Rolf Buhler | The effects and modelling of light pollution

Friday 18 Jul 2025, 10:00 → 12:00 Europe/Berlin

SR 05 (Villa)

As urban areas continue to expand, the excessive and misdirected use of artificial lighting is brightening the natural night-time environment. The consequences of this light pollution are far-reaching and affect human health, wildlife, energy consumption, and our ability to observe the night sky. In this talk, I will provide an overview of this topic. I will then present new software that simulates diffuse light pollution due to city skyglow, as well as the one produced directly by lamps on the ground. These simulations are based on satellite measurements of night-time radiance. Contrary to the global trend, I will demonstrate that France has successfully reduced light pollution over the past decade, at least during the middle of the night. The drivers of this development are the switching off of lights at night in many towns and the renewal of street lighting.