In this repository, we provide the measurements of the light pollution conducted in Salerno (Italy) and province thanks to the support of Unione Astrofili Italiani. The first measurements were performed on the 19th December 2022 and the repository currently contains measurements up to the 30th October 2024 (the end of the first cycle of measurements). We stress that this is a long-term project, still ongoing and seeking for future contributions from the entire astronomic and scientific community. Your help and suggestions are of unvaluable importance! Contact us via mail at the address infocana@cana.it
The instrument used for the measurements is the Sky Quality Meter produced by Unihedron (http://www.unihedron.com/projects/darksky/).
Half Width Half Maximum (HWHM) for the angular sensitivity: 42° Required: 9V battery Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.1 x 2.5 Maximum sampling duration: 80 seconds
Note: the SQM band is a visible bands+IR-cut mixture and it approximates the astronomical V-band, although differences are present. For more details, read the paper of S. Mander et al. 2023 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2023.104465).
The data provided in this repository are publicly available for the purposes of outreach and research. If you use the data here provided you are kindly requested to cite this repository through the url https://github.com/CANA-Salerno/LightPollution and the following legal entities:
(1) Centro Astronomico "Neil Armstrong" - Salerno
(2) Unione Astrofili Italiani
(3) Voglio un Mondo Pulito
(4) CODACONS - Sportello Tecnologico
(5) Gruppo Astrofili Beneventani
LEGEND OF COLUMNS
Date(dd/mm/yyyy): the date of the observation
Start_time(hh:mm_IT): the starting time of the observation (1 measurement lasts ~seconds)
Location: the location of the measurement
Latitude(decimal): the latitude of the location in degrees and decimals North (obtained with GPS system in personal smartphone)
Longitude(decimal): the longitude of the location in degrees and decimal East (obtained with GPS system in personal smartphone)
Temperature(°C): the temperature of the location at the measurement time (Celsius degrees)
Weather: the weather condition
Series_number: the number of the measurement series. 3 series of 4 measurements (one for each cardinal points) are performed in each site
Value1(mag/arcs^2,SQM-band): the first measurement of the series; it gives of the night sky brightness measurements obtained with the SQM (mag/arcsec^2,visible bands+IR-cut)
Value2(mag/arcs^2,SQM-band): the second measurement of the series; it gives of the night sky brightness measurements obtained with the SQM (mag/arcsec^2,visible bands+IR-cut)
Value3(mag/arcs^2,SQM-band): the third measurement of the series; it gives of the night sky brightness measurements obtained with the SQM (mag/arcsec^2,visible bands+IR-cut)
Value3(mag/arcs^2,SQM-band): the fourth measurement of the series; it gives of the night sky brightness measurements obtained with the SQM (mag/arcsec^2,visible bands+IR-cut)
Error: the standard deviation of the 4 measurement series (the nominal error for each measurement is +/- 0.1 mag/arcsec^2)
Mean: the mean of the 4 measurement series
Mean(4x3): the mean of the 3x4 series of measurements
Error(4x3): the error of the 3x4 series of measurements (quadrature)
Relative_humidity(percentage): the relative humidity (RH) measured during the detection of the 4 measurements in each series (expressed in percentage)
NOTE(1): the RH measurements are available only after 03/04/2024. For more details about the used instrument, please contact infocana@cana.it
NOTE(2): the mean and the error on the 3x4 series are computed only in case of stable and clear weather in all of the 3 series. In the other cases, rather than the average, it is advisable to use the highest magnitude value as the reference one.