Science Advances Sci. Adv. 2375-2548 06 03 2016 2 6 The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness Fabio Falchi Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell’Inquinamento Luminoso (Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute), 36016 Thiene, Italy. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3706-5639 Pierantonio Cinzano Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell’Inquinamento Luminoso (Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute), 36016 Thiene, Italy. Dan Duriscoe National Park Service, U.S. Department of Interior, Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division, Fort Collins, CO 80525, USA. Christopher C. M. Kyba Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ, Potsdam, Germany. Leibniz–Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Germany. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7014-1843 Christopher D. Elvidge Earth Observation Group, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Boulder, CO 80305, USA. Kimberly Baugh Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. Boris A. Portnov Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Faculty of Management, University of Haifa, 3498838 Haifa, Israel. Nataliya A. Rybnikova Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, Faculty of Management, University of Haifa, 3498838 Haifa, Israel. Riccardo Furgoni Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologia dell’Inquinamento Luminoso (Light Pollution Science and Technology Institute), 36016 Thiene, Italy. American Association of Variable Star Observers, Cambridge, MA, USA.

The world atlas of zenith artificial night sky brightness is modelled with VIIRS DNB data and calibrated with more than 35,000 observations.

Artificial lights raise night sky luminance, creating the most visible effect of light pollution—artificial skyglow. Despite the increasing interest among scientists in fields such as ecology, astronomy, health care, and land-use planning, light pollution lacks a current quantification of its magnitude on a global scale. To overcome this, we present the world atlas of artificial sky luminance, computed with our light pollution propagation software using new high-resolution satellite data and new precision sky brightness measurements. This atlas shows that more than 80% of the world and more than 99% of the U.S. and European populations live under light-polluted skies. The Milky Way is hidden from more than one-third of humanity, including 60% of Europeans and nearly 80% of North Americans. Moreover, 23% of the world’s land surfaces between 75°N and 60°S, 88% of Europe, and almost half of the United States experience light-polluted nights.

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