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Study, protect, restore the night

About

Experts in the analysis of light pollution, our work consists in determining, scientifically, the levels and causes of various direct or indirect light nuisances.

The company

We always work with the aim of finding the precise answers to your questions; Those that will explain why and how you are subjected to light pollution, and what to do to decrease it as much as possible.

We can support you in your dealings with public authorities or private companies to show how their lighting is a nuisance for you. We begin with hight level numerical modelling and in some cases in-situ measurements to quantify the magnitude of the problem and then propose appropriate solutions to minimize the nuisance while taking into account the costs associated with these solutions.

​We provide our clients with a detailed report on the situation and clearly identifying the concrete measures to be taken to resolve the problem. Based on the most up-to-date scientific knowledge, our customers can communicate with those responsible for excess light pollution and ask them to apply the proposed measures.

In addition to nuisance studies for individuals or companies, we regularly conduct environmental studies to assess current light pollution levels before the implementation of a major industrial or mining project. We also make recommendations to minimize the impact of this new development project on the local or regional environment (fauna, flora, human health).

Depending on your specific needs, our expert report will include all the elements necessary for a good understanding of the conclusions of our investigation. These elements may include:

1. History of the problem;
2. Knowledge base about your site;
3. Observations and measurements on the site;
4. Plans, diagrams, tables and charts;
5. Photos, videos;
6. Comments, recommendations, interpretations and conclusions.

The expertise

Martin Aubé is a world leading researcher in the field of remote sensing and modeling of light pollution. He got his Ph.D. in remote sensing from U. Sherbrooke and a M.Sc. in astrophysics from U. Laval. He is a physics professor at Cégep de Sherbrooke and adjunct professor at U. Sherbrooke and at Bishops University. Prof. Aubé received the 2014 excellence in research award from the Québec's research agency, the 2013 "Raymond Gervais award" for excellence in science teaching, the International DarkSky Association 2018 Galileo award for outstanding achievements in research on light pollution over a multiple year period. In 2019, he received the Denise-Barbeau award for college based research from ACFAS association and Reconnaissance award from Association pour le recherche au collégial.

Martin Aubé giving a talk at Preserving the skies 2017 conference in La Palma - credits Elena Mora (IAC)

