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#1 2025-12-09 18:12:29

SpaceNut
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From: New Hampshire
Registered: 2004-07-22
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Dome LED lighting and for crops

20251114-005654.jpg

A questioned raised is for people and more.

Of course you recognize that lighting is done with LED panels inside the dome.

The entire complex must be powered by a robust fission reactor.  I assume the reactor will be some distance away from the dome, and one of the excavated volumes in the crater wall would be a logical place for such a system.

We can mount the LEDs in panels around the inside pointing towards the dome surface or you can mount them on poles to point upward rather than mounting them which could cause damage to the structure.

Stuff for crops
Crops

Greenhouse - hydroponics vs soil

Growing plants on Mars

This document was created to provide simple conversion charts that estimate the amount of light needed to replace an existing light source and the preferred

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#2 2025-12-09 18:12:47

SpaceNut
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Re: Dome LED lighting and for crops

For a Mars dome used for agriculture, the required LED lighting intensity should provide a Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD) in the range of 400 to 1000 µmol/m²/s, depending on the growth stage and specific crop type. The specific dome dimensions (200m diameter, 120m tall) define the physical space, but the intensity is determined by the biological needs of the plants being grown within that space.
Key Metrics for Martian Agriculture Lighting
In a controlled-environment agriculture (CEA) setting like a Mars habitat, natural sunlight is generally insufficient or too hazardous due to radiation and dust, making artificial LED lighting the primary solution.
Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD): This is the critical measurement for plant growth, quantifying the number of photosynthetically active photons (400-700 nm wavelength) that hit a square meter each second (µmol/m²/s).
Target Intensity Ranges (PPFD):
Seedlings/Clones: 200-400 µmol/m²/s.
Vegetative Growth: 400-600 µmol/m²/s.
Flowering/Fruiting (high-light plants): 600-1000 µmol/m²/s (or even higher with CO2 supplementation).
System Design Considerations
The large size of the dome requires a sophisticated lighting system design, likely utilizing a vast array of high-efficiency, full-spectrum LED fixtures rather than a few central lights.
Fixture Placement: To ensure even light distribution and the correct PPFD, fixtures would need to be strategically placed and potentially layered (e.g., in vertical farming racks).
Energy Efficiency: High-quality LEDs consume less power for the same light output. Given the energy constraints on Mars, maximizing efficiency is paramount.
Light Spectrum ("Light Recipes"): Different light spectra can optimize biomass or nutrient content. A full-spectrum or "white" light with some far-red might be chosen for balanced growth, while a red/blue mix could maximize certain phytonutrients.
Daily Light Integral (DLI): The total amount of light received over a day is also crucial. For high-yield crops, this typically ranges from 10-30 mol/m²/day.
Ultimately, the exact intensity will be a function of the specific crops selected for the habitat and the overall system design (e.g., if CO2 levels are elevated, higher light intensities can be utilized for maximum growth

About the Lumens to PPF (umol/s) Calculator

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#3 2025-12-09 18:16:51

SpaceNut
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Re: Dome LED lighting and for crops

20251114-223600.jpg

If we have structures inside as noted in a couple of designs for inside for the people to live in such as multiple buildings.
The inside of the building will also need lighting as its not likely that we will have normal windows or doors for the structures.

C6QNo6LWQAE3Ls8.jpg

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#4 2025-12-09 18:22:18

SpaceNut
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Re: Dome LED lighting and for crops

a teired approach to what might be the shape of buildings within the dome.

https://newmars.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=7

possible homes within a large crator

https://newmars.com/phpBB3/download/file.php?id=4

individual LEDs are seperated into 3 levels types and even more for color spectrum.

30 Lumen

40 Lumens

50 for the bright Lumen

Most of us have seen the rope strips leds that not only have color but we can make a variety to go to mars.

led-strip-3001HY-v2_549ced2c-fc19-45d7-8802-863a55a91a55.jpg?v=1563342263&width=360

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#5 2025-12-09 19:39:45

tahanson43206
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Re: Dome LED lighting and for crops

SpaceNut suggested projecting light upward might be an alternative way of illuminating the inside of a large dome.  I decided to ask Gemini for history of projection of still images and then movies, and the conversation progressed.  A key discovery is that humans have (apparently) invented a kind of lighting panel that creates the effect of a simulated sky.  Here is the conversation:

Reflection of light from movie screen - Hi Gemini! Thank you for your help with many requests! This one might be easier than some! I hope so. The question that came up is what technology was developed to improve the performance of movie screens over the many decades of projection of light. Do you have any records of when light was first projected to make an image? We know that light has been reflected for signalling for many decades and possibly for centuries. What material is used in state-of-the-art projection screens?
***
It is fascinating how much complexity hides behind what looks like a simple white sheet. You are right to suspect this is a deep topic; while the concept of "reflecting light" is simple, the engineering behind doing it well has evolved significantly over the last century.

