Glowatch: how to use its viewer

The citizen tool for reporting light pollution also has a digital database with all the reports systematized and georeferenced nationwide.

 

Since January of this year, Glowatch, the citizen tool for reporting sources of light pollution, has been operational, developed by the Fundación Cielos de Chile, Fundación Ciluz, the Center for Astrophysics and Related Technologies (CATA), and the Center for Mathematical Modeling (CMM).

This tool has three main components. A WhatsApp application to report sources of light pollution, a website with resources to implement good lighting practices, and a georeferenced viewer of the reports provided by users. In this viewer, records are added, building a nationwide database that will allow tracking and evolution to be seen.

The viewer shows a map with marked points where polluting light sources have been reported, and it also displays the information that users have added to their report. The viewer allows searching for reports by area, type of place (commercial, industrial, sports, public road, or private) and by type of polluting light source (cold light, directed upwards, glare, etc.).

With the cursor, you can zoom in on the map to the report you want to know more about. By clicking on the point, people can see the date and time of the report, the location, description of the polluting light source, and a photograph of the reported luminaire.

This viewer provides easily accessible information for anyone who wants to learn more about these sources, explains Daniela González, executive director of the Fundación Cielos de Chile. “This map of Chile with information on all light pollution reports not only allows us to gather in one place the cases that people identify as sources of light pollution, but also allows users to understand what these polluting sources are like and how to identify them, based on the experience of others,” she stated.

To access the viewer, users must enter the link https://glowatch.cl/catastro or scroll to the end of the website. On the platform, they can also make their light pollution reports or send the information via WhatsApp to the number (+56) 982276560.