@article{DegenStormsLeeetal.2024, author = {Degen, Jacqueline and Storms, Mona and Lee, Benjamin and Jechow, Andreas and Stoeckl, Anna and Hoelker, Franz and Jakhar, Aryan and Walter, Thomas and Walter, Stefan and Mitesser, Oliver and Hovestadt, Thomas and Degen, Tobias}, title = {Shedding light with harmonic radar: Unveiling the hidden impacts of streetlights on moth flight behavior}, series = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, volume = {121}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America}, number = {42}, publisher = {National Academy of Sciences}, doi = {10.1073/pnas.2401215121}, year = {2024}, abstract = {One of the most dramatic changes occurring on our planet is the ever- increasing extensive use of artificial light at night, which drastically altered the environment to which nocturnal animals are adapted. Such light pollution has been identified as a driver in the dramatic insect decline of the past years. One nocturnal species group experiencing marked declines are moths, which play a key role in food webs and ecosystem services such as plant pollination. Moths can be easily monitored within the illuminated area of a streetlight, where they typically exhibit disoriented behavior. Yet, little is known about their behavior beyond the illuminated area. Harmonic radar tracking enabled us to close this knowledge gap. We found a significant change in flight behavior beyond the illuminated area of a streetlight. A detailed analysis of the recorded trajectories revealed a barrier effect of streetlights on lappet moths whenever the moon was not available as a natural celestial cue. Furthermore, streetlights increased the tortuosity of flights for both hawk moths and lappet moths. Surprisingly, we had to reject our fundamental hypothesis that most individuals would fly toward a streetlight. Instead, this was true for only 4\% of the tested individuals, indicating that the impact of light pollution might be more severe than assumed to date. Our results provide experimental evidence for the fragmentation of landscapes by streetlights and demonstrate that light pollution affects movement patterns of moths beyond what was previously assumed, potentially affecting their reproductive success and hampering a vital ecosystem service.}, language = {en} } @techreport{KybaArroyoDegenetal.2024, author = {Kyba, Christopher C.M. and Arroyo, Hector Linares and Degen, Tobias and Abascal, Angela and Simoneau, Alexandre and Kuffer, Monika and H{\"o}lker, Franz and Aub{\´e}, Martin and Walczak, Ken and Espey, Brian R. and de Miguel, Alejandro S{\´a}nchez and Jechow, Andreas and Gyuk, Geza}, title = {Night Watch Mission Description Document}, publisher = {GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences}, address = {Potsdam}, doi = {10.48440/gfz.b103-24052}, pages = {1 -- 156}, year = {2024}, abstract = {This is the Mission Description Document (MDD) for a future Earth observation satellite mission addressing visible band observations of nighttime lights. The mission driving science applications are for the remote sensing of electricity, energy, and ecological impacts via the observation of artificial light. The MDD covers the mission requirements justification from the high-level scientific objectives and societal benefits to measurement requirements at product level 1b, i.e. radiances at the top of the atmosphere. In providing justification for the individual requirements and their traceability to scientific objectives and societal challenges, we address Scientific Readiness Levels 1 to 3. The MDD is the outcome of the European Space Agency New Earth Observation Mission Ideas project "Night Watch". The Task Reports (TR) from the project are appended to the MDD, and are authored by the same group as the MDD itself.}, language = {en} } @article{KollathHajduDegenetal.2025, author = {Koll{\´a}th, Zolt{\´a}n and Hajdu, Tam{\´a}s and Degen, Tobias and Jechow, Andreas and Sztakovics, J{\´a}nos}, title = {Conversion between measurement units used for night sky quality assessment with multispectral (RGB) cameras}, series = {Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer}, volume = {347}, journal = {Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer}, publisher = {Elsevier}, doi = {10.1016/j.jqsrt.2025.109636}, pages = {1 -- 10}, year = {2025}, abstract = {In recent years, many studies have shown that light pollution adversely affects wildlife, ecosystems, and human well-being. To assess and mitigate these impacts, it is crucial that measurements of night sky quality are reliable and comparable across sites and instruments. However, the lack of standardised night sky brightness metrology and the use of a wide variety of measurement instruments with varying spectral responsivity and field-specific measurement units hinder meaningful comparison. We collected night sky spectra from 44 nights at dark locations (existing and proposed dark sky parks). Based on this observational dataset, we created a larger random set of spectra. These data served to fit conversion parameters for a wide variety of units. We demonstrate that RGB cameras, when used as multichannel measuring devices, enable the retrieval of measurements that facilitate conversions between different units. Furthermore, even airglow can be quantified from a given measurement, enabling the determination of oxygen and sodium emission line contributions. Since this contribution is not negligible, quantitative measurements of its magnitude are crucial for accurately assessing light pollution at dark-sky sites. Using our spectral measurement database, we constructed the most probable transformation from the cameras' R, G, and B channel 𝑑𝑠𝑢 values to other units, such as the astronomical Bessel V band magnitudes. The unit conversion formulas provided in this paper are valid for mildly polluted sites (existing and proposed dark sky places), in the 21-22 magV∕arcsec2 range.}, language = {de} } @article{ArroyoAbascalDegenetal.2024, author = {Arroyo, Hector Linares and Abascal, Angela and Degen, Tobias and Aub{\´e}, Martin and Espey, Brian R. and Gyuk, Geza and H{\"o}lker, Franz and Jechow, Andreas and Kuffer, Monika and S{\´a}nchez de Miguel, Alejandro and Simoneau, Alexandre and Walczak, Ken and Kyba, Christopher C. M.}, title = {Monitoring, trends and impacts of light pollution}, series = {Nature Reviews Earth \& Environment}, journal = {Nature Reviews Earth \& Environment}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, doi = {10.1038/s43017-024-00555-9}, pages = {1 -- 14}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Light pollution has increased globally, with 80\% of the total population now living under light-polluted skies. In this Review, we elucidate the scope and importance of light pollution and discuss techniques to monitor it. In urban areas, light emissions from sources such as street lights lead to a zenith radiance 40 times larger than that of an unpolluted night sky. Non-urban areas account for over 50\% of the total night-time light observed by satellites, with contributions from sources such as transportation networks and resource extraction. Artificial light can disturb the migratory and reproductive behaviours of animals even at the low illuminances from diffuse skyglow. Additionally, lighting (indoor and outdoor) accounts for 20\% of global electricity consumption and 6\% of CO2 emissions, leading to indirect environmental impacts and a financial cost. However, existing monitoring techniques can only perform a limited number of measurements throughout the night and lack spectral and spatial resolution. Therefore, satellites with improved spectral and spatial resolution are needed to enable time series analysis of light pollution trends throughout the night.}, language = {en} }