Mapping the brightness and color of urban to rural skyglow with all-sky photometry

TL;DR

This study used all-sky photometry with a calibrated digital camera to map and analyze the brightness and color of skyglow in Berlin under different weather conditions, revealing significant urban-rural gradients and cloud effects.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method using multispectral all-sky photometry to quantify skyglow brightness and color over large distances with high spatial resolution.

Findings

Skyglow brightness and color vary significantly from urban to rural areas.

Clouds amplify skyglow brightness and decrease correlated color temperature.

Urban skyglow can exceed full moon illuminance levels by up to 25 times.

Abstract

Artificial skyglow is a form of light pollution with wide ranging implications on the environment. The extent, intensity and color of skyglow depends on the artificial light sources and weather conditions. Skyglow can be best determined with ground based instruments. We mapped the skyglow of Berlin, Germany, for clear sky and overcast sky conditions inside and outside of the city limits. We conducted observations using a transect from the city center of Berlin towards a rural place more than 58 km south of Berlin using all-sky photometry with a calibrated commercial digital camera and a fisheye lens. From the multispectral imaging data, we processed luminance and correlated color temperature maps. We extracted the night sky brightness and correlated color temperature at zenith, as well as horizontal and scalar illuminance simultaneously. We calculated cloud amplification factors at each site and investigated the changes of brightness and color with distance, particularly showing differences inside and outside of the city limits. We found high values for illuminance above full moon light levels and amplification factors as high as 25 in the city center and a gradient towards the city limit and outside of the city limit. We further observed that clouds decrease the correlated color temperature in almost all cases. We discuss advantages and weaknesses of our method, compare the results with modeled night sky brightness data and provide recommendations for future work.