MODERN LIGHT SOURCES FOR HIGHWAYS

THE INFORMATION NECESSARY FOR MAKING A COMPARISON BETWEEN HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM LAMPS AND EARLIER AVAILABLE TYPES OF LIGHT SOURCE IS PROVIDED. THE ECONOMICS OF LIGHTING INSTALLATIONS OF DIFFERENT LIGHT SOURCES ARE COMPARED AND THE COMPARISONS ARE BASED ON INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED OPINIONS ON THE QUALITY OF LIGHTING FOR ROADWAY TRAFFIC. THE RESULTS OF A SERIES OF INVESTIGATIONS ON COLOR ARE PRESENTED. THESE PROVIDE INFORMATION ON THE LIGHT FROM INCANDESCENT LAMPS, HIGH-PRESSURE AND LOW-PRESSURE MERCURY LAMPS, FLUORESCENT LAMPS AND LOW AND HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM LAMPS (LPS AND HPS). IN A FIRST SERIES OF OBSERVATIONS, VISUAL PERFORMANCE WAS MEASURED USING LANDOLT RINGS AS THE VISUAL TASK. DETAILS ARE GIVEN OF THE METHOD OF INVESTIGATION, AND CONCLUSIONS DRAWN FROM ANALYSIS OF THE RESULTS ARE PRESENTED. A SECOND SERIES OF OBSERVATIONS (MADE IN THE LABORATORY) AIMED AT THE COMPARISON OF GLARE FROM PUBLIC LIGHTING OF DIFFERENT COLORS, BUT WHICH OTHERWISE HAD IDENTICAL PHOTOMETRIC CONDITIONS. OBSERVERS STUDIED A PHOTOGRAPH WHICH COULD BE LIGHTED HOMOGENEOUSLY, ALL OVER ITS SURFACE BY EACH OF THE SETS OF LAMPS INVOLVED IN THE TESTS. THE LUMINANCE RATIOS OF THE ROAD SURFACE AND ITS IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS, AS SEEN IN THE PHOTOGRAPH, WERE NEARLY EQUAL TO THOSE WHICH WOULD BE ACTUALLY SEEN BY A DRIVER ON THE ROAD ITSELF FROM THE POINT FROM WHICH THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN. FURTHER DETAILS OF THE EXPERIMENT ARE GIVEN. SIMULATED ROAD LIGHTING INSTALLATIONS WERE AGAIN USED FOR THE PURPOSE OF COMPARING THE THREE COLORS OF LIGHT WITH THE APPARENT BRIGTHNESS OF THE ROAD SURFACE. THE RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS ARE TABULATED AND GRAPHICALLY REPRESENTED. THE CONCLUSIONS DRAWN WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPARISON OF LPS LIGHT WITH OTHER TYPES OF LIGHT INVESTIGATED (HIGH PRESSURE MERCURY WITH FLUORESCENT AND CLEAR BULB, FLUORESCENT WITH INCANDESCENT) ARE SUMMARIZED. LUMINANCE LEVEL, ITS UNIFORMITY, AND THE LIMITATION OF GLARE ARE THE CRITIERIA CONSIDERED IN A COMPARISON OF THE ECONOMICS OF DIFFERENT LIGHT SOURCES. THE PRICES OF VARIOUS LUMINAIRES ARE TABULATED AND THE INFERENCES MADE ARE DISCUSSED. IN A DISCUSSION WHICH FOLLOWS, THE ASPECTS CONSIDERED INCLUDE TESTS ON THE COLOR OF LIGHT AND VISUAL ACUITY, THE LONG LINEAR LOW LUMINANCE ARE SOURCE, THE HIGH LUMINOUS EFFICACY OF THE SOURCE, AND EUROPEAN ROADWAY LIGHTING STUDIES.

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/00994480
• Corporate Authors:

  Illuminating Engineering Society

  120 Wall Street, 17th Floor
  New York, NY  United States  10005-4001
• Authors:
  • de Boer, J B
• Publication Date: 1974-1

Media Info

• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: p. 142-52
• Serial:
  • Illuminating Engineering Society, Journal of
  • Volume: 3
  • Issue Number: 2
  • Publisher: Illuminating Engineering Society
  • ISSN: 0099-4480

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Alternatives analysis; Color vision; Economics; Fluorescent lamps; Gluing; Highways; Incandescent lamps; Laboratories; Light; Lighting equipment; Luminaires; Luminescence; Pipe; Sodium vapor lamps; Studies; Vitrified clay
• Uncontrolled Terms: Light sources; Vitrified clay pipe
• Old TRIS Terms: Landolt rings; Sodium lamps
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00222350
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 15 1974 12:00AM