the amount of light at the property line and
beyond, but may be unrealistic or vague. Realistic limits and clarity in measurement need to be
provided. Stating "zero light at the property line" is too vague. Absolute zero means that even if
a light fixture is a mile away and the light source is visible, it is in violation, and would require
hoods to be placed over every light fixture. What is realistic may vary according to whether an
area is residential or industrial, urban, suburban or rural. Further details of this topic will be
discussed in section 2.8.2.2.

For instance, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) recommends a harsh
limit at the residential projects to earn the credit offered by Leadership in Energy and Environ-
mental Design (LEED) which provides limits at the property line and 3-4.5m beyond it. At the 3-
4.5m distance LEED limits light to 0.1lux (For comparison, a full moon provides 0.3 lux and a
moonless night 0.04 lux). This is a very difficult limit to comply with while providing even light on
a parking lot and driveway.

24
 However, for light trespass the concern is how much light shines into a person's eye.
Measurements may be made at approximate eye level of the vertical light level facing into the
site, or aimed at the brightest light source. Exceptions might be allowed where drives enter the
street. This would permit street lights at the drive entrance to make cars more visible as they
pull into traffic. Limiting pole height is another common ordinance tactic to reduce light trespass.

This becomes counterproductive when the ordinance also has max: min ratios for safety
concerns. Reducing pole height will increase dark spots on a site. Increasing the number of
poles is only viable to a certain point due to the width of the aisles & parking. Otherwise poles
would need to be placed in the parking spaces and aisles to maintain even lighting.

Figure 15: Illustration of a light trespass; spilling unwanted light

2.3.2 Over-illumination

Over-illumination is the excessive use of light. Over-illumination stems from several factors:

 Not using timers, occupancy sensors or other controls to extinguish lighting when not
needed
 Improper design, by specifying higher levels of light than needed for a given application
 Incorrect choice of luminaires, which do not direct light into areas as required
 Inadequate lighting maintenance resulting in increased stray light and energy costs
 "Daylight lighting" can be required by citizens to reduce crime or by shop owners to
attract customers, so over illumination can be a design choice, not a fault. In both cases
target achievement is questionable.
 Substitution of old mercury lamps with more efficient sodium or metal halide lamps using
the same electrical Power
 Indirect lighting techniques, such as lighting a vertical wall to bounce photons on the
ground

Most of these issues can be readily corrected with available economical technology and
by running lighting simulations before the installation phase to make sure that the used lights
will perform as per the relevant lighting recommendations. However, there is considerable
inertia in lighting industry and with other parties involved in development projects that create
barriers to rapid correction of these matters. Most importantly public awareness would need to

25
improve for industrialized countries to realize the large payoff in reducing over-illumination in
terms of not only energy but also their health.

2.3.3 Glare

Glare is often the result of excessive contrast between bright and dark areas in the field
of view. For instance, it occurs when unshielded light from one source spills into the sky and
elsewhere; glare can reduce visibility and can be blinding. Light shining into the eyes of
pedestrians and drivers can obscure night vision for up to an hour after exposure. Glare is
particularly an issue in road safety, as bright and/or badly shielded lights around roads may
partially blind drivers or pedestrians unexpectedly, and contributes to accidents.

Glare can also result in reduced contrast, due to light scattering in the eye by excessive
brightness, or to reflection of light from dark areas in the field of vision, with luminance similar to
the background luminance. This kind of glare is a particular instance of disability glare, called
veiling glare.

Glare can be categorized into two types which are:

 Discomfort Glare describes the sensation of annoyance or even pain induced by overly
bright sources such as that caused by staring into the Sun or any other powerful source
of light. It is completely blinding and leaves temporary or permanent vision deficiencies.

 Disability Glare describes reduction in visibility caused by intense light sources in the
field of view, or light scattering in fog or in the eye reduces contrast, as well as
reflections from print and other dark areas that render them bright, with significant
reduction in sight capabilities. Two common examples of disability glare are the
following:

 Driving under the rain in a two-way street: The light from cars coming in
the opposite direction can get scattered by raindrops, impairing vision.

 Looking at a screen with a light source behind you: The light source can
get reflected on the screen, impairing your ability to perceive whatever is
being displayed.

In these scenarios of disability glare, light interferes with the task at hand, but without
reaching the point of causing pain or physical discomfort. The adverse consequences of being
objected to glare will be discussed in section (2.6.3).

26
2.3.4 Clutter

Clutter refers to excessive groupings of lights. Groupings of lights may generate

confusion, distract from obstacles (including those that they may be intended to illuminate), and
potentially cause accidents. Clutter is particularly noticeable on roads where the street lights are
badly designed, or where brightly lit advertising surrounds the roadways.

Depending on the motives of the person or organization who installed the lights, their
placement and design may even be intended to distract drivers, and can contribute to accidents.
Clutter may also present a hazard in the aviation environment if aviation safety lighting must
compete for pilot attention with non-relevant lighting. For instance, runway lighting may be
confused with an array of suburban commercial lighting and aircraft collision avoidance lights
may be confused with ground lights.

Figure 16: Illustration of a light clutter example

2.3.5 Sky Glow

Sky glow refers to the "glow" effect that can be seen over populated areas. The light that
is reflected from the surfaces that have to be lit, will end up in the sky as well and from all of the
badly directed light in that area that also escapes into the sky, being scattered (redirected) by
the atmosphere back toward the ground.

There are two kinds of light scattering that lead to sky glow: scattering from molecules
such as N2 and O2 (called Rayleigh scattering), and that from aerosols such as dust, smoke,
and haze (called Mie scattering). Rayleigh scattering is much stronger for short-wavelength
(blue) light, while scattering from aerosols is wavelength-independent. Rayleigh scattering
makes the sky appear blue in the daytime; the more aerosols there are the less blue or whiter
the sky appears. In many areas, most particularly in urban areas, aerosol scattering dominates,
due to the heavy aerosol loading caused by modern industrial activity, power generation,
farming and transportation.

27
 Because of this Rayleigh effect and because of the eye's increased sensitivity to white or
blue-rich light sources when adapted to very low light level, white or blue-rich light contributes
significantly more to sky-glow than an equal amount of yellow light.

Sky glow acts like a diffuse haze that stretches over the sky, or at least a large part of it,
making the observation of astronomical objects hard or even impossible. Reduced contrast in
the sky is particularly problematic for amateur astronomers, whose ability to observe the night
sky from their property is likely to be inhibited by any stray light from nearby. Most major optical
astronomical observatories are surrounded by zones of strictly-enforced restrictions on light
emissions.

Figure 17: The Sky glow of Dubai City

2.4 Measuring and Mapping Light Pollution

The opportunity to enjoy and appreciate natural nightscapes and starry night skies are
dependent on the weather, the clarity of the air, and the amount of light pollution present. There
is a range of methods for measuring the amount of light pollution using various techniques,
processes and devices depending on the purpose, different methods are in use. This part will
list not all but most of the used techniques to evaluate our sky status at night.

2.4.1 Bortle Scale

The visibility of certain celestial features can be used to make simple qualitative
appraisals of the night sky. For example, the ability to see the Milky Way in the night sky (our
own galaxy seen edge-on) indicates a moderate level of sky quality. These estimates can be
done quickly by a dark-adapted observer but tend to be biased from one person to another. The
most popular qualitative assessment is the Bortle Dark Sky Scale22.

22
John E. Bortle, "Introducing the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale," Sky & Telescope Publishing Corporation, February 2001,
126-129

28
 The Bortle Scale is a nine-level numeric measure of the night sky‘s brightness in a
particular location. It quantifies the astronomical visibility of celestial objects and the interference
caused by light pollution. John E. Bortle created the scale and published it in the February 2001
edition of Sky & Telescope magazine to help amateur astronomers evaluate and compare the
darkness of observing sites. The scale ranges from Class 1, the darkest skies available on
Earth, to Class 9, daylight-like inner city skies.

Figure 18: Bortle Dark-Sky Scale23

2.4.2 Star counts

Another simple method is using "star counts". A defined area of the sky, such as the
constellation Orion, is examined and the number of stars is either counted or the constellation is
compared to a series of images. Each image shows an increasing number of stars; the more
light pollution, the less contrast is afforded the observer and the less stars are seen. This
estimate can be made by a dark-adapted observer with a basic understanding of the night sky in
about 20 or 30 minutes. Star counts can also be biased from one individual to another and
depend on the visual awareness and patience of the observer.

From the definition and the ease of measuring procedure a person can identify that this
method for evaluating the brightness of the sky and by default the light pollution in the
surrounding, is widely used by astronomers, but the main problem in classifying skies, lies in the
fact that everybody has own mental-model of what a dark sky is or what is not. An observer
close to light polluted surrounding like Singapore or Dubai may has a different perspective from
an observer located at a relatively dark surrounding like rural or deserted living points.
Subjective results will be the case in most of the times.

23
"The Bortle Scale," ,
n.d.http://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/styles/sierra_full_page_width/public/slideshows/
SIERRA%20Skyglow%20Bortle%20Scale%20WB.jpg?itok=ErZIjtuf.

29
2.4.3 Cameras

The need for a tool or a method that can measure the goodness of a night sky with no
subjective interpretations was raised specially after the development of technology. This tool
would have a true standardized quality estimator of the sky.
Technology can facilitate this difficult task of ―counting the stars‖. One simple solution
could be the use of a digital camera. In fact we can simply shoot a few photos and have a truly
objective representation of the sky. With that solution, however, we have also many drawbacks.
If we are not having the same camera the data collected are not comparable. How were the
shots taken? This is the real problem. Many astronomers are not photographers they use their
camera in automatic mode blindly, knowing little about exposure times, focal ratio and sensor
sensibility. Thus often the use of digital camera is not the best solution.

2.4.4 Photo-sensors

A more sophisticated and solution is to use a light sensor that measures illuminance
named lux-meters or luminance named luminance meter. These are typically photodiodes, but a
lux-meter needs to be very accurate because we are measuring light in an environment in which
there is no light by definition. Normally, it gives the sky a value of dark because it is incapable of
measuring such small quantities of photons. The least but not last drawback is that a lux-meter
with the right capabilities has a prohibitive cost for most astronomers.

A recent innovation of this type is inexpensive sky quality meters. These devices are
tuned for measuring the luminance of the night sky as seen by human night vision. These
devices provide a single quantitative measure of the night sky, typically pointed straight up at
the zenith. The most common device is produced by a Canadian firm called the Unihedron Sky
Quality Meter (SQM). All the SQM data are comparable, and that is assured by a calibration
process done during the production phases. More details at sec 3.4.1.

Figure 19: Sky Quality Meter (SQM) device

2.4.5 Satellites

Another approach entirely is to put the camera in space onboard a satellite and look
downward upon Earth's surface. This method has been used to look at the global span of light
pollution, trace the development of cities, and reconstruct the growth of light pollution over time.

30
 The US Air Force Defense initiated a mission in the mid-1960‘s under the control of the
US Department of Defense (DoD) named the US Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program (DMSP), in order to provide the military with information about the cloud cover
worldwide on a daily basis. Scrutinizing the results, it was discovered that the nighttime lights
were also very well captured by the sensors and that was the beginning of depending on
satellite to collect information about light pollution levels.

The DMSP Satellites fly in a sun-synchronous low earth orbit (833 km mean altitude)
such that they pass over any given point on earth between 20:30 and 21:30 local time. With 14
orbits per day, each DMSP satellite provides global night-time coverage every 24 hours. There
are normally 2 satellites orbiting simultaneously and each satellite has a lifespan of 6 to 8 years.

Figure 20: DMSP – Block 5D-3 Spacecraft24

2.4.6 Current Status

Forming a complete and detailed evaluation for the situation of light pollution in our globe
requires a difficult and expensive process consuming lots of resources. Not only one or two
organization will be able to give us the details of the daily, monthly, and seasonal updates.
However, there was and still till now a great interest to map the effect of worldwide artificial night
sky brightness. Using high resolution satellite imaging data and software algorithms a model for
the planet‘s sky can be created. The latest atlas is based on data published mid of 2016 by a
team of researchers led by Fabio Falchi and including Chris Elvidge of National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Kimberly Baugh of Cooperative Institute for Research
in Environmental Sciences (CIRES)25.

24
"NRO/US Air Force," , n.d.http://spaceflight101.com/spacecraft/wp content/uploads/sites/18/2015/09/1198584
_orig-512x373.jpg.
25
F. Falchi et al., "The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness," Science Advances 2, no. 6 (2016):
e1600377-e1600377

31
 Figure 21: The World Atlas of the Artificial Night Sky Brightness

This atlas shows about 83% of the world‘s population and more than 99% of the U.S.
and European populations live under light-polluted skies. Due to light pollution, the Milky Way is
not visible to more than one-third of humanity, including 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of
North Americans. Moreover, 23% of the world land surfaces between 75°N and 60°S, 88% of
Europe, and almost half of the United States experience light-polluted nights.

The countries with the populations least affected by light pollution are Chad, Central
African Republic, and Madagascar, with more than three-quarters of their inhabitants living
under pristine sky conditions. The countries and territories with the largest non-polluted areas
are listed in table (1).

Country % of non-polluted areas

Greenland 0.12%
Central African Republic 0.29%
Niue 0.45%
Somalia 1.2%
Mauritania 1.4%
Table 1: Countries and territories with the largest non-polluted areas

On the other side, the most light-polluted country is Singapore, where the entire
population lives under skies so bright that the eye cannot fully dark-adapt to night vision. Other
populations experiencing this level of light pollution are listed in table (2).

32
 Country % of inhabitants living under
extremely bright skies
Singapore 100%
Kuwait 98%
Qatar 97%
United Arab Emirates 93%
Saudi Arabia 83%
South Korea 66%
Israel 61%
Argentina 58%
Libya 53%
Trinidad and Tobago 50%
Table 2: Countries and territories with the largest polluted areas; all of these countries have more than half of their
inhabitants living under extremely bright skies

2.5 Units for Assessing Sky Brightness

As stated in the previous part there are several ways to measure the
brightness/darkness of the sky. The most widespread units to assess sky brightness are called
NELM and MPSAS. Both are used equally. NELM is used mostly to evaluate the sky without
instruments. MPSAS is used mostly when the data is calculated by an electronic sensor.

2.5.1 NELM

Stands for Naked Eye Limiting Magnitude, this system measures the dimmest star
visible with only the naked eyes at the zenith. To determine the NELM, it is sufficient to consult
a star atlas where every single star is catalogued with its NELM value. When the user spots the
dimmest star we have a good estimation of sky goodness. NELM values have a very tiny range.
An average bad sky has normally a value of about ―4 magnitude‖, and the darkest on the planet
normally has a value of about ―7 magnitude‖.

These measurements are obviously dependent on the eyesight of the user, and subject
to inter-individual differences. Furthermore, the tiny range of measurements makes it very
difficult to understand what these values really mean.

2.5.2 MPSAS

Stands for Magnitude-Per-Square-Arcsec and is a complex logarithmic unit of

measurement. It measures the darkness taking into account the absolute magnitude of one star
measured in a small square area with one arcsecond side. The full moon is about half a square
degree, 1 arcsecond squared is about 1/8000 smaller than the moon. This type of measurement
is done only by specific sensors that are able to capture and measure the faintest stars. The
measurements are much more accurate than NELM.

33
 Sky luminosity can vary from (-7) when there is the Sun, to (22-23) in the darkest place
on Earth. Even if the range is wider than NELM, the increase of one unit in a measurement
corresponds effectively to a 2.5 times darker sky. For example a sky of 18 MPSAS is 2.5 darker
than a sky of 17 MPSAS.

2.5.3 Conversion between units

Nobody has performed the task of defining a relationship between the two methods of
sky brightness (X magnitude skies and magnitudes per square arcsecond) probably because
one is subjective and the other is objective and a wide variety of people would have to be
polled. An approximation exists for the conversion between NELM and MPSAS as follow:

Convert NELM (X mags) to MPSAS (B) sky brightness:26

Bmpsas = 21.58 − 5 × log (10(1.586-NELM/5) − 1)

Convert MPSAS (B) sky brightness to NELM (X mags):27

NELM = 7.93 − 5 × log (10(4.316-(Bmpsas/5)) + 1)

A plot of the NELM against the MPSAS in Figure (22) shows the almost linear
correspondence in between.

Figure 22: NELM and MPSAS relation28

26
BRADLEY E. SCHAEFER, "TELESCOPIC LIMITING MAGNITUDES," Publications of the Astronomical Society of the
Pacific 102, no. 648 (February 1990): 212-229
27
Nils Olof Carlin, http://w1.411.telia.com/~u41105032/visual/Schaefer.htm.

