R-ALAN Project
R-ALAN Project: The images of the earth at night are one of the most recognizable images of our time as an example of the environmental impact that human beings produce on the earth. However, these images have limited scientific use because they were acquired with a SNPP-VIIRS / DNB panchromatic sensor (black and white) and later
coloured for artistic purposes. On the other hand, the images taken by the astronauts of the international space station are actually in colour and of higher quality but due to the peculiarities of having been acquired by human beings and commercial reflex cameras, they have not had the same scientific impact as the previous ones. In this proposal we intend to complete the task initiated by the Cities at Night and EMISSI@N projects that have demonstrated the scientific potential of these images, creating an Atlas of European light pollution using citizen science and artificial intelligence.
This will allow you to use these images for multiple uses, such as cancer epidemiology, citizen security, energy efficiency, protection of biodiversity, government advice and many more applications. In parallel and as a complement to the atlas, three activities will be carried out: 1-It will work with some of the companies in the aerospace sector to establish a spectral sensitivity standard in order to guarantee the interoperability of future public and private missions. 2-A high-
resolution map of the city of Berlin will be made to explore the limitations and strengths of satellite images. 3-A mutual advisory work will be carried out between the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic and the researcher, on light pollution, from the administrative / political and technical / academic perspective, respectively. These three activities will guarantee that the researcher can have a professional future outside the academic sphere if necessary.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 847635
UNA4CAREER
UNA Europa, an alliance of universities FOR the emergence of talent and the development of research CAREERs – H2020-MSCA-COFUND-2018 – UNA4CAREER – GA No 847635
About PI, Dr. Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel
Started on the field of light pollution in the 90s as activist, later on during my degree I started to make outreach activities and amateur research and in 2007 I did started with professional research on the field of nocturnal remote sensing. During the development of my degree in Physics, the education laws in Spain changed in 2007, and with my current studies at the time (even without finishing the degree) I was selected to make Master in Astrophysics. It allowed me to get an FPU grant (the most competitive grant in Spain) to make a PhD and I did finish my degree in physics during my PhD.
I participated on the creation of a company called SaveStars Consulting S.L. Since 2014 I lead the “Cities at Night” citizen science program and I have been developing the calibration pipeline for the images taken from the International Space Station at night by astronauts. My PhD thesis was highlighted by the International Astronomical Union in 2015 during the IAU’s General Assembly hosted in Hawaii (US). My last years I have been involved in interdisciplinary research on my current institute (Ecology), ISGlobal-Barcelona (Cancer/Epidemiology), Sorbonne Université/Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Biodiversity protection), etc.
Light Pollution Reduction in Europe
During the development of the R-ALAN project, Alejandro was an advisor to the Czech Ministry of Environment during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, for the development of the document “Light Pollution reduction measures in Europe”. This document shows the efforts and concern of the presidency regarding light pollution and its consequences.
The Presidency’s ambition is to map the approaches of individual European countries to preventing light pollution and to initiate a discussion leading to further European action and setting policies and standards for artificial light at night that would reduce light pollution, keep it at a level that does not harm biodiversity, but at the same time ensure sufficient road and public safety.