Verification of Angular Response of Sky Quality Meter with Quasi-Punctual Light Sources

Abstract

Sky Quality Meter (SQM) is a commercial instrument based on photometers widely used by amateur astronomers for skyglow measurement from the ground. In the framework of the MINLU project, two SQM-LE units were integrated in an autonomous sensor suite realized and tested at University of Padova for monitoring light pollution from drones or sounding balloons. During the ground tests campaign before airborne measurement, the performance of both SQM units was verified in laboratory using controlled light sources as a reference input; the results showed that both units presented an angular response deviating consistently from the expected performance and that the sensors’ field of view was larger than the one declared in the manufacturer’s datasheet. This aspect in particular would affect direct skyglow measurements during flight as light sources close to the boundaries of the field of view would not be attenuated but instead detected by the sensors. As a direct consequence, the measurement of low-intensity skyglows at stratospheric altitudes could be affected by high-intensity punctual sources acting as lateral disturbances. A dedicated test campaign was therefore conceived and realized to investigate SQM unit response to light sources in the field of view and identify the true angular response curve; the setup consisted in a controlled rotatory stage moving the unit in front of a fixed diffusive light source. Different test conditions were used to validate the experimental procedure, demonstrating the repeatability of the measurements. This paper presents the experimental campaign and the resulting SQM angular response curve; results indicate for both SQMs a larger than expected field of view and the presence of a double peak in the angular response, which is likely related to a non-perfect alignment of SQMs collimation optics. Furthermore, the wider resulting curves suggest that the contribution of lateral sources is more prominent with respect to the response predicted by the manufacturer. For this reason, the utilization of baffles to restrict SQMs field of view is analyzed to minimize the disturbance of lateral light sources and two different geometries are presented.

Laboratory Characterisation of a Commercial RGB CMOS Camera for Measuring Night Sky Brightness

“…It is a radiometer composed of a photodiode with an infrared-blocking filter to shape its spectral sensitivity. In this work, the version SQM-L was considered; it has a directional response with a half-width half-maximum (HWHM) aperture angle of about 20 • [22]. Another version of the instrument is available: the SQM-Classic or SQM-WL, which has a HWHM aperture angle of about 42 • .…”

Radiometric calibration of consumer cameras for measuring coastal light pollution

“…Ground-use sensors such as the Sky Quality Meter (SQM) measures nighttime sky brightness with a built-in diode [22]. The sensor response is calibrated for measured irradiance providing reproducible measurements across the visible wavelengths [23]. The meter is limited and the sensor is easily saturated by direct illumination within the field of view, under-reporting the light irradiance [22].…”

Long-Time Trends in Night Sky Brightness and Ageing of SQM Radiometers

“…Its bandwidth at half maximum is between 390 nm and 600 nm, with its maximum at about 520 nm. Its low cost allows composing wide networks used to monitor NSB in many places over our planet, examples are in [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43]. Another similar instrument is the Telescope Encoder and Sky Sensor (TESS) [40].…”