Innovative roadway light source and dye combinations to improve visibility and reduce environmental impacts.

Details

• Creators:
  Snyder, Jeremy D. ; Bullough, John D. ; Radetsky, Leora C. ; Besenecker, Ute
• Corporate Creators:
  Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Lighting Research Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Pollution
  • Street lighting
  • Light emitting diodes
  • Dyes
  • Environmental impacts
  • Blue
  • Green
  • Luminance
  • Night visibility
  • Seal coats
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Corporate Publisher:
  University Transportation Research Center
• NTL Classification:
  NTL-ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT-ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT ; NTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION
• Abstract:
  Sky glow light pollution is caused largely by reflected light off of roadway and other surfaces. The ; authors investigated the feasibility of a system consisting of a specialized LED streetlight and a dyebased ; roadway surface coating that would reduce sky glow, but still provide adequate illumination of ; objects in the road. As envisioned, the streetlight would produce white light with narrow-band LEDs of ; red, green, and blue wavelengths. The roadway surface coating would use three dyes that would ; selectively absorb the specific wavelengths produced by the streetlight. This investigation examined the ; optical properties of green and blue absorbing dyes. The dyes, when in their liquid states, did selectively ; absorb light at the expected wavelengths. However, the dyes did not selectively absorb light when ; applied as a surface coating, so appropriate encapsulants would need to be developed for subsequent ; implementation. Also, issues of stability over time, cost, and safety were identified. A number of ; significant hurdles would need to be overcome before this could become a practical method of reducing ; sky glow from roadway illumination systems.
  More +
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  49111-17-23
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/25871/dot_25871_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.43 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:1c3fa1a1309b2cad6ba1074e598467a8c74c9eb3ad244ab7921433660743a3926457cb42d6b86775cf9978d79f778a1b2cb83061ca0c9991556e0e59b4a6925e