34
2.6 Impacts of Light Pollution

Creatures depend on Earth‘s daily cycle of light and dark to govern life-sustaining
behaviors such as reproduction, nourishment, sleep and protection from predators. Scientific
evidence suggests that artificial light at night has harmful and lethal effects on many creatures,
including plants, amphibians, birds, mammals, invertebrates and humans as well. In this part my
main focus is to investigate the impacts of light pollution on our sky, nature, animals and
humans.

2.6.1 Effects on the Sky

When a light source illuminates the night sky, for example, the city lighting creates a halo
effect of light in the sky that avoids us to watch the stars. If there is no astronomical light
pollution, then it is possible to contemplate the stars, due to the contrast of illuminated bodies
with darkness of the night. During the last decade of the 60s and even the 70s, the effects of
light pollution on the night sky were almost minimal. In later years this problem has increased to
visualize the stars that even with special and sophisticated equipment is difficult to study them.

Figure 23: light pollution halo encroaching into the sky in this star-trail photograph taken. Photo by Justin Tilbrook

Astronomical light pollution directly affects the sky which is a huge concern for
astronomers in two ways. The first is simply because of the sky glow produced by the poorly
designed and aimed lights in the cities; doesn´t let the scientists to visualize celestial bodies. As
mentioned in the introduction; one-third of the world population can no longer see the Milky Way
with their naked eyes. This problem can be reduced by making sure that street lights are
shielded so that most of the light is pointed downwards. This is where the light is needed
anyway, and by shielding the lights we both reduce light pollution and reduce the wattage of
fixture required for the same amount of ground lighting, thus saving energy as well.

The second way city lights interfere with astronomy is much more insidious. Often,
astronomers want to take the spectra of an object, splitting the light from the telescope into its

28
"Sky Quality Meter," Unihedron, accessed May 12, 2017, http://unihedron.com/projects/darksky/.

35
component colors. When you take a spectrum of fluorescing objects like galaxies, you see that
the spectrum is not smooth, but made up of a number of lines. Each line is a unique indicator of
the presence of a certain chemical.

By studying the strengths of these lines, astronomers can deduce the chemical
composition and temperatures of the objects they observe. By noting the redshift of the lines
(how far to the red side of the spectrum they are shifted), astronomers can determine how fast
the object is moving. Spectroscopy is probably the most valuable tool in the astronomers'
toolbox. Unfortunately, city lights play havoc with spectrographs. Inspect at the figure below.

Figure 24: A spectrogram of a galaxy in the constellation Hercules, taken by the 200 inch telescope at Palomar

This is a spectrogram of a galaxy in the constellation Hercules, taken by the 200 inch
telescope at Palomar, California in the U.S.A. Redder colors are on the left, and bluer colors are
on the right. The bright horizontal line through the middle is the light of the galaxy we observed
that night. The bright vertical lines that you see are not from the galaxy: they are lines from
mercury vapor lamps in street lights. The lines from the galaxy are actually dark against the light
of the galaxy, but they are very difficult to find because they are lost in the bright lines from the
city29.

Mercury vapor lamps have an enormous number of these spectral lines in all parts of the
spectrum, and interfere with astronomical observations from the infrared to the ultraviolet. You
may refer to sec 2.7.2. This is why astronomers encourage the use of sodium vapor lamps
instead. As stated in sec 2.7.2 Sodium vapor has only two lines in the entire optical spectrum.
So if cities used sodium vapor instead of mercury, we would have a much easier time analyzing
astronomical spectra with the help of light pollution reduction (LPR) filters which are designed to
reduce (but not eliminate) the effects of light pollution by filtering out spectral lines commonly
emitted by sodium light sources.

Unfortunately, there is no kind of corrective lens that we can use to filter out all this light
pollution. Any filter that we used to filter out the undesirable light would also filter out the light we
want to see and often creating a pronounced green cast. No filter can match the effectiveness of
a dark sky for visual or photographic purposes. The effort has to come from the cities

29
"How Does Light Pollution Affect Astronomers? (Intermediate) - Curious About Astronomy? Ask an Astronomer,"
Home - Curious About Astronomy? Ask an Astronomer, accessed May 16, 2017, http://curious.astro.cornell.edu
/about-us/116-observational-astronomy/stargazing/professional-observers/712-how-does-light-pollution-affect-
astronomers-intermediate.

36
themselves and the voluntary efforts of their citizens to use shielded sodium vapor lights when
they live near observatories.

2.6.2 Effects on Animals

In the natural world, sources of light are either very predictable or notably ephemeral.
The dominant and structuring source of light is the sun, through daylight and the reflected light
of moonlight. Life evolved with predictable daily, monthly, and seasonal patterns of light and
dark, and these patterns underlie the natural rhythms of nearly all living organisms. Artificial
night lighting has long been known to affect these patterns creating imbalance in the ecosystem.
Different types of insects, birds, and animals feel attracted by light, affecting and changing their
circadian system and their life span. The extent of impacts varies with the duration, intensity and
wavelengths of light that are in the environment.

Coastal dunes, beaches, and shorelines are a transition zone between terrestrial and
aquatic habitats. They often contain gradients of lighting influence from developed shorelines to
darker lakes and oceans. Sea turtles are prominent victims of these disrupted lighting regimes.
The foraging decisions of many other species are influenced by lighting conditions, embodying
tradeoffs between predation risk and dietary needs.

Deserts and scrublands are open habitats with few barriers to light transmission. They
are also often hot in the day, with large proportions of nocturnal and crepuscular species
avoiding thermal stress. Many nocturnal desert species prefer low illumination levels and have
good visual performance under the faint light of the darkest nights.

Wetlands and rivers are often dark spots surrounded by lights, especially when close to
human settlement. Movement of species into and out of wetlands and streams is influenced by
lights, as is the movement of animals, such as fishes or aquatic invertebrates, up and down
rivers and streams. Down-welling light mediates most predator–prey interactions in the water
column. Changing light levels cause predators and prey to change depth. Small prey species
are influenced by the phase of the moon, and lighting can degrade conditions favorable to
successful foraging. Emerging research demonstrates that lighting influences the developmental
rates of wetland organisms such as amphibians.

Islands, oceans, and reefs are increasingly influenced by lights from onshore sources,
hydrocarbon extraction platforms, fishing vessels, and all manner of ships. Down-welling light is
also a dominant factor in structuring ecosystem processes in marine water columns, and many
organisms are sensitive to extremely small changes in light levels. Extensive vertical migrations
are driven by changes in surface illumination. Changes in surface lighting can have effects
hundreds of meters below the surface. Lighting will alter reproduction and predator–prey
interactions, and can attract organisms across wide areas.

37
 Grasslands are also open habitats with few barriers to block lights. Research shows
influence of lighting on nesting behavior of birds, distribution of predators, and signaling by
bioluminescent organisms such as fireflies.

Deciduous and evergreen forests can block light and reduce its influence, but also
contain communities of forest floor species adapted to lighting levels much dimmer than in
exposed habitats. Therefore even low levels of light can influence foraging times or timing of
reproductive activity.

Alpine and tundra habitats are well represented in protected lands. Many species have
annual rhythms designed to avoid the harsh winter that are potentially disrupted by lighting
cues. In alpine habitats, the slope of the land potentially exposes habitats to direct glare from
downslope sources in addition to light reflected in the atmosphere.

Finally, urban environments have many artificial light sources, but still can support
significant biodiversity in the form of both resident and migratory species. Migratory birds are
attracted to lighted structures at night and collide with windows during the day. Some bat
species are attracted to insects found under city lights, while others avoid them30.

2.6.2.1 Insects

Many animals appear to be attracted by night lights. This applies primarily to flying
insects. Insects are considered the main component of the foundation of our food pyramid. The
behavior of the insects toward lights can be described in different effects which are discussed in
this section.

The first effect is the near effect on individual insects, called the ―fixated or capture
effect‖, which many have noticed regarding insects and lights at night. Some insects‘ species fly
towards the lights and keep circulating around them unable to perform their basic functions for
life, such as to find food or to reproduce. Thus they are removed from gene pool and the
species suffer. Other insects fly directly into the light, only to get killed by the hot glass surface.
Still others try to naturally fly at angles to the light, assuming it is the distant Moon, only to enter
into an ever tighter spiral around the light and hence become caught by the light. Such insects
either become easy prey for other animals or eventually just exhaust themselves, falling dead to
the ground.

30
Catherine Rich and Travis Longcore, "Executive Summary," in Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting
(Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006), ix

38
 Figure 25: Insect attraction to street lamps in Tudela, Spain31

The other effects are broader in scale and their far compelling effects vary according to
background conditions, such the lunar phase or from localized sky glow. They include the ―crash
barrier effect‖, where a string of lights, such as those along a road that crosses an insect flight
path, becomes an actual fence to those insects, prohibiting their crossing. This effect stops the
insect's movement across the land.

One more effect is the ―vacuum cleaner effect‖, where the insects are drawn out of their
environment to their deaths by a light making the landscape evacuated of life. A brighter lunar
phase reduces the contrast of the lights and hence their effect.

A detailed study has been made on the influence of light on insects in Germany ended
up with following results32:
1) The sensitivity curves in different insect species are quite different
2) Most insects are sensitive for UV light
3) The maximum of the sensitivity curve in insects is more towards the blue as
compared to the human visual system
4) Consequently, most insects are more sensitive for blue light and less sensitive for
yellow and red light as compared to human beings.

Studies on the relative spectral sensitivity of the visual system of insects, it is found that for
insects that are common in Germany where the study was conducted, high-pressure mercury
lamps (White light) have the highest attraction value, as compared to fluorescent tubes and

31
"Insect attraction to street lamps in Tudela, Spain," , n.d.https://encrypted tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn
:ANd9GcT3pQgGouqT15u4SBtu2jYdHuRFp2TaWND1K_XVQAoC9oOJhR_J68b_Fn8d
32
Narisada, “Light Pollution Handbook”, 95-96

39
high-pressure sodium lamps (yellow light)33. The data suggests that by changing lights from
high pressure mercury vapor lamps (HPMV) to high pressure sodium vapor lamps (HPSV) the
insect losses would be reduced by 55% and a 75%.

The influence of different luminaires on the attraction of insects has been investigated. It
was found that the light distribution of the luminaires has considerable influence on insect
behavior. In general, luminaires that emit light in all directions attract many more insects than
luminaires that emit light in the lower hemisphere only. More in detail, it was found that street
lighting luminaires with a semi-cut-off light distribution attract 1.5 times as many insects as cut-
off luminaires, whereas non-cut off globe lights attract 8 times as many insects as semi-cut-off
street lighting luminaires and 12 times as many insects as cut-off street lighting luminaires. The
classification of luminaires is discussed in detail in sec 2.7.2.

An example of attraction of large numbers of insects around lamps –vacuum cleaner

effect- is reported from mayflies along riversides and bridges. The swarming of the species
Ephoron virgo insects shown in the figure (26) -or other species- is described as summer snow
drifting because the insects are attracted in such masses that the ground near lights is covered
by a centimeter thick layer of these insects. An estimated 1.5 million individuals have been
recorded in one night on an illuminated road surface of a bridge. It is part of the fatal destiny of
the animals that each female loses her egg cluster upon first contact with an object. Eggs that
are not released into water must be regarded as a loss for the population, with potentially
significant effects on the local population34.

Figure 26: Ephoron virgo

The previously mentioned German study calculated the total insect mortality would
range between 60 to 130 billion deaths per summer season for just the country of Germany

33
Gerhard Eisenbeis and Andreas Hänel, "Light pollution and the impact of artificial night lighting on insects,"
Ecology of Cities and Towns (n.d.), 2009, 243-263
34
A. Kureck and R. J. Fontes, "The life cycle and emergence of Ephoron virgo, a large potamal mayfly that has
returned to the River Rhine," River Systems 10, no. 1-4 (1996):319-323

40
alone. It‘s significant also to point out that over time, the death rate should go down, only
because as the necessary insect species will have become ―vacuum cleaned out‖ of the
environment to the point that their birth rates should decay too. Thus, light pollution cannot be
seen as a minor problem for insect species. It is a wholesale slaughter caused by us humans,
who apathetically leave many lights on, that we then hardly ever use35.

The familiar glowing patterns of fireflies are a crucial part of their mating rituals. Each
species of firefly has a characteristic pattern of flashing light that helps its male and female
individuals recognize each other. The males fly and flash, while the usually stationary females
respond with their own flashes. A recent study concluded that light pollution may disrupt this
carefully conducted ritual. The researchers subjected ‗big dipper‘ fireflies (Photinus pyralis) to
artificial light, and found that the females didn‘t flash back at the male as often as those not
exposed to light, resulting in fewer of those females mating. But, the researchers found that the
firefly areas subjected to the artificial light at night didn‘t appear to have lower populations than
those that were not, at least in the short term36.

However, the potential for long-term demographic effects of light pollution remains.
There was a significant 114% in female responses to the courtship flashes of nearby males in
artificially lit vs. unlit plots. Thus, it‘s suggested that reduced female fecundity in light polluted
areas is one mechanism potentially driving low firefly abundances in light polluted areas. Further
research may reveal how firefly populations are affected in the long term by exposure to artificial
light.

2.6.2.2 Birds

Birds that migrate or hunt at night navigate by moonlight and starlight. Artificial lights can
cause them to wander off course towards dangerous nighttime landscapes of cities. Every year
millions of birds die colliding with unnecessarily illuminated buildings and towers. According to a
2014 study, species commonly reported in glass collisions include White-throated Sparrow and
Dark-eyed Junco. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are frequent victims, along with Wood Thrush
and other species of conservation concern37. In North America, an estimated 4-5 million birds
are killed per year in collisions with towers. Most of these are neotropical migrants, birds that
migrate to Central and South America, which are already under severe population stress38.

Migratory birds depend on cues from properly timed seasonal schedules. Artificial lights
can cause them to migrate too early or too late and miss ideal climate conditions for nesting,

35
Travis Longcore and Catherine Rich, "PART V. INVERTEBRATES," in Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night
Lighting (Washington, DC: Island Press, 2006), 191-197
36
Ariel Firebaugh and Kyle J. Haynes, "Experimental tests of light-pollution impacts on nocturnal insect courtship
and dispersal," Oecologia 182, no. 4 (2016): 1203-1211
37
Scott R. Loss et al., "Bird–building collisions in the United States: Estimates of annual mortality and species
vulnerability," The Condor 116, no. 1 (2014): 8-23
38
BANKS, R.C., 1979. Human related mortality of birds in the United States. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Special
Scientific Report – Wildlife 215: 1–16

41
foraging and other behaviors. Researchers report that nocturnally migrating birds who
encounter artificial light tend to lose a lot of their energy due to light fixation, which can cause
them to become confused and fly around points of illumination until they die from exhaustion.
Another problem occurs when birds begin their migration too early. Migration is a specifically
timed biological event and if they arrive at their nesting habitat too early the conditions for
nesting will not be adequate39. Without conditions fit for nesting many birds‘ reproductive habits
will suffer.

Some evidence suggests that artificial lighting at night affects the choice of nesting sites
for birds. One example is the black-tailed godwits in wet grassland habitats40. Over 2 years,
breeding densities of godwits were recorded. Lighted and unlighted conditions near a roadway
and near light poles were compared. When all other habitat factors were taken into account, the
density of nests was statistically lower up to 300 meters away from the lighting at roadway and
control sites. Researchers also noted that birds nesting earlier in the year chose sites farther
away from the lights, while those nesting later filled in sites closer.

Figure 27: Blacktailed Goodwits

A specific study was applied on European blackbirds (Turdus merula) to test for the
effect of light at night on timing of reproductive physiology. In this study light loggers were
attached to free-living European blackbirds to measure the light intensity at night which forest
and city birds are subjected to in the wild. Then these measurements were the base to test for
the effect of light at night on timing of reproductive physiology. Captive city and forest blackbirds
were exposed to either dark nights or very low light intensities at night (0.3 lux). Birds exposed
to light at night developed their reproductive system up to one month earlier and also moulted
earlier, than birds kept under dark nights. Furthermore, city birds responded differently than
forest individuals to the light at night treatment, suggesting that urbanization can alter the
physiological phenotype of songbirds41.

