Abstract

Night Skies Visibility Modeling, Grand Canyon National Park
Track: Conservation
Authors: Mark Nebel, Laura Williams

The Grand Canyon National Park Night Skies initiative used GIS Viewshed modeling to inform the development of outdoor lighting zones and guidelines that will help protect the Park’s extensive natural dark sky. Visibility modeling incorporated digital elevation, vegetation and infrastructure data to delineate lighting zones and corresponding guidelines for new and retro-fitted lighting that increase protection of the high quality natural lightscape in wilderness and undeveloped areas of the Park.