Road Lighting Measurement and Evaluation of New

Technologies
Toivo Varjas, Arvo Oorn
Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia)
[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract – This paper focuses on intelligent road lighting The dependence of the measuring range on the lens is 0.1 ...
measurements and road lighting control. In today's devices, 10000 cd/m² [5].
luminance and color measuring cameras are attached to high-
quality Charge Coupled Devices (CCD) of digital cameras, each B. Instrument Requirements
of which should be properly analyzed, calibrated and adapted to
the light measurement [1]. Light-measuring technology has The International Commission on Illumination (abbreviated
developed into an important branch of light-measuring as CIE from its French title) is an organization promoting
engineering. This technology provides effective solutions to a international cooperation and exchange of information
variety of tasks in the field of light-measuring. Modern between its member countries on all matters relating to the
measurement applications enable us to control and determine
science and art of lighting. In accordance with an agreement
the best outdoor lighting levels and management options.
between ISO (the International Organization for
On the other hand, with an effective road lighting control Standardization) and CIE, standards are published as double
system, electricity can be saved without adversely affecting
logo standards by ISO. Standards produced by the CIE are a
either the safety of driving or the quality of road lighting. The
dimensioning and investigation of different weather conditions concise documentation of data defining aspects of light and
and their effects on drivers’ visibility offer new ways to optimize lighting, for which international harmony requires a unique
road lighting via intelligent control. definition. CIE Standards are therefore a primary source of
internationally accepted and agreed data which can be taken,
I. INTRODUCTION essentially unaltered, into universal standard systems. Based
on the German standard, DIN 5032 /7 Light Measurement
Road lighting is a practical tool for ensuring good visibility Classifications are for luminance and brightness measurement
conditions in night-time driving. So far, road surface instruments. There are four classes of luminance meters by
luminance has been based on standardized lighting classes, the German DIN 5032 standard: L, A, B and C. Requirements
using certain static luminance levels in certain road types [2]. for type F (field instruments) meters for the measurement of
In practice, however, luminance levels of road surfaces are planar luminance are specified in classes A, B and C.
usually very dynamic and depend to a large extent on many In these measurement tests, the instrumentation used is in
external factors, such as weather conditions, buildings along Class A.
roadside, ambient brightness, road surface uniformity and
materials etc. For example, in Estonia during wintertime the C. Road Lighting Measurement with LMK Camera
intensity of road lighting is often excessive in relationship to Luminance measuring camera LMK 98-3 (Fig.1) designed
the standard requirements because of the snow. Recent by the TechnoTeam company uses high-quality CCD,
increases in the cost of electrical energy have caused actions calibrated and finally adapted to the light measurement. Thus,
to minimize energy costs. Activities of technological research the signal values in the image can be converted directly into
and development have been carried out to find solutions and luminance values. The camera and its CCD chip are
coherent guidelines for intelligent road lighting control. optimized to measure luminances accurately. This includes
the spectral V(λ)-correction, shading correction,
II. MEASUREMENTS compensation of dark current and temperature-drift, as well as
the absolute calibration of the system. The luminance and the
A. Measurement Method and Equipment color values can be directly obtained from the luminance and
Road lighting calculations and measurements in Europe color images, respectively. For doing this, the LMK software
follow the European standard EN 13201-3 [3]. In this work offers numerous functions, which permit the user to evaluate
road lighting was measured and calculated according to the and display luminance sectional views, histograms and simple
standard. All the measurements were made using the statistics (mean value, variance, minimum, maximum) to
luminance meter Konica Minolta LS-100 and the luminance analyze the luminances as a function of the luminance or the
photometer TechnoTeam LMK 98-3 and LMK LabSoft environment. The LMK image evaluation software provides
Standard 11.5.2 computer programs. The LMK 98-3 a module for the projective rectification of evaluation regions,
luminance photometer is a computer controlled CCD-based which makes it possible to convert metrological information
imaging photometer, which is applicable to luminance to the x-y-coordinate system.
measurements and analysis in indoor and outdoor lighting. We decided to choose the LMK 98-3 camera as the best
The photometer consists of a Sony ICX 285 AL sensor cooled solution for measuring the light source of the image of the
12-bit CCD camera, a set of four full filters and a choice of internally illuminated object at a glance in the Laboratory of
lenses. The photometer is controlled by LabSoft software. Lighting Technology at Tallinn University of Technology.
The system accuracy for luminance measurements is ± 3 %.

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Measurements done with the photographing luminance
camera are in compact pictures available for analyses. Areas
for measuring were chosen between two light sources in a
row as well as in view of minimizing external light sources,
avoiding bright areas on the road surface (color marks etc.).
After taking pictures, data were analyzed with the Labsoft
program. All pseudo color pictures were transferred to a
planar graph and from that the program calculated average
overall uniformity and longitudinal uniformity of luminance.
To double-check the measurements, we used the Konica-
Minolta CS-100 handheld point measuring device.
Measurements were taken in the same area where main
measurements were contucted and in the same points as used
Fig. 1. Luminance photometer TechnoTeam LMK 98-3. later on the data collection from the pictures. Thiese data
were recorded manually. Collected data are presented in
No repetition of the measurements is required, if a more Table I.
detailed image is the case. All the measuring data are
achieved at the same time. The luminance picture can be
saved and allows a later data iteration. Pseudocolor (every
color on the linear scaled range of colors means one
luminance value) pictures can be stored on media (CD-ROM,
DVD-ROM) and then later an object can be measured on a
computer screen.

