Detecting light pollution with UAV, a Hungarian case study

The study aims to support the idea that nonprofessional equipment can produce suitable images for detecting light pollution on a large scale. The authors in their study used a hobby UAV for producing the nighttime airborne image, and also measured brightness with SQM-L equipment in a pilot area in Budapest. In the study area, different lamp types were detected to produce light pollution to a different degree. Based on the field measurement we produced a graphical representation of the light pollution of the different lamp types. After processing the airborne images, we produced the brightness index map of the study area, which can be used to represent spatial variations in pollution. The results showed that when interpreting the results we should be careful, as certain phenomena are not related to light pollution.