Which indicators do you use to measure light pollution?

This topic has 2 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 1 week ago by Antonio Lopez – Operador.

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October 29, 2026 at 11:00 am #866
ADRAL
Socio · foros
We are preparing the monitoring protocol for the five destinations and we keep finding the same problem: everybody measures something different, and the numbers are not comparable.

Two questions for the group:
- Which indicator do you actually report – sky brightness (mag/arcsec2), number of fixtures, or the hours of lighting?
- How often do you measure, and with which device?
In our case we have one Sky Quality Meter and one all-sky camera, and we measure twice a season. It is not enough, but I would like to know what the rest of you can realistically maintain before we propose something in the next WP1 meeting.
October 29, 2026 at 11:00 am #870

Ana Perez
Participant

We use sky brightness only, in mag/arcsec2, measured with a SQM-L twice a season. Fixtures are counted once a year, when we renew the certification. It is cheap and it survives changes of staff, which for us was the main risk.

October 29, 2026 at 11:00 am #871

Antonio Lopez – Operador
Participant

Same here, but with an all-sky camera. The problem is not the measurement, it is that two of our destinations have no trained person to take it. A one-page protocol with a photograph of the device in place helped more than any training session.
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