Contact

Martin Aubé, Ph.D. aubema@gmail.com

Scientific publications record

Peer reviewed papers

• Linares, H., Abascal, A., Degen, T., Aubé, M., Espey, B., Gyuk, G., Holker, F., Jechow, A., Kuffer, M., Sanchez de Miguel, A., Simoneau, A., Walczak, K., Kyba, C. (2024) Monitoring, trends and impacts of light pollution, Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, Accepted.
• Simoneau, A., and Aubé, M.. (2023). Methods to Calibrate a Digital Colour Camera as a Multispectral Imaging Sensor in Low Light Conditions. Remote Sensing 15, no. 14: 3634. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs15143634
• Linares, H., Masana, E., Ribas, S. J., García-Gil, M., Aubé, M., de Miguel, A. S., & Simoneau, A. (2023). Assessing light pollution in vast areas: zenith sky brightness maps of Catalonia. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 108678.
• Aubé, M., Kollath, Z, Simoneau, A. (2023), HABLAN : Multispectral and multiangular remote sensing of artificial light at night from High Altitude Balloons, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 306, 108606.
• Aube, M., & Houle, J. P. (2023). Estimating lighting device inventories with the LANcube v2 multiangular radiometer. International Journal of Sustainable Lighting, 25(1), 10-23.
• Kyba, C. C., Aubé, M., Bará, S., Bertolo, A., Bouroussis, C. A., Cavazzani, S., ... & Zhang, J. (2022). Multiple angle observations would benefit visible band remote sensing using night lights. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 127(12), e2021JD036382.
• Marseille, C., Aubé, M., Barreto, A., Simoneau, A. (2021) Remote sensing of aerosols at night with the CoSQM sky brightness data, Remote Sensing, 13(22):4623. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13224623
• Sanchez de Miguel, A., Zamorano, J., Aubé, M., Bennie, J., Gallego, J., Ocana, F., Stefanov, W.L., Gaston, K. (2021) Colour remote sensing of the impact of artificial light at night (II): Calibration of DSLR-based images from the International Space Station, Remote sensing of environment, ISSN 0034-4257, p. 112611.
• Aubé, M.; Houle, J.; Desmarais, J.; Veilleux, N.; Bordeleau, É. (2021) Modeling the spectral properties of obtrusive light incident on a window: Application to Montréal, Canada. Remote Sensing, 13(14), 2767.
• Irena Fryc, I, Bará, S, Aubé, M, Barentine, J.C., Zamorano J (2021) On the relation between the astronomical and visual photometric systems in specifying the brightness of the night sky for mesopically adapted observers, LEUKOS, DOI: 10.1080/15502724.2021.1921593
• Simoneau, A., Aubé, M., Leblanc, J., Boucher, R., Roby, J., & Lacharité, F. (2021) Point spread functions for mapping artificial night sky luminance over large territories. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 504(1), pp 951–963.
• Aubé, M., Marseille, C., Farkouh, A., Dufour, A., Simoneau, A., Zamorano, J., Roby, J. & Tapia, C. (2020). Mapping the Melatonin Suppression, Star Light and Induced Photosynthesis Indices with the LANcube. Remote Sensing, 12(23), 3954.
• Longcore,T., Duriscoe, D., Aubé, M., Jechow, A., Kyba, C. C., and Pendoley, K. L. (2020) Commentary: Brightness of the night sky affects Loggerhead (Caretta caretta) sea turtle hatchling misorientation but not nest site selection, Frontiers in Marine Science, doi: 10.3389/fmars.2020.00706.
• Aubé, M., Simoneau, A., Munoz-Tunon, C., Diaz-Castro, J., & Serra-Ricart, M. (2020). Restoring the night sky darkness at Observatorio del Teide: First application of the model Illumina version 2, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 497(3), pp.2501-2516.
• Linares, H., Masana, M., Ribas, S. J., Aubé, M., Simoneau, A., Bara, S. (2020) Night sky brightness simulation over Montsec protected area. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 249, p.106990.
• Bará, S., Aubé, M., Barentine, J., & Zamorano, J. (2020). Magnitude to luminance conversions and visual brightness of the night sky. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, staa323.
• Simoneau, S., Aubé, M., Bertolo, A. (2020). Multispectral analysis of the night sky brightness and its origin for the Asiago Observatory, Italy. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, stz3406.
• Garcia-Saenz A., Sánchez de Miguel A., Espinosa A., Valentin A., Costas L., Castaño-Vinyals G., Moreno V., Pollan M., Aubé M., and Kogevinas M.. (2019) Artificial light at night (ALAN), blue light spectrum exposure and colorectal cancer risk in Spain (MCC-Spain study)." Environmental Epidemiology 3, 212.
• Sánchez de Miguel, A., Bará, S., Aubé, M., Cardiel, N., Tapia, C. E., Zamorano, J., & Gaston, K. J. (2019). Evaluating Human Photoreceptoral Inputs from Night-Time Lights Using RGB Imaging Photometry. Journal of Imaging, 5(4), 49.
• de Miguel, A. S., Kyba, C. C., Aubé, M., Zamorano, J., Cardiel, N., Tapia, C., ... & Gaston, K. J. (2019). Colour remote sensing of the impact of artificial light at night (I): The potential of the International Space Station and other DSLR-based platforms. Remote Sensing of Environment, 224, 92-103.
