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\title{\vspace{-1.3cm}Report on 2007 activities 
of the \wwwt{Czech Section}{http://www.astro.cz/darksky} \\
 of the \wwwt{International Dark Sky Association}{http://darksky.org} }
\author{\wwwt{Jan Hollan}{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/jenik}}
\date{February 11, 2007
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\section{Introduction}
Let's remember our main info in English is at \h{www.astro.cz/darksky}
and Section reports are within \amper{light/ida} -- please find even
the present one there if you are reading its printed version, as there
are  many hyper-links from the document. As in the years before, Czech
section made no financial operations, being but a  collaborating group
of people.

\section{New texts}

Continuing an effort mentioned in the report for the year 2006, a basic
set of texts summarising the rules for good outdoor lighting  has been
written. They describe how any lighting should be made to server well,
to have the best efficiency and to cause minimum harm. The texts point to
some new technologies (like using glass which almost does not
reflect light) which should help to adhere to that goal. There are five 
documents:
\bi
\item 
 \hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/EuP/lp_intro.pdf}
{proposed introduction to the EuP streetlighting study} 
(not adopted by the \h{www.eup4light.net} team),
\item
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/lp_what_is.pdf}
{a text explaining in detail, what is the light pollution indeed
and how it is to be described and measured}
(the first version of the text was written in 2006 already),
\item 
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/EuP/legislation2.htm}
{an overview of effective legislation and its basic features},
\item 
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/EuP/lp_fixt_par.pdf}
{an explanation, which luminaire parameters are really important},
\item
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/EuP/FS.pdf}
{a description of advantages and technologies of luminaires which
don't shine anywhere upwards}.
\ei

Developing contacts with the founder of light engineering in 
Slovakia, prof. Hor��k, we've made accessible the whole set of his 
recent \wwwt{texts on Slovak outdoor lighting}
{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/6cl2006_Hornak.pdf} (in Slovak).

For several municipalities, I've made an evaluation of the present state
of their outdoor lighting, basing on digital imaging photometry.
Recommendations for improvements were included too. At the moment,  the
evaluations are not publicly accessible (they should opened to  public
within 2008). However, a concise set of rules to be obeyed,  as prepared
for these municipalities, is available as
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/rules.pdf}.

In Czech, a study on 
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/texty_pdf/osv_kanc.pdf}
{lighting of public buildings} has been released, as an item within a 
larger project, see item 9 within 
\hl{http://zeleneuradovani.cz/vystupy_z_projektu_kompas}
{a Green Office} project Kompas site. A shorter one on 
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/texty_pdf/turbiny.pdf}
{lights on wind turbines} was included in a conference on the 
environmental aspects of these power plants.

\section{Meetings, legislation}

The peak of 2007 activities was the preparation of the European 
symposium held in Slovenian town Bled,
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/Bled_night.htm}
{Light Pollution and
Global Warming} and a participation there (together with a Slovak 
colleague Pavol �uri�).  The texts and images I used for the  
five short speeches I held on the Symposium are in a directory
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/lectures/ds2007}. One of my speeches
presented a paper 
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/bajc/lp181c.pdf}
{A Rationale for the Mandatory Limitation of Outdoor Lighting}
by Dr. Barry Clark, its full contemporary version, 
extended later during autumn quite a lot, is within
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/bajc} -- I believe it to be the world's 
best summary of the issue, with many up-to-date references.

The Symposium site was very appropriate, as the 
legislation valid in Slovenia since September 22 is one of the best ones in 
the world, being almost as good as that in the eight Italian provinces (and 
perhaps even better in some its facets). At a national level, this is 
the first effective legislation in the world. See ev. 
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/Slovenia}. To introduce a similarly 
effective legislation in Czechia, an updated 2007 proposal based on a series 
of the preceding ones has been made available within
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/zakon_oo/2007}.

As a Czech section leader, I took part at the Bruxelles IDA meeting in 
September, becoming one of the founding members of IDA Europe, a new NGO 
which is indispensable as a tool and representative for any influential
negotiations on the EU level.

Back to the Bled Symposium theme and name, I spent a huge amount of 
time to finish good Czech translations of Summaries for Policymakers 
(SPMs), 
as they appeared in the four parts of the Fourth Assessment Report of 
the IPCC, see 
\url{http://www.ipcc.ch} or
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/gw/ipcc_cz}
-- in the latter directory, 
editable versions of figures are available as well. The Czech version of the 
SPM of the Synthesis Report is still, as I see within 
\url{http://www.ipcc.ch/ipccreports/translations.htm}, the only 
non-English one being available (I've published its first version on Nov
28  already, twelve days after the English original). I urge another
section leaders, and  all IDA activists, to study this single Summary at
least: it is so  evident that electricity consumption growth is to be
stopped and reversed.  Artificial lighting is the most visible
manifestation of wasteful habits of our civilisation. Any fossil fuel
saved thanks to switching most of lights off, or at least dimming them a
lot, would  increase our chances of avoiding the worst consequences of
future climate change. \emph{Any saving now is much more important than
the same saving twenty years later}. Outdoor lighting offers the
best opportunities for that.  Of course, the absurdly high light levels
recommended by the standards  (within their top lighting categories)
should be rarely or never applied, to achieve the needed (huge) power
savings. Sustainable  development implies dark night environment --
naturally dark, or as  close to that as feasible. Similarly as with car
traffic, if we won't  achieve a profound change of the current
development trends within EU  an USA, there is little prospect that
China and India will develop sustainably. EU and US lighting is a
horrible example for them, even with all possible improvements in the
geometry of light emissions. There is no ``free electricity'' in 
regions attached to a power grid. All what we save means less fossil 
carbon being oxidised (just fossil power stations output is or should be
reduced with lower grid load, the non-fossil generators, making less or
no harm, run at full all the time they can). Burning carbon for 
non-vital purposes is a sin... Climate protection through lighting
reduction is the bottom line of the 
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/bajc/lp181c.pdf}
{above mentioned paper by Barry Clark}, after all. 


