Artificial light has transformed urban life, enhancing visibility, aesthetics, and increasing safety in public areas. However, too much unwanted artificial light leads to light pollution, which has a negative effect on public health and urban ecosystems, as well as on the aesthetic and cultural meanings of the night sky. Some of the factors interfering with the estimation of light pollution in cities are urban features, such as the presence of trees, road dimensions, and the physical characteristics of buildings. In this study, we proposed a simplified model for unwanted upward light coming from street luminaires based on a building height model and the publicly accessible Google Street View images. We simulated and analyzed the obstruction effects of different street features on the light pollution caused by the street lighting system in Cambridge, Massachusetts. By providing quantitative information about the connections between the streetscape features and the amount of unwanted upward artificial light, this study provides reference values to inform policies aimed at curbing light pollution.
AdrianWJabanputraR (2005) Influence of Pavement Reflectance on Lighting for Parking Lots.
Skokie, IL:
Portland Cement Association, p.46.
2.
ÁlvarezRDuarteFSitM; et al. (2017)
Re-imagining streetlight infrastructure as a digital urban platform.Journal of Urban Technology24(2): 51–64.
3.
AubéM (2015)
Physical behaviour of anthropogenic light propagation into the nocturnal environment. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences370(1667): 20140117.
4.
AubéMRobyJKocifajM (2013)
Evaluating potential spectral impacts of various artificial lights on melatonin suppression, photosynthesis, and star visibility.PLoS One8(7): e67798.
5.
AubéMSimoneauA (2018)
New features to the night sky radiance model illumina: Hyperspectral support, improved obstacles and cloud reflection.Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer211: 25–34.
6.
BilleMSørensenT (2007)
An anthropology of luminosity.Journal of Material Culture12(3): 263–284.
7.
ChalkiasCPetrakisMPsiloglouB; et al. (2006)
Modelling of light pollution in suburban areas using remotely sensed imagery and GIS.Journal of Environmental Management79(1): 57–63.
8.
Chapman L and Thornes JE (2004) Real-Time Sky-View Factor Calculation and Approximation. Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 21(5): 730--741.
9.
ChenLNgEAnX, et al. (2010)
Sky view factor analysis of street canyons and its implications for daytime intra-urban air temperature differentials in high-rise, high-density urban areas of Hong Kong: A GIS-based simulation approach.International Journal of Climatology32(1): 121–136.
10.
Davies TW, Bennie J, Inger R, et al. (2013) Artificial light pollution: are shifting spectral signatures changing the balance of species interactions? Global Change Biology 19(5): 1417--1423.
11.
DaviesTWSmythT (2018)
Why artificial light at night should be a focus for global change research in the 21st century.Global Change Biology24(3): 872–882.
12.
DuJZhangX (2015) Light trespass protection in a glazed office building: How the shading system works? In: Proceedings of the 14th conference of international building performance simulation association, Hyderabad, India, 7–9 December.
13.
DuarteF (2018) Space, Place and Territory. A Critical Review on Spatialities.
London:
Routledge.
14.
EdensorT (2015)
The gloomy city: Rethinking the relationship between light and dark.Urban Studies52(3): 422–438.
15.
EdensorT (2017) From Light to Dark: Daylight, Illumination, and Gloom.
Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press.
16.
ElvidgeCDBaughKEDietzJB; et al. (1999)
Radiance calibration of DMSP-OLS low-light imaging data of human settlements.Remote Sensing of Environment68(1): 77–88.
17.
Elvidge C, Tuttle B, Sutton P, et al. (2007) Global Distribution and Density of Constructed Impervious Surfaces. Sensors 7: 1962--1979.
18.
ElvidgeCDBaughKEHobsonVR, et al. (1997)
Satellite inventory of human settlements using nocturnal radiation emissions: A contribution for the global toolchest.Global Change Biology3: 387–395.
19.
Estrada-GarcíaRGarcía-GilMAcostaL; et al. (2016).
Statistical modelling and satellite monitoring of upward light from public lighting.Lighting Research & Technology48(7): 810–822.
20.
FalchiFCinzanoPDuriscoeD; et al. (2016).
The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness.Science Advances2(6): e1600377.
21.
FalchiFCinzanoPElvidgeCD; et al. (2011).
