Early Performance and Results from the Globe at Night - Sky Brightness Monitoring Network
Abstract
The Global at Night - Sky Brightness Monitoring Network (GaN-MN) is an international project for long-term monitoring of night sky conditions around the world. The GaN-MN consists of fixed monitoring stations each equipped with a Sky Quality Meter - Lensed Ethernet (SQM-LE), which is a specialized light sensor for night sky brightness (NSB) measurement. NSB data are continuously collected at high sampling frequency throughout the night, and these data will be instantly made available to the general public to provide a real-time snapshot of the global light pollution condition. The huge NSB database accumulated also provides the basis for studies of the temporal and geographical variations of light pollution and its correlation with various natural and artificial factors. In order to ensure the quality of data collected between the monitoring sites, detailed guidelines of setting and location selection are defined, and a user workshop was held in Tokyo, Japan to introduce and discuss the installation procedures and data analysis for participants. In this presentation, the user workshop and early performance of the GaN-MN will be reported. The GaN-MN project is endorsed by the IAU Executive Committee Working Group as a major Cosmic Light program in the International Year of Light.
- Publication:
-
IAU General Assembly
- Pub Date:
- August 2015
- Bibcode:
- 2015IAUGA..2249097S