39
Kevin J. Gaston et al., "REVIEW: Reducing the ecological consequences of night-time light pollution: options and
developments," Journal of Applied Ecology 49, no. 6 (2012): 1256-1266
40
J.G. de Molenaar, Dick A. Jonkers, and M.E. Sanders, Road Illumination and Nature III, III (Road Illumination and
Nature. Wageningen: Alterra, Green World Research, 2000), 11-75
41
D. Dominoni, M. Quetting, and J. Partecke, "Artificial light at night advances avian reproductive physiology,"
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 280, no. 1756 (2013): 20123017-20123017

42
 Figure 28 : Blackbird - Turdus merula42

2.6.2.3 Sea Turtles

Some of the best-documented researches on artificial light‘s impact are those on sea
turtles. The research on light‘s deleterious effects on sea turtles and their hatchlings may be as
close to definitive as any research done on light pollution to date. A study investigated the
impact of artificial light on nesting behavior of loggerheads, green turtles, and leatherbacks sea
turtles in Florida. It was found out that fewer nests where there is higher light intensity; female
choice of nesting site is strongly biased by coastal development and its associated lighting.

Figure 29: A sea turtle swimming close by one of the attractions of Dubai city; Burj Al-Arab43

Artificial lights also disorient new turtle hatchlings, and could cause them to be unable to
find the sea, and be more prone to exhaustion, dehydration, and predation by other animals.
This ―seafinding‖ is the main crux of the problem of artificial light‘s impact upon the behavior of
nestling sea turtles. Hatchling sea turtles in a natural environment use visual cues to reach the
water from their nests. The visual cues they use to orient themselves come from the shadows
created by bushes and grasses. The sea turtles use the shadows as a visual cue to move away

42
"Turdus merula," Flicker, 2012, https://www.flickr.com/photos/roque141/6829980937/in/photostream/.
43
"Sea turtle," , n.d.https://blooloop.com/userfiles/content/images/ECA/burj%20%20al%20arab%20turtle%
20release.jpg.

43
from and the artificial light does not provide any dark shadows to trigger their movements. The
presence of artificial light makes it more difficult -and in some cases impossible- for sea turtles
to get their bearings and find the ocean44. An example of just how bad this problem has become
can be seen in a case study where due to artificial light on a Turkish loggerhead turtle
hatchlings reaching the ocean declined by 40%45.

Figure 30: Baby Sea turtles crawling towards the light46

Interested scientists took the initiative and did studies to find a way to minimize the
negative effects of artificial lighting on decaying sea turtles. It was concluded that new
strategies of light management are necessary; light must be used more precisely, it should be
less intensive and in longer wave-lengths so it is less disruptive. These procedures can have
little or even no effect on the orientation of newly hatched turtles saving them from being killed.

Figure 31: Before and after exchanging the lights of a property located towards a sea coast with long wave length turtle
friendly lighting47

44
Michael Salmon, "Artificial night lighting and sea turtles," Biologist, August 2003, 163-166.
45
Michael H. Depledge, Céline A. Godard-Codding, and Robert E. Bowen, "Light pollution in the sea," Marine
Pollution Bulletin 60, no. 9 (2010): 1383-1385.
46
"Sea turtles," , n.d.http://www.lbknews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/sea_turtle_light_pollution_large.jpg.
47
"Eastern Mist, Franklin County," , n.d.https://conserveturtles.org/wp-content/uploads/EasternMist-1.png.

44
2.6.2.4 Amphibians and Marine Animals

The adverse effects of artificial night lights have also influenced amphibians. Amphibians
(particularly frogs and salamanders) are important components of many forest and aquatic
ecosystem. Amphibians are particularly sensitive to environmental changes48 and, thus, are
important indicators of the health of ecosystems. Light pollution may also contribute to global
decline of amphibians, because many amphibians are nocturnally active or have biological
rhythms regulated by light49. Results of several conducted studies demonstrate that artificial
night lighting has the potential to affect foraging and breeding as well as growth and
development of frogs and salamanders. Thus, artificial night lighting should be considered an
additional factor that negatively impacts amphibian populations.

Glare from artificial lights can impact wetland habitats that are home to amphibians
whose nighttime croaking is part of the breeding ritual. Artificial lights disrupt this nocturnal
activity, interfering with reproduction, which reduces populations. Rapid increases in light can
blind animals, like frogs. The recovery time for frogs may be minutes to hours50. After getting
used to a light, frogs may be attracted to it as well51. Artificial night lighting may also affect
reproductive behaviors.

Researchers in a recent laboratory study exposed tadpoles of the African clawed frog,
Xenopus laevis to a 12L:12D photoperiod (lighted during the day and complete darkness at
night), with daytime light levels of 100 lux and varying nocturnal illuminations of 0.0001 lux (very
dark night), 0.01 lx (comparable to bright moonlight), 1 lux (comparable to dawn or dusk), and
100 lx to measure the effect of light at night on growth and metamorphosis in tadpoles of these
African clawed frog. The researchers found that the tadpoles differed in amount of growth in the
different nocturnal light treatments; at the end of the experiment, a greater proportion of frogs in
the darkest lighting treatment metamorphosed than in the other lighting treatments shown in
figure (32). Even small amounts of light at night (comparable to bright moonlight, or artificial
lights from anthropogenic sources) may delay metamorphosis.

48
Ross A. Alford and Stephen J. Richards, "Global Amphibian Declines: A Problem in Applied Ecology," Annual
Review of Ecology and Systematics 30, no. 1 (1999): 133-165
49
"STUDYING THE ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF LIGHT POLLUTION ON WILDLIFE: AMPHIBIANS AS MODELS (PDF
Download Available)," ResearchGate, accessed June 15, 2017,
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242297944_STUDYING_THE_ECOLOGICAL_IMPACTS_OF_LIGHT_POLLU
TION_ON_WILDLIFE_AMPHIBIANS_AS_MODELS
50
Bryant W. Buchanan, "Effects of enhanced lighting on the behaviour of nocturnal frogs," Animal Behaviour 45,
no. 5 (1993): 893–99
51
Robert G. Jaeger and Jack P. Hailman, "Effects of Intensity on the Phototactic Responses of Adult Anuran
Amphibians: A Comparative Survey1," Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 33, no. 3-4 (2010): 352–407

45
 Figure 32: Tadpoles of the same age exposed to different nocturnal illuminations. The tadpole in A, from the darkest
lighting treatment, is metamorphosing. The tadpole in B still retains the larval body form and is not yet ready to
metamorphose

A study was conducted on túngara frogs -figure (33)- concluded to a result that female
frogs are less selective about choosing a mate choice when light levels are increased,
presumably preferring to mate quickly and avoid an increased chance of predators52.

Figure 33: (a) Calling male túngara frog preyed upon by frog-biting midges; (b) female (bottom) in amplexus with a male
(top) covered with biting midges; (c) female (bottom) with a biting midge on her nostril that was passed from the male
during amplexus.53

One more study conducted by two Canadian researchers on the reproductive behavior
of northern green frogs (figure 33), they counted the number of calls by males to attract mates

52
A. S. Rand et al., "Light Levels Influence Female Choice in Túngara Frogs: Predation Risk Assessment?," Copeia
1997, no. 2 (1997): 447
53
Ximena E. Bernal and C. M. Pinto, "Sexual differences in prevalence of a new species of trypanosome infecting
túngara frogs," International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife 5, no. 1 (2016): 40-47

46
under natural ambient darkness and under the light of a flashlight shined on them. This
flashlight simulates the effects of a security light on a motion detector or the flash of lights from
a passing car. The results show a significant 44% decrease in the number of calls and a 675%
increase in the number of moves made by individuals54. If such an effect is long-term and
widespread, the result may be changes in the population dynamics of frogs exposed to artificial
night lighting.

Figure 34: Northern Green Frog55

A field study was conducted to examine the short-term effect of artificial night lighting on
the foraging activity of the red-back salamander, Plethodon cinereus. These salamanders
occupy the leaf litter in eastern North American deciduous forests, maintaining territories under
cover objects (rocks and logs) that provide protection from predation and desiccation56,57. This
field experiment demonstrated a short-term reduction in activity of salamanders that were
exposed to artificial night lighting. These salamanders, like many other species, are limited to
foraging on the forest floor during moist periods at night. The introduction of light at night
reduced this activity. If chronic exposure to artificial night lighting has similar long-term effects
on salamanders, artificial night lighting has the potential to limit foraging opportunities, which
may ultimately reduce growth and reproductive output, survival during winter hibernation, and
population size and distribution58.

Figure 35: Redback Salamanders (Plethodon cinereus)59

54
B.J. Baker and J.M.L. Richardson, "The effect of artificial light on male breeding-season behaviour in green
frogs,Rana clamitans melanota," Canadian Journal of Zoology 84, no. 10 (2006): 1528–1532
55
Photo courtesy of Janet Wisneski
56
Robert G. Jaeger, "Fluctuations in prey availability and food limitation for a terrestrial salamander," Oecologia
44, no. 3 (1979): 335-341
57
Robert G. Jaeger, "Microhabitats of a Terrestrial Forest Salamander," Copeia 1980, no. 2 (1980): 265-268
58
"STUDYING THE ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF LIGHT POLLUTION ON WILDLIFE: AMPHIBIANS AS MODELS”
59
"Plethodon serratus," , n.d.https://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Plethodon/P_cinereus.shtml.

47
 Sky glow around sports stadiums caused by artificial light at night can halt the mating
activity of nearby frogs. Like nocturnal frogs, salamanders are also affected by light pollution. As
nocturnal animals, they wake up when there is no light. Light pollution may cause salamanders
to come out from undercover later, giving them less time to mate.

Artificial light can impact zooplankton by not allowing them to migrate to the surface of
the ocean during the nighttime. Zooplanktons are simply heterotrophic plankton that drifts with
the currents of the sea. Zooplanktons have important ecological roles in their communities.
Artificial light that shines into the ocean can reach organisms that inhabit the lower levels.

Figure 36: A variety of zooplankton organisms60

Zooplankton move from the lower levels of the ocean to the higher levels to feed on the
algae and escape predators (Longcore et al., 2004). This daily migration from the lower levels of
the ocean to the higher levels is known is diel vertical migration. During the day zooplankton can
be found in the lower levels to escape predators and will eventually migrate to the surface at
night. However, the artificial light does not allow for diel vertical migration (a pattern of
movement used by some organisms occurs when they move up from deep water levels to the
shallow levels) to take place, because the increase in artificial light causes them to avoid these
illuminated areas near the surface. This disruption in vertical migration may have significant
impacts on the ecological community.

Figure 37: Diel vertical migration (DVM)

60
"Zooplanktons," , n.d.https://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/seabirds_foragefish/marinehabitat/index.php.

48
 The use of intense lights for fishing at night attracts large numbers of fish. This method
leads to over-fishing and contributes to the decline of fish worldwide. This method can endanger
nursery grounds for immature Mukene, Nile perch and Tilapia because it is used in shallow
waters near the coastlines61. Another study on lighting techniques in deep-sea fish observation
pointed out that white light disrupts the natural behavior of deep-sea fish. Observations showed
that the average number of fish appearances on camera was significantly greater under red light
than white light. Reasons are the adaptation of the eyes of deep-sea fishes to the dark
environment and the possible damage to eyes by bright lights62.

In summary, whether outdoor light is directly next to a species habitat or located at some
distance, as through sky glow, the combined effects of artificial lighting on vast numbers of
nocturnal species have the potential to disrupt the functioning of entire ecosystems by disrupting
balances in competition and the predator-prey relation, among others.

2.6.2.5 Mammals

Anthropogenic sources of night light have the potential to disrupt physiological

processes that rely on the daily and seasonal rhythms of light cues. Many researches results an
unappreciated relationship linking artificial light at night with induced changes in mammalian
reproductive physiology, and the potential for larger-scale impacts at the population level63. The
physiology and behavior of mammals follow daily circadian oscillations maintained by an
internal timekeeping system within the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN). This
biological clock is set by photic cues perceived by the retina64.

A recent study investigated the effect of night time artificial lighting on the tammar
wallaby, a small nocturnal macropod in Austraila (shown in figure 38). The study was conducted
on two populations of free-ranging tammar wallabies on Garden Island, Western Australia, with
different levels of artificial lighting. The urbanized naval base population has light pollution, while
the natural bush population at the far northern end of the island, approximately 5.6 km from the
naval base, is without artificial lighting. It was found out that wallabies living in the bush and on
the naval base experienced very different light environments at night. Animals in the bush were
exposed only to astronomical sources of light, including a clear lunar cycle. Conversely, such
natural cues were not apparent on the base owing to an order of magnitude increase in night-
time light intensity. The median birth date for bush wallabies in this study is six weeks after the

61
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, "Light attraction method to catch Mukene fish on Lake
Victoria," TECA, last modified March 27, 2007, http://teca.fao.org/printpdf/technology/light-attraction-method-
catch-mukene-fish-lake-victoria.
62
E.A. Widder et al., "Using red light for in situ observations of deep-sea fishes," Deep Sea Research Part I:
Oceanographic Research Papers 52, no. 11 (2005): 2077-2085
63
Travis Longcore, "Sensory Ecology: Night Lights Alter Reproductive Behavior of Blue Tits," Current Biology 20, no.
20 (2010): 893–895
64
Charna Dibner, Ueli Schibler, and Urs Albrecht, "The Mammalian Circadian Timing System: Organization and
Coordination of Central and Peripheral Clocks," Annual Review of Physiology 72, no. 1 (2010): 517–549

49
summer solstice, consistent with all previous studies, including ones on this population
published 3865 and 18566 years ago. On the other hand the median birth date for base wallabies is
10 weeks after the summer solstice.

Figure 38: Tammar wallaby67

Bats are among the most endangered mammals due to several reasons. Mainly it‘s
because of a loss of their habitats. Rainforests are being destroyed. Also caves and nesting
areas are being blocked and destroyed. Rainforests used to cover 12% of the earth and now
only cover 2%68. This can also take away their food supply.

Bats help people in several ways. There are many species that can eat thousands of
mosquitoes and crop destroying insects in an evening. Vampire bats have a special blood
thinning chemical in their saliva that we study and use. Micro-bat's echolocation is being studied
to see if we can duplicate it to assist blind people. And in addition, bat's poop, called guano, is
the best plant fertilizer known to man. By lighting their flight openings and their surroundings,
bats receive false information on the natural intensity of light. They emerge later from
illuminated flight openings or they can even completely abandon the newly lit roosts. Many
species of bats are insectivorous, and their prey insects are also strongly influenced by lighting.

Impacts on bats and their prey depend on the light spectra produced by lights; ultraviolet
(UV) wavelengths attract more insects and consequently insectivorous bats. Bat responses to
lighting are species-specific and reflect differences in flight morphology and performance; fast-
flying aerial hawking species frequently feed around street lights, whereas relatively slow-flying
bats that forage in more confined spaces are often light-averse. Both high pressure sodium
(HPS) and LED lights reduce commuting activity by clutter-tolerant bats of the genera Myotis
and Rhinolophus, and these bats avoid LED lights even when dimmed. Light-induced reductions

65
Hugh Tyndale-Biscoe and Marilyn Renfree, "Neuroendocrine control of seasonal breeding," Reproductive
physiology of marsupials (n.d.),373-395.
66
Collie A., “On some particulars connected with the natural history of the kangaroo,” Zool. J. 5 (1830): 238–241
67
"Tammar wallaby," , n.d.https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Macropus_eugenii.jpg.
68
"Commonly Asked Questions and Facts | Rainforest Foundation US," Rainforest Foundation US | Securing Rights
· Protecting Lands, accessed June 14, 2017, http://www.rainforestfoundation.org/commonly-asked-questions-and-
facts/

50
in the activity of frugivorous bats may affect ecosystem services by reducing dispersal of the
seeds of pioneer plants and hence reforestation.

A study to investigate the long term exposure to continuous light disrupts circadian
rhythms in mice69. It was found out it caused impaired skeletal muscle function and trabecular
bone deterioration. Once the mice were returned to a standard light-dark cycle, the above
mentioned problems returned to normal. Probably these effects might apply to other mammals
as well including humans.

2.6.3 Effects on Humans

Until a few decades ago, most people thought of light as a visual phenomenon only.
More recently, it is understood that light has a much wider influence on living organisms.
Functionally, light is not only a player in the way we use our eyes but it has a non-visual effects
on humans as well, and to understand how these effects are generated we need to go deep into
the eye-brain system.

