How2Day: Lighting for Airports

These large windows provide natural light, in addition to the airport's FAA-approved lighting equipment. Comstock Images/Comstock/Getty Images
The next time you take to the skies, you may notice that the airport where you begin your journey features several specific kinds of lighting. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates the lighting used in all U.S. airports through its Airport Lighting Equipment Certification Program. The program uses a number of third-party certification bodies to assess lighting equipment and to compile a certified lighting list, which comprises several lighting types. In addition, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulates airport lighting for security purposes.

Continuous lighting uses a number of fixed lights to cast overlapping arcs of light, thereby providing a continuous "flood" effect that bathes a large area in light of an even intensity. For protective purposes, this is the most typical lighting arrangement. Sometimes continuous lighting incorporates glare protection to keep the light from spilling outside of its intended area and interfering with external operations.

Airports may also restrict the light to a carefully defined area. They may use continuous lighting protectively along gates and fencing, both to enable security inspections and to illuminate signage, keypads, locks and card readers or scanners. Security lighting, such as continuous lighting, also applies to any areas where an airport security team uses CCTV cameras.

Airports may use standby lighting which is any light sources which activates on certain triggers. This include lights operated automatically, at certain times or through motion-detector devices. It may also include alternate light sources which turn on when power outages make the standard light sources unusable.

Standby lighting may include emergency lighting, which must rely on an alternative power source and meet the same minimum requirements as regular lighting when used alone. When an airport requires continuous lighting for intermittent periods, or in changing locations, movable lighting may serve as a standby option. This type of lighting equipment offers a floodlight-type lighting source and can be moved manually from one location to another.

Airports may also use the increasingly popular and cost-effective solar-powered light sources. This kind serves well in remote areas where electricity is not available or in cases where installing electrical power would be prohibitively expensive. It may also serve as a kind of standby lighting during interruptions in the normal electrical power supply. In cases where solar-powered lighting offers reduced light intensity compared with electrical lighting, it may function for minimal traffic areas with reduced security threat or serve during off-peak hours.

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