Continuous monitoring of the night sky brightness of the Maltese islands

Abstract

Preceding surveys have carried out extensive research to highlight the state of night sky brightness nationally. Despite these efforts, night sky brightness continues to increase in the Maltese Islands. A lack of awareness and legal enforcement has contributed to the current severe state of light pollution. A system has been constructed to continuously monitor night sky brightness from chosen locations. Night sky brightness values are retrieved from the well-documented Sky Quality Meter (SQM-LU). Robust validation has been developed to invalidate any data gathered in cloudy conditions. Collected readings are wirelessly uploaded to a dedicated web server each night. Data is then stored in a database and presented on a user interface which is updated on a daily basis