Each of the two light phenomena; visual and non-visual are directly related to the fact
that they use separate neural pathways via two different kinds of eye receptors. The visual
effect that relate to image formatting is produced by specialized receptors in the retina called
rods and cones. When visible light (380–780 nm) strikes the rod and cone cells electrical
impulses are transduced and transmitted the optical nerve which connects the eye to the visual
cortex. See Fig. (39).

Figure 39: visual system anatomy70

69
Eliane A. Lucassen et al., "Environmental 24-hr Cycles Are Essential for Health," Current Biology 26, no. 14
(2016): 1843-1853
70
Open Textbook Library, "Chapter 4. Sensing and Perceiving," in Introduction to Psychology (2015), 140

51
 Rods and cones are not uniformly distributed in the retina. , the cones are outnumbered
by the rods in the periphery by about 20:1 ratio. The more important difference between the
rods and the cones are in their visual functions. The cones are responsible for visual
experiences at high light levels called the photopic conditions, while the rods are responsible for
vision at very low light levels (less than 1 cd/m2) called scotopic conditions. At very high light
levels rods saturate and the cones only function. In the intermediate light conditions, called
mesopic condition, both rods and cones function and contribute to our vision.

Rods and cones receptors don‘t have the same sensitivity to different visible
wavelengths of light. Rods are more sensitive to shorter wavelength light than the cones. This
means that when the eye goes to low illumination environment (scotopic vision) where rods are
more sensitive, we are more sensitive to shorter wavelengths. This could be noticed by many
people, shift in the sensitivity. Things appear more bluish in the dark, or the green foliage seems
to stand out more in the low light of dusk. This shift is named after the scientist who described
the effect in 1825, Purkinje shift. The spectral sensitivity of the rods and cones are due to the
spectral sensitivity of their pigments. The rod-pigment absorbs best near 500 nm, near the blue
green spectrum while the cones-pigments have 3 types commonly labeled by the color at which
they are most sensitive (blue, green and red) with a peak at 560nm.

Figure 40: Spectral sensitivity of retinal rod and cone cells in the human eye

A human eye‘s is sensitive to the point that a single photon can trigger electro-
physiological measurable and reproducible reactions in rods71. The light sensitive pigment
molecules in the rods are called visual purple or ―rhodopsin‖. When the pigment molecule
absorbs the photon, it changes its shape through a complex biochemical process in such a way
that the flow of electric current in and around the pigment molecule is changed. However, neural
filters only allow a signal to pass to the brain to trigger a conscious response when at least
about five to nine arrive within less than 100ms. If we could consciously see single photons we
would experience too much visual "noise" in very low light, so this filter is a necessary
adaptation, not a weakness.

71
F. Rieke and D.A. Baylor, "Origin of Reproducibility in the Responses of Retinal Rods to Single Photons,"
Biophysical Journal 75, no. 4 (1998): 1836-57.

52
 Figure 41: Construction of Rods and Cones photoreceptors in the retina

In the last century human society has increased its exposure to artificial illumination,
producing changes in the Light/Dark cycle, as well as in light wavelengths and intensities
entering the human eye. Studies and research done on mammals retina tells that excess of
illumination -which is considered as one of the types of light pollution- may cause retinal
degeneration or accelerate genetic retinal diseases72. However, the determination of the
threshold illumination levels that cause the damage to the retina as well as the minimal time
durations which will trigger these adverse effects are still under investigation. Only tests being
applied on animals like rats which indicate these negative conclusions and they‘re considered
by many as a trusted indicators.

In the visible spectrum, wavelengths between 380 and 500 nm include violet-, blue-, and
green-appearing wavelengths. This portion of the spectrum is also known as high-energy visible
(HEV) light because of the high photon energy associated with these short wavelengths. Being
in the most energetic portion of the visible spectrum, blue light has the greatest potential to
induce the photochemical damage that may ultimately be a factor in retinal disorders such as
age-related macular degeneration (AMD)73. Damage caused by blue light occurs in the
rhodopsin of the rods. Rhodopsin is normally purple-reddish in color, but when they are hit by
light, they bleach. Rhodopsin decomposes when it is exposed to light, bleaching the rhodopsin
by being changed into intermediate compounds. It is only when the eye returns to darkness
when they regenerate into new purpley-reddish proteins. This is the natural cycle and it needs to
happen in order for your vision to work properly.

72
Helen L. Walls, Kelvin L. Walls, and Geza Benke, "Eye Disease Resulting From Increased Use of Fluorescent
Lighting as a Climate Change Mitigation Strategy," American Journal of Public Health 101, no. 12 (2011): 2222–
2225.
73
William T. Ham et al., "SENSITIVITY OF THE RETINA TO RADIATION DAMAGE AS A FUNCTION OF WAVELENGTH,"
Photochemistry and Photobiology 29, no. 4 (1979): 735-43.

53
Blue light causes rhodopsin to regenerate photochemically (meaning it happens in the presence
of light instead of in its absence). The blue light causes the rhodopsin to become unbleached
very quickly, much more so than when it occurs naturally. This allows more light to enter the
retina before it is ‗ready‘ which can cause damage to the sensitive cell tissue in your eyes. In
our modern life we‘re exposed to several artificial sources with dominant blue light component
such as electronic devices including cell phones and laptop computers, as well as fluorescent
bulbs and LED lights.

As discussed in a previous section (2.3.3) excessively bright or badly aimed lighting

causes glare. Glare is one of the types of light pollution which has different forms:
1- Disability glare: This results from the physiological response of the eye causing in the
loss of visibility due to a bright light source in the field of view.
2- Discomfort Glare: This does not hamper vision on a short term basis, but discomfort
from bright light sources in the field of view can become irritating, distracting or even
painful, leading to mental fatigue, headaches and tension. In drivers this can lead to
reduced attention affecting road safety. The human eye is not designed to look
directly at light, but instead to see with light74.

Normally the eye adapts to the darkness at night, but the sudden intense bright light
destroys the rhodopsin, by instantaneous bleaching of photosensitive pigment found in the
retina. The bright light momentarily dazzles the eye and all it sees is white light because the
sensitivity of the receptors is set to dim light. Rods and cones are both stimulated and large
amounts of the photo-pigment are broken down instantaneously, producing a flood of signals
resulting in the glare. This can be dangerous as the risk of an accident can substantially
increase.

For the non-visual effects the eye contains other non- visual receptors, the intrinsically
photoreceptive retinal ganglion cells, or (ipRGCs) that respond to retinal illumination
independently of those that are responsible for vision. They measure information about the
lengths of day and night at a subconscious level. These cells represent a very small subset
(~1%) of the retinal ganglion cells. They send light information via the retinohypothalamic nerve
tract (RHT) - a photic neural input pathway involved in the circadian rhythms of mammals -
directly to the circadian pacemaker of the brain, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the
hypothalamus. The ipRGCs cells become responsive through the expression of a pigment,
melanopsin, which has a peak spectral sensitivity (λmax) of 480nm, towards the blue end of the
spectrum. See the demonstrating figure (42).

74
"Do 'environmentally Friendly' LED Lights Cause BLINDNESS? | Daily Mail Online," Mail Online, accessed June 28,
2017, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2324325/Do-environmentally-friendly-LED-lights-cause-
BLINDNESS.html

54
 Figure 42: The nerve tracts in the eye-brain system

Hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that is located near the brain stem. The
hypothalamus is often called the ―master gland‖ because one of its most important functions is
to link the nervous system to the endocrine system (hormonal). The Hypothalamus synthesizes
and secretes neuro-hormones that stimulate or inhibit the secretion of pituitary hormones which
in turn aids the hypothalamus in controlling75:
 Body temperature
 Thirst & Hunger
 Fatigue & Emotions
 Growth & Sleep
 Salt and water (electrolyte) balance
 Weight
 Circadian cycles
 Olfactory (sense of smell) stimuli
 Stress & Rage
 Survival & Sexual activity
 Changes in body temperature caused by infection
 Appetite regulating hormones such as leptin and ghrelin, insulin and glucose

Circadian rhythms are maintained by the Hypothalamic SCN which is connected to the
Pineal Gland, (a structure about the size of a pea that is located inside the brain) by the
Paraventricular Nucleus (fig. 42). The pineal gland secretes a hormone, ―melatonin‖. Melatonin
is involved in many functions in the human body. Conceptually, melatonin provides an internal
representation of the environmental photoperiod, specifically night-length. More melatonin is
secreted during the night, and exposure to light at night, especially light containing a substantial
blue component, suppresses melatonin production. The current trend in many countries of

75
J. P. Card, "Hypothalamus," Encyclopedia of Life Sciences, May 2001

55
replacing sodium lamps street lights with blue-rich metal halide or LED lighting could suppress
melatonin production by as much as five times normal levels76.

Figure 43: Effects of a 2-h light exposure at 460 and 550 nm on salivary Melatonin levels77

As a result of exposure to light at inappropriate times at night there won‘t be sufficient

melatonin production delivered to the Hypothalamus, then its ability to regulate the endocrine
system will be impaired78. Since exposure to lighting at night is known to suppress melatonin
production, excessive exposure can only intensify their condition.

Melatonin also serves to reduce cholesterol levels and reduce blood pressure. It is a
known antioxidant that helps to maintain the body‘s immune system by stimulating T-cell
production, and is also important in protecting nuclear and mitochondrial DNA.

The human body works on natural roughly twenty-four hour cycles, or circadian rhythms
that are dependent on the rising and setting of the Sun. Circadian rhythms are approximately
twenty-four hour cycles of physiological behavior in living organisms, ranging from bacteria to
plants, animals and humans. They control daily rhythms of sleep, hormone production, and
essential aspects of cell physiology. As a result of genetic sequencing it is now known that 15%
of the genome is regulated by the body clock79. The function of every organ in the body is
therefore rhythmic.

76
Fabio Falchi et al., "Limiting the impact of light pollution on human health, environment and stellar visibility,"
Journal of Environmental Management 92, no. 10 (2011): 2714–2722
77
Christian Cajochen et al., "High Sensitivity of Human Melatonin, Alertness, Thermoregulation, and Heart Rate to
Short Wavelength Light," The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 90, no. 3 (2005): 1311–1316
78
V. Aleandri, "The pineal gland and reproduction," Human Reproduction Update 2, no. 3 (1996): 225 – 235
79
Valter Tucci, "Genomic Imprinting: A New Epigenetic Perspective of Sleep Regulation," PLOS Genetics 12, no. 5
(2016): e1006004

56
 The pineal gland produces not only melatonin, but also the adrenocorticotrope hormone
(ACTH), which, in its turn, triggers the production of cortisol. Cortisol is the stress hormone80.
Cortisol and melatonin act as antagonists: the first triggers action, and the second triggers rest.
Both are produced under the influence of non-image forming light from the retina via the pineal
gland. So it is likely that, in natural conditions, the two will be synchronized, although not
necessarily in phase. This synchronizing effect is called the biological clock.

Figure 44: The Hypothalamus and Pineal Gland81

It has been documented that most cells have a core set of circadian clock-genes for
proteins that not only regulate their own expression, but also that of clock-output genes and
metabolic pathways throughout the genome. It has been said that a cycle of very bright days
and very dark nights is the perfect regulator for the human circadian system, but patterns of light
and dark in today‘s modern world are often inconsistent with this cycle82.

Night-time shift work can disrupt these natural rhythms and unfavorably affect the body.
This creates similar problems to trans-meridian travel (west–east or east–west) that results in jet
lag. Similar signs are seen in people living in high northerly latitudes when the sun hardly sets
during the summer and barely rises in the winter. This can affect the suicide rate83.

Premature babies are babies who are born before the full term of 39 weeks have
elapsed, being effectively foetuses that have been born early. Light at night may damage their
biological clocks. Consequently the régime under which they are kept has to match the inside of

80
Brian Luke Seaward, Managing Stress : Principles and Strategies for Health and Wellbeing (Sudbury, Mass [u.a.]:
Jones and Bartlett, 2006), 34-46
81
"The pineal gland produces melatonin and regulates our daily and seasonal circadian rhythms," , n.d.http://
upliftconnect.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/pineal-gland-brain.jpg.
82
Phillip L. Lowrey and Joseph S. Takahashi, "MAMMALIAN CIRCADIAN BIOLOGY: Elucidating Genome-Wide Levels
of Temporal Organization," Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics 5, no. 1 (2004):407-441
83
Laura Hiltunen et al., "Relationship between daylength and suicide in Finland," Journal of Circadian Rhythms 9,
no. 1 (2011):10

57
the womb as closely as possible. They are still developing, so they are kept in a régime of light
and darkness to facilitate the development of normal circadian rhythms in their systems. This
would not happen if they were illuminated twenty-four hours per day84. This result was the
conclusion of a study conducted at Vanderbilt University by exposing baby mice to constant
light. It was found out that keeps the master biological clock in their brains was depressed from
developing properly and this can have a lasting effect on their behavior.

In a separate study, newborn mice who had spent their first three weeks in a day/night
cycle were exposed to constant light for an extended period were able to maintain their
circadian rhythm for three to five months before their activity patterns became disrupted. An
important fact to mention is that every year betwee 20 to 14 million low-weight babies are born
worldwide and are exposed to artificial lighting in hospitals85.

Figure 45: Premature babies, like the one being cared for in Vanderbilt's neonatal intensive care unit, may benefit from
exposure to a day/night lighting cycle86

A serious problem that has been associated to intrusive light pollution is myopia. Myopia
is the inability to focus on distant objects. It is thought to be a risk factor for blindness in later
life. It is caused by excessive growth of the eyeball, which grows particularly quickly before the
age of two. Scientists believe light at night may stimulate the eyeball to grow. Children and
young people during the first two years of life sleeping in bedrooms illuminated by street lights
may contribute to end up with short-sighted eyes87. A study conducted in the U.S. at the

84
"Exploration, Vanderbilt's Online Research Magazine (HTML Site) - READ MORE," Vanderbilt University |
Nashville, Tennessee, accessed July 2, 2017, http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view
_section&id=1082&story_id=265&images.
85
Thibault Senterre, "Practice of Enteral Nutrition in Very Low Birth Weight and Extremely Low Birth Weight
Infants," Nutritional Care of Preterm Infants, 2014, 201.
86
Dana Johnson, , http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/common/imageresizer/image.php?image=/documents/
reporter/images/reporter_8.25.06_8.jpg&width=250&height=384&hash=94a28689f8505b66abca4b63b657c3b4.
87
J. Gwiazda et al., "Vision: Myopia and ambient night-time lighting," Nature 404, no. 6774 (2000): 144

58
University of Pennsylvania is relating between the infants exposure to night light and the
tendency to wear glasses is up to five times more.

In order to avoid this, children should be encouraged to sleep in the dark, and thick
curtains installed to prevent obtrusive lighting entering the bedroom. In the long term, this can
be prevented by governmental restrictions on the height of street lights and the use of full cut-off
luminaries (refer to section 2.7).

It has been found that the incidence of breast cancer in women, and prostate cancer in
men, is greater in urban areas that are lit up all night. By the same token it is substantially
reduced in rural areas that are dark. It comes as no surprise then, that the incidence of breast
cancer is lower in blind women88. The link between light at night and breast cancer is now being
vigorously researched in more depth. It was first identified by Richard Stevens at the U.S.
Department of Energy‘s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and backed up by later
research89. Hopefully this could lead to a breakthrough in the understanding of its causes. It has
further been demonstrated that melatonin suppression through LAN exposure renders the drug
Tamoxifen totally ineffective in treating breast cancer90.

2.6.4 Effects on the Economy

Estimates show that lighting is responsible for 20% of all electricity consumption
worldwide91 and as discussed in previous sections, several forms of misuse illumination
constitute energy wastage, including over-illumination and non-beneficial aiming of night-time
lighting. The majority of global energy comes from non-renewable resources so this represents
a significant waste of assets. This waste of fuel in the form of oil, coal and natural gas leads to a
growth in greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to acid rain. Thus, mankind and all other
creatures on the plant have to face the definite environmental impact. Individuals need to be
aware of the negative consequences of wastefully lighting the night.

While the solution to light pollution problems may on the surface appear easily solved, in
reality they are not. A set of procedures to take such as; choose the suitable lights for your
application, aim them properly, dim the lights or even switching them off whenever not really
needed might sound simple. On the other hand opposite sounds may ask back which lights to
shut off? Which lights to replace? When to shut them off? Who will pay for this?

