Guardianes de la Luz: Ilumíname menos, aprovéchame más
Updated: Oct 6, 2022
National Agrarian University La Molina | Peru
Team members: Rocío Maguiña Munguia, Andrea Isabel Yachachi Elguera, Janpier Luis Denis Meza Salazar, and Daniela Velásquez Gushiken
Hello! We are a group of National Agrarian University La Molina students trying to diminish light pollution in Lima, Perú.
Hi, I'm Janpier, twenty-two, and a sixth-cycle environmental engineering student. I am interested in looking into issues related to climate change, clean energy, pollution, and sustainable cities. In addition, I hope to expand my experience with this project to improve our quality of life in the city.
Hi, it's Rocío. I am eighteen and a student in the third cycle of environmental engineering. I am interested in addressing climate change, pollution, and sustainability to understand our environment and improve our quality of life.
Hello! It's Andrea Yachachi. I'm twenty-three, and I am in my last year of bachelor's studies. What excites me the most is exploring possible solutions to current problems in our city and gaining experience in the process.
Hi! Daniela here. I am nineteen years old, INFP, and interested in sustainability. I hope this experience will empower us to create the change we need to improve our cities.
Report 1: June 2022
Our light pollution project is still in its first stage. We started with little to no training on the subject. Therefore, we are learning the fundamentals of light pollution and its regulations in our country. Also, we are taking a short course offered by the municipality of Lima to learn more about the subject.
We have had a meeting with the adviser of our Student Organization and our adviser for this project to receive their opinions and see how they may help us. We have also had a meeting with the environmental management team of the municipality of Lima (our study city) to present our proposal and ask for their support. We are waiting for them to contact us with a team specialized in the subject.
Next month we hope to understand better how to approach the project. We will communicate with a contact that our adviser shared with us who works on the issue of light pollution. Part of our next step is to contact the Air Quality Team of our municipality, which is the one that takes care of this issue. For this last point, the meeting was held with the environmental management team of the municipality, so we are in the process.
Report 2: July 2022
This month we began to process the permissions to use the instruments required to measure light pollution. Unfortunately, this month we faced many burdens due to permission to use the devices, and we had to communicate directly with the only professor assigned to light pollution. For this obstacle, we consented to take some days of capacitation for the correct instrument usage to be able to work with it. Also, we had planned to contact the Air Quality Team of our municipality, but there were some staff changes. For that reason, it is not so accessible now; however, next month, we plan to get the first measurements and the permissions, and our mentor will make the arrangements.
Report 3: August 2022
This month we found the technical file of the latest work improvement of one of the parks we plan on visiting Kennedy Park in the district of Miraflores. This document includes a descriptive memory of the electrical installations implemented. By reading this document, we now have a better understanding of what we will find on the field and the technical specifications of the lighting installations.
In the upcoming month, we will begin on-site light pollution measurements.
Report 4: September 2022
This month we went to Kennedy Park in the district of Miraflores to measure illumination levels. We found that it would be complicated to take measurements of the whole park, so we decided to measure illumination in the perimeter. We did this using the luxometers we asked the university for and divided the sidewalk of the perimeter into 5x5 m2 squares.
We are still processing our results and plan to contrast this information with Peruvian regulations and the park’s blueprint in the coming month.
Also, since we found our measurement method is highly time-consuming, we want to look for more feasible alternatives in order to be able to cover a wider study area. Thus, we will gather more information and meet with our forum-assigned advisor.