Limiting the impact of light pollution on human health, environment and stellar visibility.Journal of Environmental Management92(10): 2714–2722.
22.
GastonKJDuffyJPGastonS; et al. (2014).
Human alteration of natural light cycles: Causes and ecological consequences.Oecologia176(4): 917–931.
23.
HaleJDDaviesGFairbrassAJ; et al. (2013).
Mapping lightscapes: Spatial patterning of artificial lighting in an urban landscape.PLoS One8(5): e61460.
24.
Hale JD, Davies D, Fairbrass AJ, et al. (2015) Mapping lightscapes: spatial patterning of artificial lighting in an urban landscape. PloS one 8(5): e61460.
25.
HeLPáezALiuD (2017)
Built environment and violent crime: An environmental audit approach using Google Street View.Computers, Environment and Urban Systems66: 83–95.
26.
HiscocksPDGuðmundssonS (2010)
The contribution of street lighting to light pollution. Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada104(5): 190–196.
27.
ImhoffMLLawrenceWTStutzerDC; et al. (1997).
A technique for using composite DMSP/OLS “city lights” satellite data to map urban area.Remote Sensing of Environment61(3): 361–370.
28.
Johnson GT and Watson IA (1984) The Determination of View-Factors in Urban Canyons. Journal of Climate and Applied Meteorology 23(2): 329--335.
29.
KocifajM (2018)
Towards a Comprehensive city emission function (CCEF).Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer205: 253–266.
30.
KuechlyHUKybaCCRuhtzT; et al. (2012)
Aerial survey and spatial analysis of sources of light pollution in Berlin, Germany.Remote Sensing of Environment126: 39–50.
31.
KumarSDeshpandeAHoSS; et al. (2016).
Urban street lighting infrastructure monitoring using a mobile sensor platform.IEEE Sensors Journal16(12): 4981–4994.
32.
KybaCCMRuhtzTFischerJ; et al. (2011).
Cloud coverage acts as an amplifier for ecological light pollution in urban ecosystems.PLoS One6(3): e17307.
33.
LawsonTRogersonRBarnacleM (2018)
A comparison between the cost effectiveness of CCTV and improved street lighting as a means of crime reduction.Computer, Environment and Urban Systems68: 17–25.
34.
LiXRattiC (2018) Mapping the spatio-temporal distribution of solar radiation within street canyons of Boston using Google Street View panoramas and building height model. Landscape and Urban Planning. Epub ahead of print. DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2018.07.011. Available online 2 August 2018.
35.
LiXRattiCSeiferlingI (2018)
Quantifying the shade provision of street trees in urban landscape: A case study in Boston, USA, using Google Street View.Landscape and Urban Planning169: 81–91.
36.
LongcoreTRichC (2004)
Ecological light pollution.Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment2: 191–198.
37.
LongcoreTRodríguezAWitheringtonB; et al. (2018)
Rapid assessment of lamp spectrum to quantify ecological effects of light at night.Journal of Experimental Zoology Part A: Ecological and Integrative Physiology329(8–9): 511–521.
38.
LyytimäkiJTapioPAssmuthT (2012)
Unawareness in environmental protection: The case of light pollution from traffic.Land Use Policy29(3): 598–604.
39.
MizonB (2002) Light Pollution. Responses and Remedies.
London:
Springer, p.216.
40.
NyeD (2010) When the Lights Went Out. A History of Blackouts in America.
Cambridge:
MIT Press.
41.
RCEP (2009) Artificial Light in the Environment: Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.
Norwich:
The Stationery Office, p.43.
42.
RodríguezARodríguezBNegroJ (2015)
GPS tracking for mapping seabird mortality induced by light pollution.Scientific Reports5(10670): 1–11.
43.
StarkHBrownSSWongKW; et al. (2011)
City lights and urban air.Nature Geoscience4(11): 730.
44.
Steyn DG (1980) The calculation of view factors from fisheye -- lens photographs: Research note. Taylor & Francis Group 18(3): 254--258.
45.
StevensRG (2009)
Light-at-night, circadian disruption and breast cancer: Assessment of existing evidence.International Journal of Epidemiology38(4): 963–970.
46.
Watson IA and Johnson GT (1987) Graphical estimation of sky view -- factors in urban environments. Journal of Climatology 7: 193--197.