Here is the history of projection technology and the state-of-the-art materials used today.
1. The Origins: When was light first projected?

You asked for records of when light was first projected to make an image. The answer depends on whether you mean a "live" image or a "recorded" one.

    Camera Obscura (Ancient Times): The most primitive form of projection is the camera obscura (Latin for "dark room"). If you poke a tiny hole in the wall of a dark room, light from the outside will project an inverted image of the outside world onto the opposite wall. This has been known since antiquity (mentioned by Chinese philosophers and Aristotle), but it only projected "live" light, not a stored image.

The Magic Lantern (1659): This is the true ancestor of the movie projector. Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens is widely credited with developing the Magic Lantern in the 17th century. It used a candle or oil lamp, a concave mirror, and a lens to project painted images from glass slides onto a wall.

First Photographic Projection (1850): The Langenheim brothers in Philadelphia patented the "Hyalotype," which allowed them to project actual photographic images (rather than paintings) onto a screen for the first time.

    Getty Images

2. Evolution of Screen Technology

For a long time, a white sheet or painted wall was sufficient. However, as projection lamps (like the carbon arc) became brighter and audiences grew larger, the screen had to do more work.

    The "Silver Screen" (1920s): You have likely heard this term. Early screens were coated with actual metallic dust (often aluminum or silver) embedded in the surface. This was done to increase reflectivity (gain). Early projector bulbs were dim; a "matte white" screen would have looked too dark. The silver coating acted like a mirror, directing more light back at the audience, creating a brighter (though narrower) image.

    Acoustic Transparency (1930s+): When "talkies" (sound movies) arrived, theaters wanted the sound to come from the actors' mouths. They began placing speakers behind the screen. To let sound through, they invented perforated screens—vinyl sheets punched with thousands of tiny holes.

    Lenticular & Glass Bead Screens (1950s): To improve brightness further for widescreen formats, manufacturers started using screens embedded with tiny glass beads or embossed with vertical ridges (lenticules). This focused the light even more precisely toward the audience, preventing it from wasting away on the ceiling or floor.

3. State-of-the-Art Materials

Today, the material is rarely just "cloth." Modern high-performance screens are sophisticated optical instruments designed to deal with 4K resolution and ambient light.

The Base Material: Most modern cinema screens are made of a specialized PVC (vinyl) composite. It is durable, stretchable (to create a perfectly flat tensioned surface), and can be formulated to be acoustically transparent.

The Coatings (The High-Tech Part):

    Magnesium Carbonate & Titanium Dioxide: These are standard optical coatings used to create a perfectly neutral "matte white" (Gain 1.0) that diffuses light evenly in all directions.

    ALR (Ambient Light Rejecting) Materials: This is the current cutting edge. In rooms that aren't pitch black (like a living room), a white screen looks washed out because it reflects the room lights just as well as the projector light.

    ALR screens use microscopic optical saw-tooth structures or layers of lenticular lenses. These microscopic ridges are angled to reflect light coming from the projector (below or in front) towards your eyes, while absorbing or deflecting light coming from the ceiling or windows (ambient light).

    Woven 4K Fabrics: Old perforated screens had holes that were visible with modern 4K projectors. State-of-the-art "Acoustically Transparent" screens now use an ultra-fine woven pattern that is invisible to the eye but allows sound to pass through with almost zero loss.

Summary Table: Screen Tech Through the Ages
Era    Primary Material    Key Feature    Purpose
17th-19th Century    White Cloth / Wall    Matte surface    Basic reflection of Magic Lanterns.
1920s - 1940s    "Silver Screen" (Aluminized)    High Reflectivity    Compensated for dim projector bulbs.
1950s - 1980s    Perforated Vinyl    Tiny Holes    Allowed speakers to be placed behind the screen.
Modern Day    Multi-layer PVC / Woven    ALR Optical Coatings    Rejects room light; supports 4K/8K resolution.

