Light pollution on the historical center of Palermo. A case study

Abstract

The present study shows the results of a survey carried out in the lighting system of the main axis of the historic center of the city of Palermo object of continuous restoration, carried out through the replacement of street armatures with other apparently equipped devices "save the sky". Often the interventions of replacement only of street armatures with other type "cut-off" or "full cut-off", slashing certainly the dispersion of light flow toward the sky, but often, for its typological peculiarities, can also worsen drastically the illuminance levels and balance of luminance on paved, compromising comfort and safety. After a classification of lighting fixtures and cataloguing of any other "noise", which contributions toward the top of the light flow data from the artistic lighting of buildings and monuments, it passes to the hypothesis of the redesign of the location and distribution of the reinforcements, mapping them from time to time the results through simulation software.