• Aubé, M., Simoneau, A., Wainscoat, R. and Nelson, L. (2018) Modelling the effects of phosphor converted LED lighting to the night sky of the Haleakala Observatory, Hawaii. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 478(2), pp.1776-1783.
• Linares, H., Masana, E., Ribas, S. J., Garcia-Gil, M., Figueras, F., & Aubé, M. (2018). Modelling the night sky brightness and light pollution sources of Montsec protected area. Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 217, 178-188.
• Aubé, M., Simoneau, A., (2018) New Features to the Night Sky Radiance Model Illumina: Hyperspectral Support, Improved Obstacles and Cloud Reflexion, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, Vol. 211, pp. 25-34.
• Garcia-Saenz, A., Sánchez de Miguel, A., Espinosa, A., Valentin, A., Aragonés, N., Llorca, J., Amiano, P., Martín Sánchez, V., Guevara, M., Capelo, R., Tardón, A., Peiró-Perez, R., Jiménez-Moleón, J. J., Roca-*Barceló, A., Pérez-Gómez, B., Dierssen-Sotos, T., Fernández-Villa, T., Moreno-Iribas, C., Moreno, V., García-Pérez, J., Castaño-Vinyals, G., Pollán, M., Aubé, M., Kogevinas, M. (2018) Evaluating the association between artificial light-at-night exposure and breast and prostate cancer risk in Spain (MCC-Spain study), Environmental Health Perspectives, 126(4), 047011.
• Hänel, A., Posch, T., Ribas, S.J., Aubé, M., Duriscoe, D., Jechow, A., Kollath, Z., Lolkema, D.E., Moore, C., Schmidt, N., Spoelstra, H., Wuchterl, G., Kyba, C.C.M, (2017) Measuring night sky brightness: methods and challenges, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, 205, pp.278-290..
• Sanchez de Miguel, A., Aubé M., Zamorano, J., Kocifaj, M., Roby, J., Tapia, C. (2017) Sky Quality Meter measurements in a colour-changing world, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 467, Issue 3, p.2966-2979.
• Aubé M., Kocifaj, M., Zamorano, J., Solano Lamphar, H. A., Sanchez de Miguel, A. (2015) The Spectral Amplification Effect of Clouds to the Night Sky Radiance in Madrid, Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, Vol. 181, pp. 11-23.
• Aubé, M. (2015) Physical Behaviour of Anthropogenic Light Propagation into the Nocturnal Environment, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society - B, Vol. 370, Issue 1667.
• Aubé, M., Garcia, B., Fortin, N., Turcotte, S., Mancilla, A., Maya, J. (2014) Evaluation of the sky brightness at two Argentinian Astronomical Sites, Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 126 :945.
• Aubé, M., Roby, J. (2014) Sky brightness levels before and after the creation of the first international dark sky reserve, Mont-Mégantic observatory, Québec, Canada, Journal of quantitative spectroscopy and radiative transfer, Vol 139, pp 52-63.
• Aubé M, Roby J, Kocifaj M (2013) Evaluating Potential Spectral Impacts of Various Artificial Lights on Melatonin Suppression, Photosynthesis, and Star Visibility. PLoS ONE 8(7): e67798. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0067798
• Aube, M., Kocifaj, M., (2012) Using two light-pollution models to investigate artificial sky radiances at Canary Islands observatories, Monthly notices of the royal astronomical society,Vol. 422, Issue 1, pp. 819-830.
• Kocifaj, M., Aube, M., Kohut, I. (2010) Effect of spatial and spectral heterogeneity of ground-based light sources on the night sky radiances, Monthly notices of the royal astronomical society,Vol. 409, Issue 3, pp. 1203-1212.
• Aubé, M. (2006) Improved light pollution models allow the simulation of real situations, SPIE Newsroom, DOI: 10.1117/2.1200601.0028
• Campanelli, M. , N. T. O'Neill, A., Lupu., A., S. Thulasiraman , J. McConnell, J. Kaminski, M. Aubé (2006) Evaluation of the GEM–AQ air quality model during the Quebec smoke event of 2002: analysis of extensive and intensive optical disparities". Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 40, p. 373-379, doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.03-006.
• Vachon, F., Royer, A., Aubé, M., Toubbé, B., O'Neill, N.T., Teillet, P. M. (2004) Remote Sensing of Aerosols over North American Land Surfaces from POLDER and MODIS Measurement, Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 38, Issue 21, 3501-3515.
• Aubé, M. (2003) Modélisation de l'évolution spatiale et temporelle de l'épaisseur optique des aérosols à l'échelle régionale, Ph.D thesis, département de géographie et télédétection, Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines, Université de Sherbrooke.
• Roy, J.-R., Aubé, M.,McCall, M., Dufour, R. (1992) The Origin of Broad Emission Lines in the Extragalactic Giant HII Region NGC 2363. The Astrophysical Journal. 386: 498-505.
• Aubé, M. (1991) Structure et dynamique de la région HII géante NGC 2363, M.Sc. thesis, Département de physique, Faculté des sciences et génie, Université Laval.

