Project Page

Gulf Islands National Seashore (Florida) Night Sky Restoration (Planning and Design)

Implementing Organization

US Department of the Interior

Overview

DWH Project Funding

$432,093

Known Leveraged Funding

$0

Funding Organization

Natural Resource Damage Assessment Trustees (NRDA)

Funding Program

Natural Resource Damage Assessment NRDA

Details

Project Category

Environmental

Project Actions

Habitat Restoration and Enhancement

Targeted Resources

Other

Project Description

This project will assess light pollution at the Florida District of Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS) and recommend mitigation strategies. This is Phase I of a larger effort. Phase II, if or when it happens, will involve replacing and retrofitting actual light fixtures and improving lighting practices in the towns and cities north of the coastal habitat, thus lessening light pollution. Specifically, the project will assess skyglow, illuminance, and spectral composition of the artificial lights coming from the towns and cities. It will also determine the exact location and type of the brightest, most polluting lights. These metrics will be collected in a variety of ways, including collecting all-sky imagery, spectrometer imagery, satellite imagery, plane-mounted DSLR imagery, and conducting street-level inventories. The project area could be as wide as Pascagoula in the west to Destin in the east and Mobile and Pensacola in the north to Gulf Shores and Pensacola Beach in the south. A final report will describe the assessment results and provide a prioritized list of lights to replace and retrofit in order to reduce skyglow and illuminance at GUIS. The report will also address the economic advantages of replacing and retrofitting lights and indicate potential costs for Phase II. The entire project should take 2-3 years and findings will be combined with an identical project taking place concurrently -- but funded separately -- at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama.

Contact

Mark Van Mouwerik
(970) 420-4734
mark_vanmouwerik@nps.gov
Project Website
Project Partners

None

Affiliated Institutions

For official trustee information regarding the Deepwater Horizon NRDA, including information regarding the NRDA process and the status of projects, see https://www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov/

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