III. EXAMPLE OF MEASUREMENT

A. Measuring Streetlighting with Dimmable LED Lights

We used a photographing luminance camera to measure

street lighting. The purpose was to confirm if the luminance
conforms to the standard and to find possible levels of
dimming to achieve the best combined result of sufficient
lighting, uniformity and savings. Photograph measuring fixes Fig. 2. Dimmable 107 W LED lights on the Tartu street.
the records for possible remeasuring of data from the records.
Choosing different areas from measuring picture it is possible
to judge separately luminance for pedestrial crossings, light
traffic areas, effect of advertising or buildings to luminance
etc.
Measurements were carried out in Tartu on streets with
dimmable LED lights. Here we present measurements from
one example street. We used the photographing luminance
camera LKM 98-3 Color mounted on a tripod and chose Luminance image; Dimmed to 100 W ; Equalized view
sections of street that were free from additional light noise.
Regardless of the width of the street and distance on lighting
fixtures, the measuring raster was 60 points.
Camera position was chosen based on the width of the road
and the number of lanes. With special software LMK LabSoft
it is possible to retrieve luminance values from the photos
taken and as a result prepare different measuring scenarios.
Average overall uniformity and longitudinal uniformity Luminance image; Dimmed to 50 W ; Equalized view
luminance measurements are based on the European standard
13201-4 [4]. Measurements were done on the height of 1.5 m,
from the center of the measuring area and 60 m from the front
edge of the area. If this had been done with single point
measuring, it would have taken tens of individual
measurements and much time. All the data were collected
with a single aimed and focused photo using the
photographing luminance camera. From the photo program,
Luminance image; Dimmed to 30 W ; Equalized view
luminance graphs were composed in pseudo colors. On these
graphs it possible to select points where otherwise single
Fig. 3. Luminance measurement pictures and measurement points on the
point measurements would be needed. Therefore, this method
equalized view.
gives a significant time saving [7].

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TABLE I During 2015 this measuring method is planned to be used
LUMINANCE MEASUREMENT RESULTS
on streets with new dimmable LED lights in seven cities. Our
ON THE VABADUSE AVENUE
measurements enable saving from the lighting level, ensuring
more even lighting on the street surface, lowering light
Lamp
Standard Measurement pollution and therefore eventually assuring safer driving
power Class
EN-13201-2:2003 results conditions.
level
107W
L
Uo Ul L Uo Ul ACKNOWLEDGMENT
cd/m²
lamp min min cd/m²
min Publication of this paper has been supported by European
Dimmed Social Fund (project „Doctoral School of Energy and
ME4b 0.75 0.4 0.5 1.9 0.3 0.5
to 100 W Geotechnology II“).
Dimmed
REFERENCES
to ME4b 0.75 0.4 0.5 1.4 0.5 0.5
50W [1] D. A. Schreuder “Outdoor Lighting: Physics, ” Springer Science 2008,
pp. 178
Dimmed
[2] European standard EN 13201-2 Road lighting – Part 2: Performance
to ME4b 0.75 0.4 0.5 1.0 0.5 0.5 requirements. Ref. No. EN 13201-2:2003
30W [3] European standard EN 13201-3 Road lighting – Part 3: Calculation of
performance with the Corrigendum EN 13201-3:2003/AC:2007. Ref.
IV. CONCLUSION No. EN 13201-3:2007
[4] European standard EN 13201-4 Road lighting – Part 4: Methods of
Street luminance measuring with a photographing measuring lighting performance. Ref. No. EN 13201-4:2003
luminance camera and control measurement with a handheld [5] Image-resolving luminance measurement using luminance measuring
cameras type LMK96/98 (Video analyzers), TechnoTeam
point device enables us provide an overview of dimming Bildverarbeitung GmbH, Germany, 2001.
possibilities. The photographing camera allows time saving, [6] D. A. Schreuder, “Road Lighting for Safety,” Thomas Telford, 1998
is easier to handle and provides a better overview of [7] Gall, D.; Krüger, U.; Schmidt, F. & Wolf, S. (2002). Moderne
Möglichkeiten zur Messung und Bewertung von
luminance situation in the measuring area compared to point Beleuchtungsparametern. Herbstkonferenz 2002 der GfA e.V. (Modern
measuring. In new lightning projects with dimmable lights it possibilities to measure and assess lighting parameters. Fall
is possible to perform promptly measurements and adjust Conference, 2002. GfA, e.V.). Ilmenau, Technical University, 2002.
[8] Schmidt, F. & Krüger, U. (2000). Use of standard CCD arrays for
luminance levels. In our example, the original luminance photometric measurements – application and design of cameras with
levels were unnecessarily high by standard and local high resolution and accuracy. Ilmenau, TechnoTeam Bildverarbeitung
authorities were able to lower the lighting level to meet the GmbH, 2000.
standard. In this specific situation, the surrounding lights had
an influence and lighting was lowered to 50 W level.

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