88
Maria Feychting, Bill OsterLund, and Anders Ahlbom, "Reduced Cancer Incidence among the Blind,"
Epidemiology 9, no. 5 (1998): 490-494.
89
E. S. Schernhammer and K. Schulmeister, "Melatonin and cancer risk: does light at night compromise physiologic
cancer protection by lowering serum melatonin levels?," British Journal of Cancer 90, no. 5 (2004): 941-943
90
R. T. Dauchy et al., "Circadian and Melatonin Disruption by Exposure to Light at Night Drives Intrinsic Resistance
to Tamoxifen Therapy in Breast Cancer," Cancer Research 74, no. 15 (2014):4099-4110
91
Dr. Rasna Rajkhowa, "Light Pollution and Impact of Light Pollution," IJSR 3, no. 10 (October 2014): 861-867

59
 Although some people may not be ready to accept that artificial light may have a
malicious effect on human health and the environment, majority but not everyone has the desire
to save money and this is especially true of business. Local economies can affect the degree of
opposition towards reduced lighting which means reduced energy selling. In countries with
smaller economies, the lighting-company lobby maybe more aggressive. Companies may fear
that reducing light pollution will reduce their sales, so there is strong resistance, whereas in
larger economies, the companies have less need to be that aggressive because more powerful
decision makers are more likely to promote the energy & environment saving trend. Therefore,
we typically see more over-lighting in smaller economies, even though the infrastructure costs
are a burden92.

Efficient use of artificial lighting helps the bottom line and the use of natural light also
appears to be beneficial. If we look at several insights for different locations it could give us a
complete picture on how managing the night lighting experience in a conservative way would
help us in saving our resources.

In 2007, Terna, an independent large operator in electricity transmission grids

responsible for managing electricity flow in Italy, reported a saving of 645.2 million kWh in
electricity consumption during the daylight saving period from April to October. It attributes this
saving to the delayed need for artificial lighting during the evenings.

In Australia, public lighting is the single largest source of local government's greenhouse
gas emissions, typically accounting for 30 to 50% of their emissions. There are 1.94 million
public lights — one for every 10 Australians — that annually cost $210 million, use 1,035 GWh
of electricity and are responsible for 1.15 million tons of CO2 emissions. Current public lighting
in Australia, particularly for minor roads and streets, uses large amounts of energy and financial
resources, while often failing to provide high quality lighting. There are many ways discussed in
previous sections would improve lighting quality while reducing energy use and greenhouse gas
emissions as well as lowering costs.

In U.S.A., outdoor lighting consumes about 120 TWh of energy, mostly to illuminate
streets and parking lots. IDA estimates that least 30% of all outdoor lighting in the U.S. is
wasted, mostly by lights that aren‘t shielded. That adds up to $3.3 billion and the release of 21
million tons of carbon dioxide per year. To offset all that carbon dioxide, we‘d have to plant 875
million trees annually.

In France, Shops and offices are forced to turn off their lights overnight in a bid to fight
light pollution as per light pollution law since 1st of July in 2013. The energy efficiency law will
require lights in shop window displays to be turned off at 1am. Interior lights in offices and other
non-residential buildings will have to be switched off an hour after the last employee leaves.
Local councils will be able to make exceptions for Christmas and other special occasions, and in

92
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Environmental Impact of Light Pollution and Its Abatement (Toronto:
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 2012), 22-24.

60
certain tourist or cultural areas. These actions save 250,000 tons of CO2 – enough energy to
power 750,000 French households for a year.

2.6.5 Effects on the Ecosystem

In 2016, scientists in the United Kingdom published a study plotting the relationship
between light pollution and the timing when trees produce buds. By observing four tree species,
they found that on average, artificial light may cause trees to bud more than seven days earlier
than their naturally occurring counterparts. The study showed that European ash trees tend to
bud about five days earlier in brighter areas compared with darker areas. Other trees tested,
including European sycamores, European beech trees, and pedunculate oaks, burst about
seven and a half days earlier in brighter conditions. Smaller plants growing directly under
streetlights could be more heavily affected the study notes93.

The Earth‘s ecosystem is dependent on cycles of natural light. Sky Glow, one of the
forms of light pollution can cause a loss in growth protection as the reflected light off the
atmosphere will prevent the natural UV rays from reaching the Earth. This disrupts growth and
decay cycles that our food, air and water supply is dependent on.

It is now known that light pollution has also an interference with air pollution. The glow
emitted by cities night lights is now understood to interfere with chemical reactions that clean
the air of pollutants discharged by motor vehicles and factories. Nitrate radicals in the air break
down molecules that contribute to smog and ozone, but the energy created by night-time
lighting destroys them leaving the pollutants unaffected. Such pollutants in the air are known to
aggravate chest related medical conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, and cystic fibrosis94.

As detailed in section 2.6, light pollution impacts on different species are diverse and
sometimes could be opposite. We may see light pollution causing an increment in population
figures of certain species while it can cause a great decline in population for other species. All
these changes in creatures populations at different territories caused by external influencers like
light pollution, disturb the balance in the eco system of our planet.

2.7 Practices to limit the effects of Light Pollution

The best method for reducing light pollution depends on exactly what the problem is in
any given instance. The available solutions focus on the reduction of the previously stated types
of light pollution – glare, light trespass, over-illumination and sky glow. The main emphasis of

93
Richard H. Ffrench-Constant et al., "Light pollution is associated with earlier tree budburst across the United
Kingdom," Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 283, no. 1833 (2016): 20160813.
94
"City Lights Make Air Pollution Worse," Phys.org - News and Articles on Science and Technology, accessed July 3,
2017, https://phys.org/news/2010-12-city-air-pollution-worse.html.

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light reduction is to ensure that light is not emitted above the horizontal. Possible solutions that
could reduce this phenomenon depends on site conditions, type of the light sources, and the
awareness of the

2.7.1 Cut-off lighting

By far the best choice for lighting (apart from switching lights off altogether) is the
‗Full Cut-Off‘ lighting fixtures which direct their light output down only, increasing the visibility of
the night sky and decreasing the amount of energy required to light a specific area. The light
that would normally vector off into space is collected and redirected down via a mirrored bowl
that cowls the light source.

Figure 46: Cut-off Classifications

Nowadays all reputable lighting manufacturers produce full cut-off lighting fixtures, in all
conceivable designs. All undergoing lighting schemes should insist on this design. An
explanation of different cut-off lighting is given in Figure (46) and table (3).

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Classification Definition Benefits Limitations

Zero intensity at or above horizontal
Full Cutoff (90° above nadir) and limited to a
value not exceeding 10% of lamp
lumens at or above 80°.
Limits spill light onto adjacent May reduce pole spacing to maintain
property, reduces glare. uniformity and increase pole and
luminaire quantities.
No light is emitted directly from the
luminaire into the sky.
Decreasing the amount of glare from
which in turn will increase road
safety.

Intensity at or above 90° (horizontal) Small increase in high-angle light May allow some up-light from luminaire.
Cutoff no more than 2.5% of lamp lumens, allows increased pole spacing.
and no more than 10% of lamp Typically a small overall impact on sky
lumens at or above 80°. glow.

Intensity at or above 90° (horizontal) High-angle light accents taller vertical Little control of light at property line.
no more than 5% of lamp lumens and surfaces such as buildings. Most light Potential for increased glare when
Semi-Cutoff no more than 20% at or above 80°. is still directed downward. using high wattage luminaires.

Typically directs more light into the sky

than cutoff.

No limitations on light distribution at Uniform luminous surfaces such as Location and aiming are critical. Most
any angle. internally illuminated signs or globes. likely of all categories to produce
Wattage should be limited. offensive brightness and sky glow.
Non-cutoff
Suitable for sports lighting, facade,
landscape or other applications
where luminaires are tilted due to
limitations in pole or fixture locations.

Table 3: cutoff classifications and descriptions95

2.7.2 Shielding

One of the widely used methods to reduce light pollution is adding shields to street lights
so that the pattern of illumination is below the horizontal plane of the light fixture and light is
directed only where needed. These shields reduce upward radiation, avoiding glare. Shielding is
classified by the degree to which it blocks excess light.

―Full shielding‖ is defined when luminaires are prevented from allowing light to shine
directly at or above the horizontal. This means that light should not be directed within the range
of 0 to 45 degrees from the horizon plane. A more restricting classification prevents light from
being directed within zero to ten degrees below the horizon plane. This limitation is to control
the reflection of light off the asphalt, which can increase the light levels considerably96.

However, the installation of shields should only be used as a last resort. The installation
of a shield may reduce the amount of light pollution, but it continues to waste energy in

95
David DiLaura, Kevin W. Houser, and Richard G. Mistrick, The Lighting Handbook: Reference and Application
(New York: Illuminating Engineering Society, 2011), 8.1-8.11
96
Falchi, " Limiting the impact of light pollution on human health," 2714-2722

63
producing unnecessarily high levels of light. It is far more effective to make a firm commitment in
ecologically-sensitive areas to replace fittings in such areas with properly-designed full cut-off
lighting fixtures.

Figure 47: Shield is fitted to the light fixture, in order to reduce back-spill to the windows of adjacent properties97

Additionally, a blanket prohibition on unshielded globe lights should be made (figure 48).
Even partially shielded globe lights exist (Figure 49) however; their performance concerning
light pollution is not sufficient as a substantial amount of light is still refracted by the transparent
globe itself and allowed to shine above the horizontal plane. Moreover globe lights are easily
vandalized, as opposed to full cut-off lighting fittings, which by their nature feature the bulb itself
in a more protected/enclosed space and hence more vandal-resistant.

Figure 48: Unshielded globe lights at the main street in Liberal, Kansas in U.S.A. 98

97
"Shielded street light," , accessed May 4, 2017, http://www.streetlightonline.co.uk/Damvand/26.html.
98
Jim Richardson, "streetlights of downtown Main Street in Liberal, Kansas," www.darksky.org,
n.d.http://www.darksky.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Streetlights_Glare_Richardson.jpg.

64
 Figure 49: Partially shielded globe lights99

Standard full cut-off lighting described in the previous section does have certain
drawbacks. Light travels in straight lines, but the Earth‘s surface does not. Light travelling in
straight lines, the further away from the light source one travels, the further the Earth‘s surface
curves away from the light. Large numbers of full cut-off street lights will collectively illuminate
the clouds at a distance.

Figure 50: clouds at the far distances from light sources will be illuminated. One street light will have minimal effect, but
the combined effect of thousands will be cumulative

To avoid this problem lights should be better than full cut-off to prevent leakage into the
sky. In this type of lighting the luminaire is designed to be shielded by a flat glass shroud,
oriented parallel to the ground. Adding a motion sensor to the light system would improve the
overall scheme further as light nuisance will then be minimized.

Based on past research, implementing these techniques should lead to a significant

reduction in light pollution. A study from a campaign of sky brightness showed that after
analyzing six sites, 75% of sky brightness from artificial lights was produced by light directly
from fixtures. The other 25% of the sky brightness was a result of light being reflected off of

99
http://calgary.rasc.ca, n.d.http://calgary.rasc.ca/lp/Images/s_211.jpg.

65
surfaces. This data suggests that if all light fixtures were to be changed to the shielded version
as previously described, then the sky brightness caused by artificial light could be reduced by as
much as 25% of the current levels.

To see how effective this solution is looking into the fledging season of critically
imperiled Newell‘s shearwaters heading to sea are attracted to bright lights in and around the
lights of luxury resorts, which are situated on coastal bluffs on the North Shore of Kauai of
Hawaii, an important seabird flyway. Trapped in the lights‘ glare, the confused birds circle
repeatedly until they fall to the ground from exhaustion or strike the resort‘s buildings. A study
shows that when shields were used in areas around breeding colonies of shearwaters and
petrels, they significantly reduce light pollution. In Hawaii, the use of shields decreased the
attraction of Newell‘s Shearwaters to lights by 40%100.

Figure 51: A 2015 Newell's Shearwater fledgling gets released by school teacher Rhonda Cabello, photograph by
Constance Johnson101

2.7.3 Appropriate Light Sources

Selecting the proper light distribution of the luminaire and making sure it‘s
correctly positioned and aimed is not enough, adding to the previous discussed strategies it is
necessary to study the characteristics of the light source itself such as spectrum and brightness
levels. Spectrum is a crucial component to consider for effective and convenient lighting
scheme. While humans perceive wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm as ‗visible light‘ of the
spectrum, birds, fish and invertebrates can detect light in the ultraviolet (UV) range (10–400
nm). Some studies suggest that UV sensitivity may be widespread among mammals102. On the

100
Jonathan R. Reed, John L. Sincock, and Jack P. Hailman, "Light Attraction in Endangered Procellariiform Birds:
Reduction by Shielding Upward Radiation," The Auk 102, no. 2 (1985): 377-383.
101
"Newell's Shearwater fledgling gets released by school teacher Rhonda Cabello," ,
n.d.https://www.acap.aq/images/stories/acap/Birds/Shearwaters/Newells_Shearwater_release_2015.jpg.
102
R. H. Douglas and G. Jeffery, "The spectral transmission of ocular media suggests ultraviolet sensitivity is
widespread among mammals," Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281, no. 1780 (2014):
20132995

66
other hand snakes and beetles can detect spectral emissions in the infrared range (700–1000
nm)103.

Different types of lights have different distinct spectral signatures. For example, Light
emitting diodes (LEDs) are considered a very energy efficient source of light compared to other
technologies such as florescent and high pressure sodium (HPS). LEDs have other benefits
overcomes alternative light sources such as the relatively long lifetime, high color rendering
index (CRI), and lower heat dissipation. However, LED‘s used in outdoor applications often emit
a cool light with a larger blue spectrum (Figure 52) which has a worse polluting effect compared
to warmer light. Even for a 4000K white LED light it‘s about 2.5 times more polluting for the
scotopic band of the spectrum than is HPS lighting104.

As per Rayleigh scattering law, derived by Lord Rayleigh in 1871, the amount of
scattering is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the wavelength. By applying the
Rayleigh law to the wavelengths of less red and more blue light components small particles will
scatter the blue light component roughly 10 times more efficiently than red light contributing
more to light pollution than a warmer light option having a more red or yellow light components.

Figure 52: Spectral distribution of a cold white LED with 5700K widely used for current street lighting installations

Figure 53: Spectral distribution of a warm white LED with 2700K which is considered friendlier outdoor lights compared to
cold white lights

103
H. Schmitz and H. Bleckmann, "The photomechanic infrared receptor for the detection of forest fires in the
beetle Melanophila acuminata (Coleoptera: Buprestidae)," Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Sensory, Neural,
and Behavioral Physiology 182, no. 5 (1998): 647–657
104
Falchi, " Limiting the impact of light pollution on human health," 2714-2722

67
 Figure 54: Spectral distribution of an HPS light source

However red light component also has drawbacks on plants. Plants have a pigment
called ―phytocrome‖ that absorbs red light. This pigment is responsible for dormancy, seed
germination and abscission. Plants are exposed to extended exposure of lights with a
predominantly red spectrum are put at an increased risk of natural weather phenomenon105.

Low-pressure sodium bulbs, or LPS light sources, emit a yellow almost monochromatic
light as can be seen in Figure (55) when compared to other common forms of lighting. The
yellow wavelengths have less harmful effects than the blue or red wavelengths, which makes it
ideal for lights such as street lights that will be on for most, if not all of the night. Also, this may
be useful in the construction of tall buildings with lights on top of them and in the lighting of
cranes as researches indicate that lighting on these structures is likely to pose a serious hazard
to the birds and yellow lights performing better in this aspect106.

In addition, the monochromatic nature of LPS sources (590nm) is a useful characteristic

for night sky observers and astronomers as it is easier to filter out of astronomical observations
than the complex spectrum emitted by fluorescent, incandescent, or metal-halide luminaires.

Figure 55: Spectrum of a low-pressure sodium lamp. The intense yellow band is the atomic sodium D-line emission,
comprising about 90% of the visible light emission for this lamp type 107

105
STEPHEN DAY, "Seeing without eyes-how plants learn from light," SAPS (n.d.), 1-8
106
Longcore and Rich, "Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting," 191-195.
107
"Emission spectrum low pressure natrium lamp," nl.wikipedia, 2006,https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/
commons/3/3f/SOX.png.

68
 Brightness is a more obvious consideration when selecting appropriate light source
however this is a harder characteristic to provide recommendations for since there are
numerous different situations that require different levels and directions of light. The Illuminating
Engineering Society of North American (IESNA) has created recommendation regarding light
levels in footcandles/Lux of numerous situations.

