Postgraduate research opportunities Measuring marine light pollution in coastal waters and the polar night
ApplyKey facts
- Opens: Tuesday 20 June 2023
- Deadline: Monday 31 July 2023
- Number of places: 1
- Duration: 36 months
- Funding: Home fee, Stipend
Overview
Artificial light at night is one of the most rapidly growing forms of pollution affecting the natural environment. We will build, calibrate and deploy two new hyperspectral radiometers to measure light pollution in the marine environment. This will include working with international partners in the Arctic during polar night and in UK coastal waters with local collaborators.Eligibility
First class honours in Physics, Electronic Engineering, Marine Science or other relevant discipline. Other relevant skills and experience will be considered.
Project Details
Background: Light pollution is one of the fastest growing sources of anthropogenic disruption of the environment. Impacts on terrestrial and airborne animals are well documented and include issues such as increased bird fatalities in cities, disruption to egg laying for sea turtles and many other behavioural factors that can lead to enhanced mortalities and restructuring of ecosystems. Investigation of the impacts of Artificial Light At Night (ALAN) in the marine environment are in their infancy with relatively little work done to date. This is partly due to the difficulties of measuring extremely low light levels in the marine environment. Existing commercial sensors provide limited information about the propagation of ALAN through the sea surface and down into the water column.
Aim: This project will support development of new light sensors that will extend ability to measure spectrally resolved light levels to depth in the marine environment. We will build, calibrate and deploy two new hyperspectral optical sensors to measure surface irradiance and subsurface radiance. These instruments will be used to make direct measurements of marine ALAN in the context of two collaborations. Deep Impact is a Norwegian Research Council-funded project to determine the impact of ship lighting on animal behaviour during Arctic night. The project student will take part in field work activities in the Barents Sea and on Svalbard in collaboration with our Norwegian partners. Fieldwork will take place in winter months when the region experiences prolonged periods of dark. The second project follows on from ALICE, funded by NERC to establish the impact of ALAN from coastal towns and cities on adjacent marine areas. This work will involve deploying the instruments from small boats in coastal waters of southwest England, covering varying degrees of urbanisation and associated levels of light pollution.
Objectives:
- Complete the design, construction and calibration of two new sensors to measure surface irradiance and underwater radiance.
- To test the sensitivity of these instruments in the lab and on land in an urban environment to establish potential for underwater measurements.
- To deploy these sensors in the marine environment to provide essential input and validation data for radiative transfer simulations of underwater ALAN.
- To establish maps of ALAN penetration (a) around brightly lit research vessels (Deep Impact) and (b) across selected coastal regions (ALICE).
This is an outstanding opportunity for a physicist, electronics engineer or a motivated student from another relevant discipline to establish new practical skills in development of instrumentation, and to engage in practical fieldwork in two very exciting contexts. The instrumentation work will require a sound understanding of basic electronics and ability to program data acquisition systems. The calibration work will require development of physical lab skills with very careful attention needed to ensure quantitative calibration is achieved. The fieldwork will expose the student to work on a large research vessel in the middle of Arctic winter - this is a unique opportunity. They will also engage in small boat work off the south coast of England. The diverse range of experiences and training will provide excellent training for a career in interdisciplinary environmental research.
Further information
Project will involve working at sea. Student must be able to complete sea survival training and seafarer’s medical test (paid for by University when required).
Funding details
Funding covers home fees and student stipend.
Apply
Number of places: 1
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Physics
Programme: Physics
Contact us
For further details, contact Dr David McKee, david.mckee@strath.ac.uk.