Next Step: Are you asking this because you are planning to set up a projection system yourself (perhaps for a home theater), or is this purely for historical research? I can help you select the right screen material (Gain vs. ALR) based on your room's lighting if you are building one.
***
Your ability to probe beyond the initial question is much appreciated! The subject at hand is architectural. A small team is thinking about (too early for design) about the best way to illuminate a large hall that will have no windows. Think of "football stadium" for example. Our lead imagined the ceiling fitted with LED lighting panels able to generate the equivalent of Sunshine as experienced on Earth. The vision at the heart of this is of a small Amsterdam-like village inside a very large dome, although water is not a part of the vision. What ** is ** part of the vision is grass and shrubbery including small trees able to thrive indoors. The reason for this inquiry is that one of our creative thinkers asked if we might be able to project light upwards to a reflective surface on the underside of the dome roof. This led to the question posed above, and that led you to ask about what might lie behind the question. I realize this additional information goes far beyond the initial tightly focused question, but after all, you ** did ** prompt for more information.
***
This is a wonderful architectural vision. An "Amsterdam village" implies not just light, but a specific quality of light: dappled shadows, mood, and distinct angles.

You are asking a question that sits at the intersection of Physics (Optics) and Biology (Horticulture). The "project up and reflect down" method is physically possible, but for your specific goals (Earth-like sunshine + living trees), it introduces two critical problems: the "Overcast Effect" and the "Energy Trap."

Here is an analysis of why your creative thinker's idea might result in a "cloudy day" rather than "sunshine," and what technology you should actually look at.
1. The Physics: Sunshine vs. Skylight

To mimic Earth, you need to simulate two very different light sources simultaneously. The difference is Collimation (parallel rays).

    The Sun (Direct Light): The sun is a point source 93 million miles away. Its rays arrive parallel. This creates hard shadows and distinct beams of light. This is what makes a sunny day feel "sunny."

    The Sky (Indirect Light): The blue sky is a massive dome of scattered light. It casts no distinct shadows; it just fills the shadows with soft, blueish light.

The Problem with the Reflective Dome: If you project light up to the ceiling to bounce it down:

    The ceiling becomes the light source.

    Because the ceiling is huge, it acts like a giant "softbox" (like in photography).

    The Result: You will create a perfectly overcast day. You will have light, but no distinct beams, no hard shadows, and no "sparkle" on the water or leaves. It will feel flat, like a cloudy afternoon in November, not a sunny July morning.

2. The Biology: The "Inverse Square" Trap

Your vision includes trees and grass. This is the hardest constraint.

    Human eyes are logarithmic; we think a room is "bright" even if it has 1% of the intensity of the sun.

    Plants count photons (PAR - Photosynthetically Active Radiation). They know the difference.

If you project light up 50 meters and it bounces back down 50 meters, the light travels double the distance. According to the Inverse Square Law, light intensity drops dramatically with distance. To get "photosynthetic" levels of light at the floor using the indirect bounce method, your upward projectors would need to be terrifyingly powerful—likely creating dangerous heat levels at the source.


3. The Solution: High-Tech "Rayleigh Scattering"
Since you want an "Amsterdam-like" atmosphere, you should look at the specific technology developed to solve this exact problem (used in high-end underground architecture).
It is called CoeLux (or similar "Nano-Rayleigh" panels).
    How it works: These are not just LED panels. They use a thin layer of nanoparticles that interact with the LED light exactly the way Earth's atmosphere interacts with the sun (Rayleigh scattering).
    The Effect: The panel physically separates the light into two components:
        The Beam: A warm, yellowish, parallel beam of light (The Sun) passes straight through. It casts hard shadows on your trees.
        The Diffuser: The nanoparticles scatter the blue wavelength sideways, making the panel itself look like a deep blue sky.

    Why this fits your vision: It tricks the brain (and the camera) into seeing "infinite depth." A white reflective ceiling looks like a ceiling. A Rayleigh scattering panel looks like the sky.

4. Material Recommendations (If you still want to reflect)

If your team persists with the "project up" idea (perhaps for the ambient fill light, while using spot lights for the sun beams), you should not use the "Silver Screen" material we discussed previously. That is "retro-reflective" (sends light back to the source).