For instance, the IES document Recommended Practice 8 (RP-8), Roadway Lighting
suggests that street lighting range 0.3 to 0.8 footcandles (fc) for lightly traveled roads, 0.6 to 1.6
footcandles for more heavily traveled roads and 0.6 to 1.3 footcandles for highways and these
levels will rise up at conflict areas like roundabouts and intersections. These different
recommendations with relatively large ranges illustrate how the application of lights influences
the required brightness. This makes any specific overarching statement about necessary
brightness difficult to impossible to make. A well-studied lighting scheme should be done by a
lighting expert to guarantee that the specific application is being applied to a sufficient and
convenient amount of light.

2.7.4 Zoning

The consequences of light pollution are not equally severe in all places in the world; this
implies that the light intrusion restriction measures do not need to be equally stringent for all
places. Dividing territories into different zones seems to be a successful method to establish a
base for environmental regulations. Zones are defined based on the activities taking place or
planned and accordingly recommendations are listed for the restriction of obtrusive light.

The International Commission on Illumination (CIE) has proposed a zoning system that
is specifically focused on this purpose in their CIE 150:2003 ―Guide on the Limitation of the
Effects of Obtrusive Light from Outdoor Lighting Installations‖. The environmental zone rating
can be used to help ensure that the lighting goals of an environment are appropriately defined
and met, but not exceeded. This Guide is to help formulate guidelines for assessing the
environmental impacts of outdoor lighting and to give recommended limits for relevant lighting
parameters to contain the obtrusive effects of outdoor lighting within tolerable levels. Zoning
does not stop environmental pollution, but it may serve as a frame of reference for anti-pollution
legislation and regulation. The zones are characterized by their Zone rating. A description is
given in table (4).
Zone rating Surroundings Lighting environment Examples
E1 Natural Intrinsically dark National parks or protected sites
E2 Rural Low district brightness Agricultural or residential rural areas
E3 Suburban Medium district brightness Industrial or residential suburbs
E4 Urban High district brightness Town centers and commercial areas
Table 4: Description of the environmental zones according to the CIE Zoning System108

108
International Commission on Illumination, Guide on the Limitation of the Effects of Obtrusive Light from
Outdoor Lighting Installations (Vienna: Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage, 2003), 10.

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2.7.5 Curfew and Occupancy Sensors

Simply turning off unnecessary night-lights is the particular most effective method to
reduce light levels and hence shrink light pollution effects. Throughout the world, many
activates, sports facilities, and even parking lots keep their lights on for the majority of the night
even if they are not experiencing any business during those hours. Many of these lights and
billboards are not required to have them on from dusk to dawn.

A curfew that sets a time when lights must be turned off will reduce the amount of light
and energy being wasted. Exceptions may be requisite if a light is used for safety and security
or if it belongs to an application that operates after all other lights are required to be turned off.

Outdoor lights can be controlled ON/OFF by motion sensors rather than a switch. These
motion sensor lights not only save energy but also reduce levels of light pollution through the
whole night operation. Many motion detectors can be adjusted so that they are less sensitive to
the movement of small animals. Particularly in case of security lighting, Passive Infra-Red
detectors (PIR) should be used whenever possible.

2.7.6 Mitigation Strategies

With the increase levels of light pollution through the past till our day, researchers have
been exploring various ways to decrease light levels to limit the effects of light pollution. One
struggle that arises when recommending different lighting methods is to ensure that the
suggested lights do not harm the environment while satisfying social demands. Most concerns
are to make sure that public safety will be maintained, as well as preventing the crime rate from
growing. The most popular methods that have been acknowledged as being environmentally
friendly include methods discussed in detail such as ―full shielding‖, establishing a curfew and
other useful methods such as:

a) Limiting the lit area

b) Getting rid of over lighting
c) Reducing the growth of the installation of new lights.

Limiting the area that is being lit as well as eliminating the over lighting of an area both
accomplish the goal of only lighting the intended area. A lot of currently installed light fixtures
scatter light outwards where it is unnecessary causing many drawbacks on the environment,
wildlife, and humans but by if the light is carefully directed, less will be wasted. Not only the
amount of wasted light will be decreased but the reflected light off of other surfaces like asphalt
will be less which will result in decreasing light levels and this means reduction in power
consumption.

Reducing the growth in installations of new lights is very important, as new lights are
being placed into use at a fast rate. Example on how to implement this idea is to allow 1%

70
increase in new light fixtures yearly109. After this initial increase, the addition of light fixtures
would be put to a stop and then there would be a decrease in the addition of new light fixtures.
This decrease only means that if someone wanted to install a new light they would have to
decrease the lighting from a preexisting fixture.

These types of ideas should stimulate lighting experts and designers to think of more
creative solutions to illuminate the outdoors. This will put additional pressure on manufacturers
to keep developing their light luminaires and light sources while seeking continuously of how to
enhance their technologies to deliver better and friendlier solutions.

2.8 Initiatives Worldwide

By educating the public on light pollution, the overall understanding about the
importance of the issue and why change is necessary will improve. Organizations around the
world are beginning to take steps to assess, increase the interest in the light pollution issue, and
improve lighting habits. In response to the increase of light levels around the world, international
recommendations regarding acceptable lighting practices have been established by
governmental and nongovernmental organizations. Some recommendations include properly
directing light, using proper light sources and establishing curfews for outdoor lights. Many
campaigns have begun working on the ground aiming for a better handling with night lights.

The organizations currently involved with light-pollution reduction wish to protect

heritage places, be they national parks, historic sites, or cultural landscapes. The following list of
benefits is presented in an order that puts priority on heritage protection. Lighting pollution
should be limited in order to:
 Preserve the ecological integrity of natural environments
 Ensure the full enjoyment of a wilderness experience
 Appreciate the integrity, character, and beauty of rural landscapes
 Protect and present the authenticity of cultural sites (tangible heritage)
 Help preserve living traditions and ceremonies related to the night
 Help preserve intangible heritage related to mythology, traditional navigation, and
culture
 Protect human health, both medical and psychological
 Contribute to energy efficiency
 Improve personal security through non-glare lighting in urban areas
 Benefit professional and amateur astronomy, astro-tourism, and the right to an
unpolluted night sky.

109
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2.8.1 IES

Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) is a non-profit learned society

founded in 1906. The IES's stated mission is to improve the lighted environment by bringing
together those with lighting knowledge and by translating that knowledge into actions that
benefit the public. IES is credited with over 100 publications and recommended practices for a
variety of specific lighting applications on the subject of lighting. These publications were used
by many authorities and organizations to regulate lighting instalations at night.

One of the important issues for better selection of outdoor luminaires is the TM-15-11
―Luminaire Classification Systems for Outdoor Luminaires‖. In this publication a new
classification concept was introduced which addresses light emitted from the luminaire in all
directions, not just up into the sky. It divides the sphere around a luminaire into zones assigning
values according to expected environmental impact. This rating system offers the most
complete evaluation of the total light emitted from luminaires to date. This classification system
is called BUG which stands for ―Backlight‖, ―Up-light‖ and ―Glare‖. Each composite of this
system has its decent reasons to consider:
1- Backlight: creates light trespass onto adjacent sites. The B rating takes into account the
amount of light in the BL, BM, BH and BVH zones, which are direction of the luminaire
OPPOSITE from the area intended to be lighted.
2- Up-light: causes artificial sky glow. Lower up-light (zone UL) causes the most of the sky
glow and negatively affects professional and academic astronomy. Upper up-light (UH)
is mostly energy waste. The U rating accounts the amount of light into the upper
hemisphere with greater concern for the lower up-light angles in UL.
3- Glare: can be annoying or visually disabling. The G rating takes into account the amount
of front-light in the FH and FVH zones as well as BH and BVH zones.

Figure 56: Outdoor luminaire distribution measuring system110

110
DiLaura, Houser, and Mistrick, The Lighting Handbook, 10th Edition, 8.10-8.12

72
 Added to the described luminaire distribution classification system IES released
several issues practices which may lead to control the use of lighting in different applications at
night and guiding the designers to adopt the sufficient lighting levels while maintaining adequate
uniformity ratios and the IES release ―The lighting handbook: 10th Edition‖ is considered a great
reference giving lighting levels recommendations for many different lighting applications.

2.8.2 CIE

International Commission on Illumination (CIE) is devoted to worldwide cooperation and

the exchange of information on all matters relating to the science and art of light and lighting,
color and vision, photobiology and image technology. Since late 1970‘s CIE organization
published several papers addressing the problem of Light pollution and the possible ways to
minimize its effects.

2.8.2.1 CIE Guidelines for minimizing sky glow

CIE 126-1997 ―Guidelines for minimizing sky glow‖ published technical report which
gives general guidance for lighting designers and policy makers on the reduction of the sky
glow. The report discusses briefly the theoretical aspects of sky glow and it gives
recommendations about maximum permissible values for lighting installations in relation to the
needs of astronomical observations - casual sky viewing included. These values must be
regarded as limiting values.

It should be noted that sky glow does not depend exclusively on the lighting design. It
also depends on the atmospheric conditions (humidity, aerosols, clouds, haze, atmospheric
pollution etc.). The recommendations given in the report are expressed in photometric terms,
where the amount of light emitted above the horizontal plane is given as a proportion of the
lamp lumens according to the design of the luminaire or of the luminaire luminous flux in
practical situations.

In the CIE document, the recommendations for the limitation of sky glow are given as the
maximum permissible value of ULR (the Upward Light Ratio - expressed as a percentage of the
luminous flux of the luminaire in the position according to its design) for each of the four
Environmental Zones (refer to section 2.7.3). This limit applies to each individual luminaire in
that zone.

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 Zone Rating ULR (%) Astronomical activities
E1 0 observatories of (inter)national standing
E2 0-5 postgraduate and academic studies
E3 0-15 undergraduate studies, amateur observations
E4 0-25 casual sky viewing
Table 5: Recommendations for the limitation of sky glow as per CIE 126-1997111

2.8.2.2 CIE Guide on the limitation of obtrusive light

CIE 150:2003 ―Guide on the Limitation of the Effects of Obtrusive Light from Outdoor
Lighting Installations‖ published in 2003 to help formulate guidelines for assessing the
environmental impacts of outdoor lighting and to give recommended limits for relevant lighting
parameters to contain the obtrusive effects of outdoor lighting within tolerable levels.

As the obtrusive effects of outdoor lighting are best controlled initially by appropriate
design, the guidance given is primarily applicable to new installations; however, some advice is
also provided on enhancing measures which may be taken for existing installations. This Guide
refers to the potentially adverse effects of outdoor lighting on both natural and man-made
environments for people in most aspects of daily life, from residents, sightseers, transport users
to environmentalists and astronomers.

In the CIE document we can find the limiting values of vertical illuminations for the
different environmental zones explained in section 2.7.4. The values in the table below are
considered the general main recommendations for obtrusive light.

Application Environmental Zones

Light Parameter
Condition E1 E2 E3 E4
Pre-curfew 2 5 10 25
Vertical illuminance Post-curfew 0 1 2 5
Table 6: Maximum values of vertical illuminance on properties112

2.8.3 International Dark-Sky Association (IDA)

It‘s a leading association works to protect the night skies for present and future
generations. The IDA‘s goals are113:

111
International o ission on ll ination, i elines for ini i ing s y glow ( ienna: o ission
nternationale e l clairage, 1 ), 3-18.
112
International Commission on Illumination, Guide on the Limitation of the Effects of Obtrusive Light from
Outdoor Lighting Installations (Vienna: Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage, 2003), 10.

74
 1- Advocate for the protection of the night sky.
2- Educate the public and policymakers about night sky conservation
3- Promote environmentally responsible outdoor lighting
4- Empower the public with tools and resources to help bring back the night

The IDA worked with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) to
prepare a Model Lighting Ordinance (MLO). The MLO identifies three main concepts, lighting
zones (refer to section 2.7.3), amount of light for a land use and the current rating classification
system for luminaires (refer to section 2.7.2). Generally, for a light fixture to be dark sky
compliant means the light source is shielded, below the maximum wattage limit, within the
specified color temperature range, and the lighting is guided by the illumination level and
uniformity ratios.

2.8.4 Globe at Night Program

It is an international citizen-science campaign with the goal to raise public awareness of

the impact of light pollution. In order to raise the awareness it invits citizen-scientists to measure
their zenith night sky brightness using low-cost portable light-meters, namely the Sky Quality
Meters (SQMs) manufactured by Unihedron, Canada on a few scheduled days every month and
submits their observations using a computer or smartphone.

Observers can measure night sky brightness by observing the night sky between 8pm-
10pm and then matching those observations to one of the seven magnitude charts found on the
Globe at Night website. In addition to these results, the amount of cloud cover, time, date, and
location can then be recorded on the Globe at Night website. Since 2006, about 100,000
measurements from 115 countries have been recorded each winter and spring. These
measurements are then used to create an interactive map, which can be accessed by anyone,
showing the light pollution levels worldwide.

113
"About IDA," International Dark-Sky Association | IDA | Light Pollution, accessed July 24, 2017,
http://www.darksky.org/about/.

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 Figure 57: Globe at Night 2017 Observation dates Postcard114

2.8.5 Loss of the Night (Verlust der Nacht) Project

It‘s an interdisciplinary research project "Loss of the Night", funded by the Federal
Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), scientists will investigate the reasons for the
increasing illumination of the night, its ecological, cultural and socioeconomic effects, and the
effects on human health. The results of this research will help us to develop improved lighting
concepts and sustainable technologies.

2.8.6 World Wide Fund for Nature

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is an international non-governmental

organization founded in 1961, working in the field of the wilderness preservation, and the
reduction of humanity's footprint on the environment. It is the world's largest conservation
organization with over five million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries.

A simple idea organized by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) quickly turned into a
global phenomenon. The ―Earth Hour‖ event is held annually encouraging individuals,
communities, and businesses to turn off non-essential electric lights for one hour, from 8:30 to
9:30 p.m. on a specific day towards the end of March, as a symbol of commitment to the planet.
Hundreds of millions of people turn off their lights for one hour, on the same night, all across the
planet. It‘s about people coming together to put the focus on this brilliant world we all share –

114
"Observation dates," , n.d.http://www.sciencebuzz.org/sites/default/files/images/GaN_Postcard_2013-1.jpg.

76
not just for an hour a year, but every day because we all depend on our amazing planet and
need to look after it.

Figure 58: Earth Hour 2017 Highlights115

Figure 59: The lights of the tallest building in the world Burj Khaifa and other building in the surrounding are turned off
during the Earth Hour initiative116

115
"Earth Hour 2017 highlights," , n.d.https://www.earthhour.org/sites/default/files/u51/infographic.jpg.
116
"Dubai, EAU," , n.d.http://www.movimet.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/EarthHour-60+-Dubai1.jpg.

77
2.8.7 Other Projects and Activities

In addition to regulations, it is important to develop programs that inform the public about
the problems of light pollution. Some positive examples are like ―Die helle Not‖ in Austria which
means in English ―Plight with Light‖ its objective is to draw attention to the negative effects of
artificial light and to offer suggestions for energy-efficient and eco-friendly lighting. Other
activities like ―Night blight!‖ by the campaign to protect rural England fight for the protection and
improvement of dark skies, and against the spread of unnecessary artificial light.

Some other campaigns and activities in different countries and cities are taking the role
of defending and saving our night skies and environment. This type of movements should be
backed up and supported by international organizations like UNESCO. The coordination
between these entities is valuable to make sure they get enough funding to reach to more
people as possible and to cover more and more countries. Eventually political icons will be
discussing the facts of light pollution in international unions to reach to agreements and
commitments that oblige the local authorities in the participating countries to deal with LAN with
cautious.

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Part III. Case of Study

3.1 Introduction

City of Dubai is undergoing a huge development process in every aspect of life.

Promoting eco-friendly night lighting will attract the decision makers. What missing is the on-
ground investigations and the guiding sounds that unveil the dangers of light pollution. This part
of the study investigates the local environment with respect to external night lighting. A survey
will be conducted to analyze the night sky brightness in Dubai.

The night-sky condition of Dubai makes for an interesting case study for the effect of
human activities on the quality of night-sky. As stated in a previous section of this dissertation
there‘s a relationship between population and light pollution. Therefore, population plays an
important role in the magnitude of light pollution, and knowledge of geographic and
demographic situation is vital for night sky luminance studies. In this part, some basics in
geography and demography of the City of Dubai, as well as the status of light pollution research,
will be described. These will serve as the rationale for the need of quantitative measurement for
the city.

