ILLUMINANCE VERSUS LUMINANCE - WITH DISCUSSION

ILLUMINANCE AND LUMINANCE ARE DEFINED AND CURRENT ROADWAY LIGHTING DESIGN PRACTICE IS DESCRIBED. CHARACTERISTICS OF LIGHT REFLECTING SURFACES ARE REVIEWED. ALTHOUGH IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT PAVEMENT LUMINANCE DEPENDS ON THE RELATIVE POSITIONS OF OBSERVER AND LIGHT SOURCE AS WELL AS THE DIRECTIONAL REFLECTANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PAVEMENT SURFACE, THERE IS LITTLE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE DIRECTIONAL REFLECTANCE PROPERTIES OF VARIOUS HIGHWAY SURFACES THAT WOULD PERMIT THE CALCULATION OF PAVEMENT LUMINANCE FROM AN ILLUMINATION SPECIFICATION. A REVIEW OF PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS ON ROADWAY LIGHTING REVEAL A NEED FOR FURTHER STUDY OF THE DIRECTIONAL REFLECTANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF TYPICAL ROADWAY SURFACES. DATA ON ROADWAY LUMINANCES MUST BE COMBINED WITH VISUAL CRITERIA IN ORDER TO BE USED FOR DESIGN OR EVALUATION OF ROADWAY LIGHTING. GRAPHS AND DIAGRAMS REPRESENTING INTENSITY DISTRIBUTION, LUMINOUS PATHS AND DIRECTIONAL REFLECTANCE ARE PRESENTED. FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED ON THE LIGHT-REFLECTING PROPERTIES OF BOTH ASPHALT AND CONCRETE PAVEMENT. COMPUTER PROGRAMS WRITTEN IN A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE MUST BE DEVELOPED FOR CALCULATING PAVEMENT LUMINANCE USING KNOWN CALCULATION TEHCNIQUES. IN ORDER TO EVALUATE PROPOSED INSTALLATIONS, MORE RESEARCH MUST BE DEVOTED TO DEVELOPING DESIGN CRITERIA BASED ON PAVEMENT LUMINANCE. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SURFACE TEXTURE, LIGHT REFLECTANCE PROPERTIES AND SKID RESISTANCE PROPERTIES OF VARIOUS PAVEMENT SURFACES NEEDS TO BE ESTABLISHED. OTHER AREAS OF RESEARCH ARE OUTLINED.

• Record URL:
  http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/sr/sr134/sr134-002.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309020972
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved
• Corporate Authors:

  Highway Research Board

  2101 Constitution Avenue, NW
  Washington, DC    20418
• Authors:
  • King, L Ellis
• Discussers:
  • Franklin, J Stuart
  • KETVIRTIS, A
• Conference:
  • Workshop on Highway Visiblity
  • Location: St Paul Minnesota, United States
  • Date: 1972-7-18 to 1972-7-20
• Publication Date: 1973

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 10-18
• Monograph Title: HIGHWAY VISIBILITY
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Board Special Report
  • Issue Number: 134
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Brightness; Calculation; Computer programs; Design; Light; Lighting; Luminosity factor; Pavements; Research; Street lighting
• Uncontrolled Terms: Computation
• Old TRIS Terms: Luminosity
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Pavements; Research; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222184
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309020972
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Nov 14 1973 12:00AM