Correcting Sky Quality Meter measurements for aging effects using twilight as calibrator

TL;DR

This study quantifies the aging effects on Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) over time by using twilight measurements as a calibration method, revealing a linear degradation that varies with geographic latitude.

Contribution

First systematic assessment of SQM aging effects using twilight calibration across multiple locations, providing a method to correct long-term sky brightness measurements.

Findings

SQM degradation rates vary by location, with slopes of 34 to 53 milli-mag$_{ m SQM}$ arcsec$^{-2}$ per year.

Degradation correlates with geographic latitude and solar irradiance.

Twilight calibration effectively quantifies sensor aging in real-world conditions.

Abstract

In the last decade numerous Sky Quality Meters (SQMs) were installed throughout the globe, aiming to assess the temporal change of the night sky brightness (NSB), and thus the change in light pollution. However, it has become clear that SQM readings may be affected by aging effects such as degradation of the sensor sensitivity and/or loss of transmissivity of optical components (filter, housing window). To date, the magnitude of the darkening has not been assessed in a systematic way. We report for the first time on the quantification of the SQM aging effect and describe the applied method. We combine long-term SQM measurements obtained between 2011 and 2019 in Potsdam-Babelsberg (23 km to the southwest of the center of Berlin), Vienna and Stockholm with a readily available empirical twilight model, which serves as calibrator. Twilight SQM observations, calibrated for changing sun altitudes, reveal a linear degradation of the measurement systems (SQM + housing window) with the following slopes: 34$\pm$4, 46$\pm$2 and 53$\pm$2 milli-mag$_{\rm SQM}$ arcsec$^{-2}$ yr$^{-1}$ for Stockholm, Potsdam-Babelsberg and Vienna. With the highest slope found in Vienna (latitude $\sim$48$^\circ$) and the lowest one found in Stockholm (latitude $\sim$59$^\circ$), we find an indication for the dependence of the trend on solar irradiance (which is a function of geographic latitude).