3.2 Geographic and Demographic Overview of Dubai City

Dubai is located on the Arabian Gulf, in the northeast of the United Arab Emirates. Dubai
is the second largest emirate with an urban area of 3885 sq km and the city is roughly 35 sq km.
The coordinates of city is at 25°15'8" N, 55°16'48" E. One of the most fascinating geographical
aspects of Dubai is its Creek, which divides the city into two regions. Dubai Creek is made up of
a natural 9.5 mile inlet in the Arabian Gulf, around which the city‘s trade developed. North of the
Creek is called Deira, and Bur Dubai refers to the south where it joins the tourist and residential
developments of Jumeirah along the coast. Dubai‘s population as per a latest survey done by
Dubai Statistics Center in June 2017 stands at an estimation of 2.79 million, with three quarters
of the population being male. Using the data above, it can be estimated that the population
density is approximately 817.11 /km2. The city of Dubai is made up of a multicultural society;
with only 5% of local Emiratis, the rest are expatriates from all over the world.

79
 Figure 60: Dubai Map117

3.3 Extent of Knowledge about Light Pollution in Dubai

Little is known about light pollution research or night sky luminance measurement
conducted in or related to the city of Dubai. One of the few information about night sky
brightness of Dubai was mentioned in the paper ―new world atlas of artificial night sky
brightness‖ published in Science Advances last year. The paper indicates that Dubai is one of
the most polluted cities in the world.

In this detailed image below, taken with a long focal length lens and digital camera
optimized for fast response and high light sensitivity, several interesting patterns can be
observed. The highways and major streets are sharply defined by yellow-orange lighting, while
the commercial and residential areas are resolved into a speckle pattern of individual white, blue
and yellow-orange lights. Numerous large and brilliantly lit areas are large hotel and mall
complexes, including the Burj Khalifa Tower, the world's tallest building at 2,717 feet, or 828
meters. The brilliant lighting of the city contrasts sharply with both the dark Arabian Gulf to the
northwest, and largely undeveloped and unlit areas to the southeast. Likewise, the clusters of
lighting in the Palm Jumeirah complex at bottom right correspond to the relatively small part of
the archipelago that has been developed. Isolated areas of blurred city lights are due to patchy
clouds.

117
"Dubai Map," , n.d.https://www.mapsofworld.com/dubai/dubai-large-map.jpg.

80
 Figure 61: Dubai City at night118

Apart from that, there is only sparse night sky measurement data loaded to the Internet
by individuals.

3.4 Types of External Lighting in Dubai that may cause light Pollution

Dubai is known as the pearl of the Arabian Gulf because of the bright and beautiful;
lights shining at night. Dubai is full of activities and events at night time. Not only commercial
buildings and malls are getting attention with lighting, also a lot of residential buildings, sports
arenas, and other sources as stated in the previous sections.

According to CIE 150:2003 ―Guide on the Limitation of the Effects of Obtrusive Light
from Outdoor Lighting‖, outdoor lighting is provided for a variety of purposes; examples of which
are as follow:
1- For work or recreation: to enable people to see essential detail, in order that they may
undertake the work or recreation activities at night for which the area is intended, e.g. freight
yards, sport fields.

118
"The lights of Dubai," NASA Earth Observatory, n.d.http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-flioMV1_LKs/UM9G6-
Bo8PI/AAAAAAAANtY/IUk54JaH6Jw/s1600/ISS030-E-099324_lrg.jpg.

81
 2- For safety or security: to light the area so as facilitate the safety or security of
persons or property, e.g. lighting of roads, pedestrian pathways, and perimeter
lighting.
3- For amenity: to light feature of architectural or historical significance, or to light
parks or gardens.
4- For advertising or display: to promote products or services, e.g. lighting of
advertising sings, or to give emphasis to commercial premises by means of
lighting.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of examples of what we can consider as a bad harmful
lighting in Dubai. Here is a brief listing for examples of night lighting that may cause light
pollution:

 Intense Façade lighting: Dubai is one of the cities where you can see a lot of unique and
iconic towers. Residents and visitors can sense the competition between construction
developers to add one more exceptional structure that makes everyone interested in
seeing it during day or night. As the night times takes at least half of the 24hrs of the
day in Dubai, applying façade lighting is a common solution for high rise buildings.
Dubai is the home of more than 900 high rise buildings and the tallest building in the
whole world is one of them called Burj Khalifa shown in figure (62). All these façade
lights add to the artificial sky glow of the city making it nearly impossible to observe the
objects in the sky or relax in the darkness.

Figure 62: Burj Khalifah Facade lighting119

119
http://balichws.com/burj-khalifa-show/, n.d.http://balichws.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Burj-Khalifa-
Night-Show-1280x800.jpg.

82
 Figure 63: Almas Tower at night

 Obtrusive light: Dubai is a city with a high population density. The spacing between the
buildings whether they‘re residential or commercial in many districts isn‘t far enough to
prevent obtrusive light from intruding the adjacent windows. These lights have adverse
effects on the occupants young or adults. One of the extreme cases can be observed at
the Marina district where tens of commercial and residential high rise buildings emitting
unwanted light beams in a competition to win the eye attraction of the pedestrians at
night affecting their surroundings and the disrupting the ones who seek for darkness at
their apartments preventing them from convenient sleeping unless they use the help of
blackout curtains.

Figure 64: Dubai Marina

 Large advertising sign boards: Advertising is almost everywhere in the dynamic city if
Dubai. Large advertising boards are spread through the city and dedicated flooding
lights are giving them attraction during night. These lights are kept ON till the dawn of
next day and in many occasions they‘re not aimed properly because of poor installation
or due to weather conditions like wind storms which change the luminaires positioning.
One more thing to be sure about is the light distribution of these flood lights which is
fully directed to the boards themselves but instead part of it is striking the sky and
destroying the night darkness. Same results can be happening in the case of digital sign

83
 boards where lights are emitted and causing a glowing halo its effect can reach to far
distances.

Figure 65: Advertising Board on the side of a highway road in Dubai illuminated by up-lighting flood lights

Figure 66: Advertising Board on the side of in the center of the city of Dubai illuminated from the top

 Excessive street illumination: Dubai is well known by its amazing road system. Many
studies indicate that over lighting at night is not a guarantee for safety120. On the
contrary, it causes glare which is a disturbance for drivers. However, a significant fact is
that vehicles themselves illuminate the road using headlights, therefore one should
consider to whom this excessive illumination is dedicated. Furthermore, a part of the
light reflects off the surface of the road and travels into the sky.

120
George Yannis, Alexandra Kondyli, and Nikolaos Mitzalis, "Effect of lighting on frequency and severity of road
accidents," Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Transport 166, no. 5 (2013): 271-281

84
 Figure 67: Street Lighting in Deira, Dubai

All these bad lighting practices cause disruption for people who use these surroundings
in direct or indirect ways. Understanding the great value of light at night by increasing the
awareness of the people may lead them to change the way of consuming the lights. The
authorities and the municipality should be targeted to update their regulations and
recommendations of light installations.

3.5 Research Purpose

The methods to determine sky brightness such as satellite telemetry mostly were
proposed by astronomers. However, light pollution discussed in astronomy or physics presents
the macroscopic results in the wide range, and cannot exactly reflect the detailed urban design
and lighting plan relationship, therefore, the urban light pollution problem can be improved in
smaller scale urban planning and lighting design. In order to have a better understanding to this
issue, a quantitative field study in nigh sky luminance is necessary.

Further, the results for measurements can be incorporated into international databases,
which may help in providing an indicator of the levels and sources of light pollution and analyze
the impact of urban landmarks, main roads, and commercial centers on sky glow but also the
areas of best dark sky quality (DSQ). It can also be used to monitor future changes in DSQ.

In addition to a better understanding of the issue of light pollution, this research may
serve as a tool for increasing public awareness towards artificial lighting. This has been
successfully done by other surveys and light pollution measurement campaigns.

85
3.6 Methodology

In general, night-sky brightness is used to assess the degree of sky glow in the
measurement unit of luminance (cd/m2 or equal to mag per square arcsec (mag/arcsec2), which
means every level magnitude differ by 2.512 times in brightness. International Astronomical
Union (IAU) defines the natural moonless night-sky brightness in the case of no light pollution is
21.6mag/arcsec2 which is equivalent to the luminance value of 2.1×10-4 cd/m2. For the full
moon, the natural night-sky brightness is considered by 16mag/arcsec2.

For the convenience and accuracy of measurement, this study used SQM as the
instrument to measure night-sky brightness. Smaller readings of SQM mean greater light
pollution. In addition, due to the building density in Dubai cities, the field view of the sky from the
ground is relatively smaller. To avoid excessive and unnecessary light, the instrument SQM-L of
FWHM (Full Width at Half Maximum) at 20° was used in this study.

3.6.1 Outline of the Survey

A field experiment was carried out at a multitude of sites across Dubai. 45 sites have
been selected in this study. The survey was performed between May till July 2017.
Observations were made after the end of astronomical twilight on moonless nights by using Sky
Quality Meter (SQM). Global Positioning System (GPS) is also used to identify the exactly
latitude and longitude coordinate in this experiment. In this study road and urban landmarks
were selected to measure NSB.

To reveal the real NSB, measurement should avoid direct exposure to artificial light and
the shading of trees or buildings. SQM-L measuring points should be set at a distance equal to
the height of the facility. If there were an artificial light source nearby, it should keep at least a
distance of more than 10m.

3.6.2 Sky Quality Meter (SQM)

The SQM was selected for this assessment because of its portability and its ease of use.
This handheld tool is produced by the Canadian company ‗Unihedron‘ (Unihedron, 2014) and is
offered in various versions. Its capability and accuracy has been described in a paper by
Pierantonio Cinzano (2005), one of the most prominent researchers in the field of light pollution.

86
 Figure 68: The Sky Quality Meter

SQM is a light intensity to frequency converter, and the SQM convert the output
frequency to a digital LED reading. The sensor is covered by a near-infrared blocking filter. This
filter is introduced to guarantee the brightness reading is contributed mainly by the targeted
visible light for human eye. The SQM is calibrated for its absolute sensitivity by the
manufacturer. The absolute precision of the meter is ± 10% or ± 0.10MPSAS. The detector in it
is sensitive to light from a cone of Half Width Half Maximum (HWHM) of about 10 degrees,
which is the angle at which the central brightness falls by half. The narrow angular sensitivity of
the SQM reduces the chance for the night sky brightness (NSB) measurements to be affected
by direct illumination from surrounding lightings.

Figure 69: Visual dark sky representation in (mag/arcsec2) 121

The system is designed to measure the dynamical of the brightness of night sky
‗mag/arcsec2‘ which represents the surface brightness in magnitude units related to the solar
luminosity per square arc second. The ‗mag/arcsec2‘ scale ranges between 14 (completely
polluted sky) to 23 (fully pristine sky). The interface is very simple there is only a big red button.
An observer points the sensor side of the SQM directly to the zenith and activates the light
sensor. Readings of the NSB and the ambient temperature will be displayed in about 1Sec.

3.6.3 Selection of Observing Times

121
"Sky Quality Meter," Unihedron, accessed May 15, 2017, http://www.unihedron.com/projects/darksky/.

87
 The survey started on the 23th of May and completed on the 28th of July. To make sure
that perceived readings are reliable these necessary conditions were taken into consideration
while performing all the measurements in the survey:

1- Selecting moonless nights when the natural light at its lowest intensity (days between
the new moon and the full moon) to take the readings.
2- Selecting the nights with clean sky (no fog, clouds, or haze) which is the usual case
during the summer season in Dubai.
3- Readings to be taken until after the end of the Astronomical twilight (when the sun is
more than 18 degrees below the horizon). It‘s considered the best time for observing the
night sky because the sun scattered light effect becomes insignificant.122

Figure 70: A demonstration of the different phases of the night time123

3.6.4 Selection of Observing Sites

While selecting any of the observing sites, the following guidelines were the main concern:

1- Adopt sites that are least affected by artificial light, easy accessible, and has a relatively
wide field of view. Measurements carried out near lamps do not present the actual
situation; in that case the brightness of a lamp is measured not the night sky brightness.
2- Avoid a site with excessive street lamps or artificial lightings from outdoor buildings or
light-emitting signboards nearby so that readings from the SQMs would be minimally
affected and the data taken would reflect the true brightness of the sky.
3- If there are artificial lightings nearby, measurements should be taken at least 10m from
any individual light source.
4- No trees, houses or other objects near the site where a reading is taken.
5- Note the longitude and latitude values for each site.

122
"National Optical Astronomy Observatory: Education & Public Engagement," National Optical Astronomy
Observatory, accessed May 16, 2017, https://www.noao.edu/education/.
123
"Civil, nautical and astronomical twilight," , n.d.https://www.weather.gov/images/fsd/astro/twilight.png.

88
 There were in total 45 individual sites covering most of the districts of Dubai. The
geographical distribution of all the observation sites is shown in Figure (71). These sites
covered a wide range of land utilizations, including GIC (government, institution and community)
facilities, residential areas, commercial districts, rural settlements, and parks. All sites were
roughly classified into residential, commercial, industrial, and roadways. Of the 45 sites, 40 of
them (80%) are considered to be urban, while the remaining 10 sites (20%) are considered to
be rural.

Figure 71: Geographic distribution of the observation sites

3.7 Data Collection and Reporting

In order To ensure a comprehensive survey the following procedure was followed:

1- Before taking your readings, first make sure the sensor/faceplate has been wiped
and is clean.
2- Leave the SQM meter outside for at least five minutes before taking any
measurements so it adjusts to the outdoor air temperature.
3- Point the SQM so that sensor points toward the sky (Zenith), Press the red button
once, and release.
4- SQM shouldn‘t be moved until the reading is displayed.
5- For each site take a total of five consecutive readings were taken and then averaged.
6- Date, time, location coordinates, and temperature data were documented with each
reading

A detailed table filled with the measurement readings, temperature, coordinates, local
time, and site category is at table (7) below. To ease the reading and interpretation of NSB

89
 readings, the results were combined with the geographic information system (GIS). This study
used Surfer software to describe investigation results and GIS in contour images to get the
mapping of light pollution in a regional scale for an easier understanding of the measurements.
Therefore, each measuring point of NSB was positioned by GPS to record the longitude and
latitude of the location. The information of the 45 measurement points were converted into XYZ
three-dimensional coordinates. X represents longitude, Y represents latitude, and Z represents
the measured NSB. Then, with the help of Surfer software the data were converted into grid to
plot the map of NSB. The NSB data were plotted presenting the light pollution map of Dubai.
Areas of bright colors and closer to the red color have higher NSB and the ones close to dark
blue are the darkest skies as shown in figure (72).