Technical reports

• Aubé, M., Linares, H, Simoneau, A, Gagné, T. (2023) Evaluation de la pollution lumineuse générée par le complexe de St-Félicien des serres Toundra, DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.26839.34722
• Walker, C., Di Pippo, S., Aubé, M., Barentine, J., Benkhaldoun, Z., Benvenuti, P., Bouroussis, C., Di Vruno, F., Green, R., Hearnshaw, J., Liszt, H., Lowenthal, J., Munoz-Tunon, C., Nield, K., Ohishi, M., Ricard, N., Rodriguez Espinosa, J.M., Rotola, G., Sanhueza, P., Varela Pérez, A.M., Williams, A. (2022) Dark and Quiet Skies II for Science and Society, https://noirlab.edu/public/media/archives/techdocs/pdf/techdoc051.pdf
• Walker, C., Di Pippo, S., Aubé, M., Barentine, J., Benkhaldoun, Z., Benvenuti, P., Bouroussis, C., Green, R., Hearnshaw, J., Liszt, H., Lowenthal, J., Munoz-Tunon, C., Nield, K., Ricard, N., Rodriguez Espinosa, J.M., Sanhueza, P., Varela Pérez, A.M., Williams, A. (2020) Dark and Quiet Skies II for Science and Society, https://www.iau.org/static/publications/dqskies-book-29-12-20.pdf
• Ribas, S.J., Aubé, M., Bara, S., Bouroussis, C., Canal-Domingo, R., Espey, B., Hanel, A., Jechow, A., Kollath, Z., Marti, G., Massana, P., Schmidt, W., Spoelstra, H., Wuchterl, G., Zamorano, J., Kyba, C.C.M, Report of the 2016 STARS4ALL/LoNNe Intercomparison Campaign (2017), DOI: 10.2312/GFZ.1.4.2017.001
• Kinzey, B., Perrin, T. E., Miller, N. J., Kocifaj, M., Aubé, M., S. Lamphar, H (2017) An Investigation of LED Street Lighting’s Impact on Sky Glow, DOE Solid-State Lighting Technology Program, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA
• Aubé, M., Giguère, J-D, (2010) Assessing the contribution from different parts of Canary islands to the hemispheric spectral sky radiance levels over European Northern Observatories, IAC, Spain.
• Aubé, M., (1997) Conception d'un nouveau photomètre stellaire à grand champ pour la mesure des propriétés optiques de l'atmosphère, CARTEL, Université de Sherbrooke.
• Aubé, M. (1989) Conception et caractérisation optique du radiomètre à cinq bandes, rapport technique, Bomem inc.
• Aubé, M. (1988) Procédure de calibrage du photomètre à aurores boréales, rapport technique, Bomem inc.
• Aubé, M. (1992) Documentation du logiciel de réduction de données astronomiques à haute résolution spectrale, Université Laval.
• Aubé, M. (1990) Documentation du logiciel de calcul de paramètres orbitaux des astéroïdes et comètes, Observatoires de la Côte d'Azur.