\section{Expert education of activists}

Around the time of Bled Symposium, I've devoted a lot of effort to
the enlightenment of our own folks, namely the leaders of IDA sections.  The
archive of the leader's conference is not publicly accessible (and 
should not become to be before perhaps a decade lapses), but some advice
and commentaries by me are made  available within
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/jenik/letters/radiometry} and
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/darksky/a}.

In Czechia, we had an excellent workshop (short after the European IDA 
Symposium). It took place in Pardubice, thanks to an organisational 
effort by Pavel Suchan, the (mostly voluntary) staff of the public
observatory in Pardubice and the Pardubice Technical services. Apart 
from the two-day discussion, Milan Ry��n, director of the outdoor
lighting division of the Technical services, took us to a trip through
the evening town, explaining all the details of the lighting system. I
took some photometric images, these still wait to  be processed
however...
 
\section{Software development and application}

During the spring assessments of outdoor lighting of several 
municipalities, but also in the autumn, I've further developed a 
programme for imaging digital radiometry/photometry. The programme, 
raw2lum, began to be employed by Belgian colleagues and elsewhere. 
I've evaluated some scenes for Jan Kondziolka, who leads an outstanding
series within 
\hl{http://ian.cz}{Instantn� astronomick� noviny}, called On 
the lighting 
(\hl{http://ian.cz/index_ser.php?id=6}{O sv�cen�}). For all stuff 
concerning this software, as well as the published results, see
directory
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/luminance/}. It includes a 
subdirectory ``PV'' with sky monitoring over Krav� hora, the
site of  the N. Copernicus Observatory and Planetarium in Brno (still 
the only accessible one in the world... as far as I know); that
directory can be accessed through a short 
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/weather/} as well.

Another software development concerned a visualisation of 
an illuminance of the ground by selected luminaires. I've computed such 
overviews for many thousands of luminaires in winter. In October, I've 
added a possibility of an automated selection of suitable luminaire 
types, proper for a given configuration of posts and surfaces to be 
illuminated. The basic tool for that is an extended programme 
ies2tab, supplemented by s series of linux (bash) scripts. All that is 
available within 
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/ies2/} directory. In October, I've 
written an English introduction to the topic, 
\url{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/ies2/EasyLight-SaveTheSky/ch_best.htm}.
An example of an optimised luminaire selection is given (in Czech) 
within \www{this}{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/jenik/letters/public/msg00250.html}
and 
\www{this}{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/jenik/letters/public/msg00251.html}
letter to the mayor of Ostopovice. The smallest selection of 
luminaires is 
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/ies2/EasyLight-SaveTheSky/r-2.5_2.5_-0.8_-0.1_os2.htm}
{here},
as mentioned at the end of the heading of the first, largest 
\wwwt{luminaire selection}
{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/ies2/EasyLight-SaveTheSky/ostopovice.htm}
(which shows a light distribution of an opal globe as its first item, 
offering a telling comparison).
The municipality has 
installed such luminaires in 2008 indeed, with very positive reactions 
from its citizens.

\section{Public enlightenment in Czech}

``Light as a bad master'' was a theme of many of my lectures 
during 2007 (including some at universities). I wrote a short newspaper 
text \hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/light/drafts/svetla_jh.htm}
{�hel pohledu na no�n� Brno}. A photometric analysis of one Brno site
is (with a proposal of decent architectural lighting) is
\hl{http://amper.ped.muni.cz/jenik/mdvur}{here}. Pavel Suchan gave
another lectures, Jan Kondziolka wrote (with Pavel Suchan and Pavol 
�uri�, eventually) a lot of articles even outside 
his \wwwt{own huge series}{http://ian.cz/index_ser.php?id=6},
 e.g.:

\raggedright
\url{http://www.rozhlas.cz/veda/technologie/_zprava/397749},
\url{http://www.ekolist.cz/nazor.shtml?x=2069693},
\url{http://www.ekolist.cz/nazor.shtml?x=2061916},
\url{http://www.ekolist.cz/nazor.shtml?x=2047627},
\url{http://www.ekolist.cz/nazor.shtml?x=2041069},
\url{http://www.ekolist.cz/nazor.shtml?x=2035008},
\url{http://www.priroda.cz/clanky.php?detail=968},
\url{http://www.national-geographic.cz/veda-a-vesmir/konec-tmy-nad-ceskou-krajinou-1589/}

\end{document}
