Center Develops Framework for Assessing Light Pollution
Scientists in the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed the first ever comprehensive method for predicting and measuring various aspects of light pollution.
The method, called Outdoor Site-Lighting Performance (OSP), allows users to quantify — and thus optimize — the performance of existing and planned lighting designs and applications to minimize excessive or obtrusive light leaving the boundaries of a property.
"Until now the conversation about light pollution has been just that -- a lot of talk with no data," said Mark Rea, LRC director and principal investigator on the project. "The Lighting Research Center's Outdoor Site-Lighting Performance measurement method is a powerful tool, allowing users to address three important aspects of light pollution -- sky glow, light trespass, and discomfort glare -- quantitatively and at the same time."
Sky glow is defined as total amount of light leaving a property. Light trespass describes the amount of light crossing from one property boundary onto another, and discomfort glare predicts the level at which light coming from a luminaire is uncomfortable for viewers.
Although the three factors are independent of each other, each is measured using OSP, allowing users to control and maximize the positive benefits of nighttime lighting, while simultaneously minimizing their negative consequences for the public, according to Rea.
In order to provide insights into the values of glow, trespass, and glare produced by nighttime lighting, Rea and LRC scientists Jennifer Brons and John Bullough worked with application engineers to study 125 lighting designs for four common nighttime lighting applications -- car parking lots, roadways, sports fields, and plazas.
A database of results has been created to help engineers compare the performance of their own projects to the glow, trespass, and glare levels measured at nighttime lighting applications located across North America and Europe.
Bullough says a more extensive, continually growing database updated by the lighting community would be invaluable for making systematic progress in reducing light pollution.
Based on the 125 sites examined, LRC scientists have developed provisional limits for glow, trespass, and glare, offered as starting points for subsequent discussion among all stakeholders in nighttime lighting, according to Rea.
The research was funded by Acuity Brands Lighting, Lumec, Philips Lighting, and R-Tech Schreder.
Full details of the OSP method were recently published in the journal of Lighting Research Technology, Vol. 40, No. 3, 201-224 (2008).