Local
Observation Temperature SQM Reading
No. Observation Latitude Longitude Area type Comment on Location
Date (C⁰) (mag/arcsec2)
Time
Al Rashidiya - residential
1 23/5/2017 8:33:00 PM 25.225469 55.382724 28 16.22 Residential
area
Mirdif - Residential area
2 23/5/2017 8:40:00 PM 25.220833 55.419444 28 16.73 Residential
Nearby mirdif city center
3 23/5/2017 8:50:00 PM 25.220833 55.406389 27 15.86 Commercial
Ras Al Khor
4 23/5/2017 9:05:00 PM 25.202839 55.374352 26 16.72 Industrial
Mushrif Park - Inside
5 23/5/2017 9:45:00 PM 25.213903 55.446896 25 19.34 Recreational
Mushrif Park ENTRANCE
6 23/5/2017 9:30:00 PM 25.203472 55.44022 25 18.01 Recreational
Beyond Mushrif Park - In
7 23/5/2017 10:30:00 PM 25.187778 55.495278 24 18.56 Recreational
the desert
Jumeirah Beach 1
8 24/5/2017 9:00:00 PM 25.229167 55.258056 27 16.37 Recreational
Jumeirah 1 - residential
9 24/5/2017 9:22:00 PM 25.22413 55.261178 26 16.27 Residential
area
Burj Khalifa Area
10 24/5/2017 10:33:00 PM 25.194686 55.277545 25 16.07 Commercial
Burj Khalifa Area -
11 24/5/2017 10:56:00 PM 25.190278 55.283333 24 16.13 Commercial
Alasayel st.
Al Waheda
12 25/5/2017 9:15:00 PM 25.298333 55.335833 29 15.89 Roadway
Nearby AHDAAF SPORTS
13 25/5/2017 9:30:00 PM 25.300556 55.342222 27 16.44 Roadway
CLUB - AL MAMZAR
Mamzar Park Beach
14 25/5/2017 9:56:00 PM 25.323611 55.346389 26 19.78 Recreational
Mamzar Park Open theater
15 25/5/2017 10:18:00 PM 25.319819 55.348621 26 17.01 Recreational
Nearby Al Shabab Al Arabi
16 25/5/2017 10:40:00 PM 25.291944 55.346944 25 15.97 Roadway
Club
Al Nahda 2
17 26/5/2017 8:43:00 PM 25.291111 55.378056 32 16.33 Residential
near century mall
18 26/5/2017 9:11:00 PM 25.287778 55.348889 30 16.01 Commercial
Ras Al Khor Industrial Area
19 26/5/2017 9:37:00 PM 25.181667 55.362222 29 16.89 Industrial
2
Nad Alhamar rd.
20 26/5/2017 10:24:00 PM 25.191944 55.373056 26 16.93 Roadway
sports city - inside
21 24/6/2017 8:45:00 PM 25.030556 55.223611 38 18.04 Residential
sports city - near ICC
22 24/6/2017 8:58:00 PM 25.036111 55.225833 38 16.75 Residential
Cricket Academy
JVC
23 24/6/2017 9:19:00 PM 25.060833 55.22 35 16.53 Residential

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 Al Lisaili - near Dubai
24 24/6/2017 10:08:00 PM 24.920556 55.453889 34 20.09 Roadway
Camel Racing Club
Nearby Jebel Ali Race
25 24/6/2017 10:32:00 PM 25.070278 55.195556 32 16.96 Roadway
Course
Nad Alhamar
26 24/6/2017 10:55:00 PM 25.190278 55.387778 28 17.04 Residential
Jumeirah 3 beach
27 25/6/2017 9:00:00 PM 25.163056 55.206111 35 18.94 Recreational
Umm Suqeim 1 residential
28 25/6/2017 9:40:00 PM 25.160833 55.2125 29 16.86 Residential
area
Nearby GEMS
29 25/6/2017 10:23:00 PM 25.116667 55.253333 27 16.77 Roadway
International School
JLT-cluster N- parking
30 26/6/2017 8:45:00 PM 25.063539 55.139167 37 16.2 Residential
JLT-cluster M
31 26/6/2017 8:50:00 PM 25.064626 55.138221 37 15.67 Residential
Alkhail road
32 26/6/2017 9:05:00 PM 25.069827 55.146054 33 16.07 Roadway
Near Dubai International
33 26/6/2017 9:10:00 PM 25.048127 55.214881 30 16.16 Roadway
Stadium
sports City
34 26/6/2017 9:16:00 PM 25.040627 55.218986 29 16.85 Residential
Near Falcon city of
35 26/6/2017 9:30:00 PM 25.104545 55.34058 28 15.48 Roadway
Wonders
JLT
36 23/7/2017 8:53:00 PM 25.061902 55.139184 35 16.12 Commercial
JBR beach
37 23/7/2017 9:19:00 PM 25.076604 55.130553 30 15.69 Recreational
Marina bridge
38 23/7/2017 10:25:00 PM 25.075344 55.136894 29 15.52 Roadway
Atlantis the palm
39 23/7/2017 10:55:00 PM 25.126923 55.154778 27 17.01 Recreational
Atlantis the palm - front of
40 23/7/2017 11:20:00 PM 25.13471 55.119284 26 17.05 Recreational
the leap of faith hotel
The palm - Crescent rd.
41 24/7/2017 8:45:00 PM 25.100124 55.116438 38 19.55 Roadway
Jumeirah Public Beach -
42 24/7/2017 9:23:00 PM 25.144144 55.191597 35 16.73 Recreational
near Burj Alarab
Al Sufouh 1
43 24/7/2017 10:18:00 PM 25.126667 55.1875 33 16.58 Residential
AlQudra Rd. further away
44 24/7/2017 11:20:00 PM 24.97882 55.337831 32 18.5 Recreational
from the city
AlQudra Rd.
45 24/7/2017 11:47:00 PM 24.998611 55.306667 31 16.01 Roadway

Table 7: List of reading locations details and their average SQM measurements

91
 Figure 72: Light pollution generated contour map of the measurements taken at different sites for Dubai city

3.8 Results and Analysis

In this survey 45 readings of NSB were collected at 45 different sites during the clear
moonless nights of May, June, and July in 2017. The pie chart for all the NSB readings collected
is shown in Figure (73). Sites were classified into 5 different types of areas; nearby roadways
(13 sites), residential (13 sites), commercial (5 sites), industrial (2 sites), and recreational (12
sites). The darkest night-sky was detected far away from the center of the city in Al Lisaili area -
nearby Dubai Camel Racing Club with a measured NSB value of 20.09mag/arcsec². This
location is a rural area adjacent to the city away from population settlements by 50Km distance.
On the other hand the brightest sky was measured nearby the Falcon city of Wonders with a
reading of 15.48mag/arcsec². This location is nearby Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road the
heavily trafficked highway day and night.

Site type vs. no. of Readings %

Commercial
11%
29% 4% Industrial
Recreational
27%
Residential
29%
Roadway

Figure 73: Number of readings for each site classification as a percentage of the total number of readings

92
 The overall average NSB for all readings obtained in this survey is 16.9mag/arcsec2. The
current level is significantly brighter than what is considered natural NSB level of 21.6
mag/arcsec2 recommended by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for conducting
astronomical observations. One key factor affecting the measured NSB is the observing
location. This is expected because of the different population densities, land utilizations, outdoor
lighting environment and practices in different areas in Dubai.

These low readings -meaning highly polluted skies- are matching with the previous
satellite images picturing Dubai as one of the brightest cities in the world at night. The local
measuring is dissecting the ups and downs locations of the city‘s sky-glow. Due to heavy human
flow and more use of lighting at the center of the city for different purposes like commercial,
advertising, street lighting, and security, we can sense from figure (72) as if the sky of Dubai‘s
center is covered with a blanket of light polluted sky making it almost impossible to enjoy the
darkness without getting affected by over illumination or trespass lighting.

The readings in table (7) and the supplementary charts and figures in the appendix
detailing the data for each category of measuring sites are indicating relatively high levels of sky
brightness. These generated information can justify certain behaviors and patterns of the people
at night. The tendency to use blackout curtains specially at sleeping times in residential
buildings to eliminate the obtrusive light from causing disturbance. Over-illuminated roads and
streets are located in many areas and it‘s turning into a virus where new installations or even
the retrofit ones are delivering more than is needed for the different roads types. This is
considered as lost energy at the end of the day and by a wiser luminaire selection we can save
energy and money for other uses or be saved for later generations.

Brightly lit areas adjacent by the beaches like Jumeirah and the palm –refer to reading
no. 8,14,27,39- are discouraging the female sea turtles from nesting in them; they can also be
disoriented by lights and wander onto nearby roadways, where they risk being struck by
vehicles. Even local and migrating birds are being affected by light pollution. Many species of
birds fly their migration patterns at night over. They routinely are confused during passage by
brightly lit buildings, large advertising boards, and other illuminated structures. As investigated
earlier lights attract birds and disorient them which add to the causes of the decaying numbers
of birds in the country124. Other wild species like scorpions, wild rats, foxes and others are surely
being annoyed by the extended street lighting into the heart of the desert forcing them to look
for further habitats where they can be less affected by lights.

3.9 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS

This study is very important to record and identify the overall local sky brightness
condition of Dubai. The overall average sky brightness is indicating very high levels of light
124
"Local Birds Pushed to Brink of Extinction," The National, accessed July 31, 2017,
https://www.thenational.ae/uae/environment/local-birds-pushed-to-brink-of-extinction-1.418736.

93
pollution. The vast development movement over the last two decades in the city is destroying
the night skies forcing interested sky observers to travel for longer distances far away from the
light polluted center of the city seeking for dark enough skies for a better view. Survey results
indicate that even the sea shore line is seriously affected by light pollution.

This study is very important to know where the best and worst locations affected by light
pollution. In this study, the darkest location in Dubai is at Al Lisaili area - nearby Dubai Camel
Racing Club. This location is the best compared to the other measured sites but still can‘t be
considered for professional astronomical observatory. However, from this data, the government
should start taking actions for this area to reduce light pollution levels, for instance they can
make some new acts to reduce nearby community usage of artificial lights because it will bring a
big effects to the mother nature in the future.

Because this survey has quantified the sky glow mainly caused by light pollution in an
easy to read way with the help of maps, unprofessional individuals who are working in decision
making authorities can understand the dangers of careless use of night lighting. A bigger survey
with more observing locations during a longer period of time that cover a longer time duration is
the next goal to capture a wider picture of the night time sky situation in Dubai. The resulting of
that along with other published data such as satellite imagery will supply the decision makers
with real sold evidences of the devastating sky conditions.

The measurements confirmed that the highest light polluted areas are tourist areas,
dense roadways, and areas where the majority of populations live. The darker sky will contribute
to the better quality of life for humans and other living beings, some species will be less
endangered, the influence of light on human health will be reduced, the energy consumption will
be lowered, and what is more, our cost will be reduced. Therefore, it is essential to answer
these questions. Do we really need to illuminate everything? Do we illuminate things correctly?
Do we need illumination all night?

Unfortunately the lighting industry needs constraint and needs to be regulated. It always
promotes ―Light is good, darkness is bad.‖ The standards it has imposed are not fully
considering the light‘s effects on nature and living beings. That is why we have a problem with
light pollution, so those who cause the problem should not be allowed to write the rules.
Darkness at night is normal, and is not only essential for ourselves, but also for the health and
well-being of all living things.

People are actually safer under a blanket of darkness, though carefully aimed, motion
operated security lighting can prove a deterrent to intruders. Police officials reported almost zero
criminality during another power failure in Auckland, New Zealand125. What is not generally
known is that most crime occurs in daylight. Therefore criminals need light126. It can be

125
Ray Lilley, "Criminals take a break in blacked-out Auckland," The Columbian, August 3, 1988, xx.
126
Kara Gammell, "Garden Thefts Rise by 25pc As Evenings Get Lighter - Telegraph," Telegraph.co.uk, accessed July
19, 2017, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/contents/9138790/Garden-thefts-rise-
by-25pc-as-evenings-get-lighter.html

94
increasing lighting encourages people to behave at night more as they would during the day.
Therefore more lighting = more crime, so high crime areas coincide with those that are most
intensively lit.

There are far too many people among the lighting industry who don‘t care about the
damage they cause as they have their own ill- conceived agenda, and they don‘t have to accept
responsibility for the problems caused by unnecessary LAN. They are just ignorant, so our
health is suffering and other creatures might be more affected as a result. Consequently they
need to be regulated by a union made up of people without any vested interests in the industry.
This union should serve to protect the environment, monitor lighting schemes to ensure that
proper relevant standards are followed to, and to restrain any abuses. It should have the power
of prohibition, and serve as a judge to whom people can complain when bad lighting affects
them, and from whom their complaints can be redressed.

Unfortunately people are demanding more light because very often they feel insecure.
The well-being of the environment is demanding less. As was demonstrated in earlier sections
of this research, darkness at night is normal and essential for the well-being of humans, animals
and plants. Therefore, it‘s essential that society learn to adapt and accept darkness as a part of
the natural order of things. A universal culture change is required, just as there was with many
things and a good example could be smoking in public places. Obtrusive lighting, regardless of
where it comes from, is therefore antisocial.

One aspect of antisocial lighting is decorative lighting. This consists of all lighting that
does not serve any useful purpose, illuminated public ―art monuments‖, sky-beams and lasers,
illuminated advertising in residential and rural areas, floodlit mosques and other public buildings.
Such lighting adds to the pre-existing levels of light pollution already created by street and
security lighting. As such it is damaging to both humans and the environment, and is totally
unsuitable outside the centers of towns and cities.

127
Figure 74: Deira Clock-tower art monument, Dubai

127
"Deira Clock tower," , n.d.https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/33/30/c2/3330c2e42b887ac3246
a4dbc97a27a63.jpg.

95
 128
Figure 75: Khalifa Al Tajer mosque in Deira, Dubai

Of course some lighting at night is needed as a few people need to work and move
around at night. However, lighting should only be installed cautiously, where needed, when
needed, and in the correct amounts. Much of our existing lighting can be eliminated without any
serious effect, and lights switched off when they are not needed. Those responsible for
community planning should prevent over-lighting. City municipalities should update their
regulations to include the use smart lighting systems specifically been designed for the purpose
in exterior lighting installations. Lights should be ON only at designated time intervals during the
night not to be kept at its full power consumption for the whole night. A comprehensive control
schedules should be associated with every installation to save energy, Day/night cycles, and
environment as well.

Night lighting should only be permitted in city centers and major roads, where people are
almost constantly active. Minor roads and residential areas should follow a curfew rules to be
agreed with the community representatives, to give the environment time to recover. In winter,
schools and businesses can adopt a winter timetable starting work in daylight and finishing later.
This obviates the need for people to get up in the dark and as a consequence, early morning
lighting. This will also lead to a reduction in accidents and in energy consumption as well.

These measures will confer darkness, and people will find that they will sleep better.
Local governments are under no responsibility to illuminate streets for people who choose to be
out after that time. It‘s on their own responsibility to provide lighting for their activity which is time
and area limited. In these residential districts, authorities should be under an obligation to
remove annoying obtrusive lighting from outside homes if the householders are getting
disturbed by it. Same thing for security lighting which should be motion operated so it only
comes on when and where needed, and at all other times remains switched off. Unnecessary
lighting that does not serve any useful purpose should be banned in residential and rural areas.

128
"Khalifa Al Tajer mosque," , n.d.https://www.trilux.com/fileadmin/Content/DE/Images/Unternehmen/
Xperience/2015/Gruene_Moschee_Dubai/Gruene-Moschee-Dubai.jpg.

96
 Optimized lighting designs can help to diminish glare, especially with new appropriately
designed LED & OLED technologies. This will alleviate the physiological and psychological
problems resulting from glare. LED lighting, however has two sides, at one side it contains
significant amounts of light towards the blue end of the spectrum, but on the other side it can be
alleviated by the introduction of amber colored LEDs.

With the elimination of unnecessary lighting, not only will our health and general well-
being improve, but we will also be protecting the environment by preventing energy wastage,
saving money, and reducing the carbon dioxide emissions responsible for climate change.
Money spent on excessive and unnecessary lighting would be better spent on health, education
and welfare. In addition it could also contribute to the more appropriate regeneration of
depressed areas and as a consequence the alleviation of poverty and deprivation.

Light pollution is a serious biological and environmental problem that has a number of
implications. It contributes to global warming and disturbs circadian rhythms. Light at night has
been linked to breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men. It can cause depression,
and disturbed sleep, causing fatigue. It also contributes to air pollution. Taking serious actions
against bad lighting installations is not optional anymore. The whole planet is being affected and
we as humans should rise up to our responsibilities of saving where we live and reproduce our
next generations.

I believe that light pollution should be considered as any other global environmental
pollution. The bad side of unwise lighting should be spread out among the public. Campaigns
against light pollution must also be driven by individuals who can work with the government to
make the change. As with other forms of pollution, corporate profits should not be used to
override the need for a healthy environment. Light-Pollution Abatement campaigns must reflect
the country‘s culture, economy, and regional context.

As a lighting designer I hope lighting design communities and urban planners can
contribute to a sustainable lighting design and at the same time embrace the darkness. The
human safety and commercial interests should not be more important than dark nights and a
sustainable urban environment. I think the modern human and upcoming generations need to
learn how to appreciate darkness. It should not be promoted as a threat that obstructs people‘s
freedom of performing activities. Darkness should rather be seen as a biological necessity and a
privilege to embrace.

97
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Appendix

In this appendix I‘m putting a figure shows the measuring points, a figure shows the light
pollution contour map, and a chart with the reading values for each category of the 4 different
classified location types (roadway, residential, recreational, and commercial)

Figure 76: Map showing roadway measured sites

Figure 77: Generated contour map of the roadway measured sites

Figure 78: Roadway sites measurements

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 Figure 79: Map showing residential measured sites

Figure 80: Generated contour map of the residential measured sites

Figure 81: Residential sites measurements

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 Figure 82: Map showing recreational measured sites

Figure 83: Generated contour map of the recreational measured sites

Figure 84: Recreational sites measurements

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 Figure 85: Map showing commercial measured sites

Figure 86: Generated contour map of the commercial measured sites

Figure 87: Commercial sites measurements

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Figure 88: Generated contour map of the industrial measured sites

Figure 89: Map showing industrial measured sites

Figure 90: Industrial sites measurements

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