I'm 16 and I Built a Platform to Measure Light Pollution With Your Phone

How a night sky photo led me to build SkyQI - and why 80% of us have lost our stars

Last summer, I was at my grandparents' village in Haryana. Power cut. No lights for miles. I looked up and saw something I'd never seen from my home in Gurgaon - thousands of stars scattered across the sky like someone had spilled diamonds on black velvet.

My grandmother pointed out constellations she grew up with. "We used to see this every night," she said.

That's when it hit me: I had never really seen the night sky.

Back home, I could count maybe 10-15 stars on a "good" night. My grandmother could see thousands as a child. In just one generation, we've lost something humans have gazed at for millennia.

This is light pollution. And it's affecting 80% of humanity.

The Problem Nobody Talks About

We hear about air pollution, water pollution, plastic pollution. But light pollution? It barely makes the news.

Yet the numbers are staggering:

  • 80% of the world's population lives under light-polluted skies
  • 99% of Europeans and Americans can't see the Milky Way from their homes
  • Light pollution is increasing by 2% every year globally
  • India's major cities rank among the most light-polluted in the world

And it's not just about pretty stars. Light pollution:

  • Disrupts wildlife: Birds lose migration routes. Sea turtles get confused. Insects die by the billions around street lights.
  • Affects human health: Our bodies need darkness. Artificial light at night disrupts sleep, increases stress, and has been linked to various health issues.
  • Wastes energy: All that light going up into the sky instead of down where we need it? That's wasted electricity and money.
  • Kills astronomy: Professional observatories are running out of dark locations. Amateur astronomers drive hours just to see the stars.

The Measurement Problem

Here's what frustrated me: if you want to measure air quality, there are apps, websites, and government sensors everywhere. AQI numbers are on every news channel.

But light pollution? Good luck.

The standard tool is called a Sky Quality Meter (SQM) - a handheld device that measures sky brightness. Professional astronomers use them. Environmental researchers use them.

They cost Rs. 15,000-25,000.

That's the price of a budget smartphone. No student, no citizen scientist, no curious person is going to spend that much just to measure how dark their sky is.

So I thought: What if we could use the smartphone itself?

Everyone already has a camera in their pocket. What if I could build software that analyzes a night sky photo and tells you how light-polluted your location is?

Building SkyQI

I spent months learning, coding, failing, and trying again.

The core challenge: How do you extract scientific measurements from a random smartphone photo? Different phones have different cameras. Different exposures. Different processing. It seemed impossible.

But I found a way.

The breakthrough came from combining multiple signals:

  1. Star Detection: I built an algorithm that identifies stars in your photo - not by brightness alone, but by their size and shape. Stars look different from noise, from airplane lights, from satellites.

  2. Horizon Glow Analysis: Light pollution creates a characteristic "glow" near the horizon - brighter at the bottom, darker at the top. Natural skies are the opposite. By measuring this gradient, I can detect the signature of urban light pollution.

  3. Multi-Parameter Validation: Instead of relying on one measurement, SkyQI cross-checks multiple independent signals. This makes it work across different phone brands and camera qualities.

The result? Upload a night sky photo, get scientific measurements in seconds.

  • SQM Value: The same unit professional astronomers use (magnitudes per square arcsecond)
  • Bortle Scale: A 1-9 rating of sky darkness (1 = pristine, 9 = inner city)
  • Star Count: How many stars the algorithm detected
  • Light Pollution Level: A simple classification from Excellent to Very Poor

I filed a patent application for the technology. It's now pending with the Indian Patent Office.

What You Can Do With SkyQI

For Students:

  • Science fair projects on local light pollution
  • Compare your school, home, and nearby parks
  • Contribute to real scientific data

For Astronomy Enthusiasts:

  • Find the darkest spots near you
  • Track if your observing location is getting worse
  • Plan stargazing trips with data

For Educators:

  • Hands-on citizen science activity
  • Cross-curricular: physics, environment, geography, data science
  • Connect students to a global environmental issue

For Researchers:

  • Access API for bulk data
  • High-resolution coverage impossible with expensive equipment
  • Ground-truth data for satellite studies

For Everyone:

  • See how your neighborhood compares globally
  • Understand what you're missing in the night sky
  • Contribute to mapping India's - and the world's - light pollution

The Bigger Picture

I'm not trying to turn off all the lights. We need lighting for safety, for work, for life.

But we need better lighting:

  • Lights that point down, not up
  • Warmer colors that are less disruptive to wildlife and health
  • Sensors that dim lights when nobody's around
  • Awareness that darkness has value

The first step to fixing any problem is measuring it. You can't manage what you can't measure.

That's what SkyQI enables. When thousands of people across India - across the world - upload their night sky photos, we create a map. A map that shows where the problem is worst. Where it's getting better. Where dark sky refuges still exist and need protection.

Try It Tonight

The platform is live at www.skyqi.in

Here's how to contribute:

  1. Wait for a clear night (no clouds, no moon is best)
  2. Go outside - your backyard, terrace, or balcony works
  3. Point your phone at the sky - try to avoid direct light sources in frame
  4. Take a photo - a few seconds exposure if your phone allows, but even a regular photo works
  5. Upload to skyqi.in - add your location, and get instant results

It takes 2 minutes. It's completely free. No account required.

Every photo you upload becomes part of a growing dataset. You're not just measuring - you're contributing to science.

What's Next

This is just the beginning. I'm working on:

  • Mobile apps for easier capture
  • School programs to get students involved
  • Partnerships with astronomy clubs and environmental organizations
  • More data sources - integrating satellite data, professional measurements
  • Better algorithms - machine learning to improve accuracy

But I can't do it alone. I need your photos.

Whether you're in a Delhi high-rise or a Ladakh village, your data matters. The contrast between our cities and our remaining dark places tells a story - one we need to document before it's too late.

Join the Movement

Light pollution is the most reversible form of pollution. Turn off unnecessary lights, and the stars come back immediately. No cleanup required. No decades of recovery.

But first, we need to see the problem clearly.

Take a photo of your night sky. Upload it to skyqi.in. See what you've been missing.

Then share your results. Challenge your friends. Compare your city to others.

Let's map the night sky together.

Suhani Gupta is a Class 11 student and the creator of SkyQI. The platform is live at www.skyqi.in. The underlying technology is patent-pending.

Have questions or want to collaborate? Reach out at [contact email]

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Featured Image: images/featured_1_introduction.jpg

Tags: #LightPollution #CitizenScience #Astronomy #Environment #StudentInnovation #India #NightSky #SkyQI

Category: News

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Slug: introducing-skyqi

First published: December 2024