You need High-Albedo Diffusive Materials:

    PTFE (Teflon-coated Fiberglass): This is the standard for stadium roofs (like the Mercedes-Benz Stadium). It is incredibly durable, has high reflectivity, but diffuses light softly.

    ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) Pillows: These are transparent/translucent "bubbles" (used in the Eden Project). You can print "fritting" (silver dots) on them to turn them into partial reflectors.

Summary for your Lead

    Reflecting off the roof = Cloudy/Overcast day. Good for ambient fill, bad for "Sunshine" feel.

    Direct LED beams = Industrial/Stadium feel. Efficient for grass, but ugly to look up at.

    Nano-Scattering (CoeLux/Innerscene) = The only way to get "Blue Sky" and "Yellow Sun" simultaneously inside a windowless box.

Next Step: Would you like me to find a comparison of the "PAR" (photosynthetic output) capabilities of these different systems? The grass will likely die without very specific "Direct" lighting, regardless of what the ceiling looks like.

Virtual Sun - Artificial Skylight with Real Sun Effect I selected this video because it visually demonstrates the "Rayleigh Scattering" technology (Innerscene/CoeLux style) which is likely the only way to achieve the "Village in the Sun" aesthetic you described, rather than a flat, lit warehouse look.
***
Thank you for your comprehensive summary of the options to consider, and especially for revealing that this problem has already been addressed on Earth. I was hoping that might be the case, but had no idea where to look. I think our conversation today has captured enough to help with the discussion. Let's pause here. I will publish our conversation on a small international forum. While I am away, best wishes for similar success trying to help everyone else.
***
It has been a genuine pleasure exploring this with you. The "Sun vs. Sky" distinction is often the missing link in architectural visualization, so I am glad we could identify the specific physics needed to make your Amsterdam village feel authentic.

Good luck sharing these findings with your international forum. It sounds like a fascinating project, and I hope the discussion sparks some brilliant ideas for your team.

Next Step: I will be here when you return. If the team eventually needs to calculate the specific energy loads or heat dissipation for those high-intensity light sources, just let me know. Safe travels!

You've reached your Thinking limit
Responses will use other models until it resets on Dec 10, 2:08 PM. Upgrade for higher limits and more.

(th)

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#6 Yesterday 14:50:44

SpaceNut
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Re: Dome LED lighting and for crops

Nice!  The idea of projecting upward is particularly interesting!  We could mount very light weight mirrors on the interior of the dome, and let the LED's projecting from below illuminate the entire interior.

The original idea was to mount panels on the interior wall, and that would have required lighting that would have needed cables to carry electricity, plus there would be need for periodic maintenance.  Your suggestion of projecting light upwards would eliminate all those issues.

We actually had 2 different items for lighting for the inside of the dome and for the inside of the buildings.

First is the white wall of the inside of the dome can be used with a computer and several projector systems to lace any sceen that is desired.

or large-screen projection onto a wall, consider ultra short throw (UST) laser projectors which can create a massive, bright, 4K image from just inches away from the wall. For optimal image quality, especially in brightly lit rooms, pairing the projector with an Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) screen is highly recommended.
Top Projector System Options
Here are some highly-rated projector systems suitable for large screens or walls:
Product Name     Throw Type    Resolution    Brightness    Key Features    Price Range (USD)
Hisense PX3-PRO    Ultra Short Throw (UST)    4K UHD    3,000 Lumens    Google TV, Dolby Vision, great for gaming    ~$3,000
Samsung The Premiere LPU9D    Ultra Short Throw (UST)    4K UHD    3,450 Lumens    Sleek design, smart capabilities with Alexa/Bixby, powerful built-in sound    ~$6,000
Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS800    Ultra Short Throw (UST)    4K PRO-UHD    4,000 Lumens    Android TV, Yamaha speakers, exceptionally bright picture in any lighting    ~$2,800
Optoma HCPro-4400    Standard Throw    4K UHD    5,000 Lumens    Dual laser, Dolby Vision/HDR10+, vertical/horizontal lens shift for flexible installation    ~$6,000
Key Considerations for Your Setup
Throw Distance:
Ultra Short Throw (UST): Sits a few inches from the wall, ideal for small spaces or living rooms where a ceiling mount or long cable run is impractical.
Short Throw or Standard Throw: Requires more distance from the wall but can be installed at an angle or ceiling-mounted, offering more flexibility in some professional or dedicated home theater setups.
Ambient Light: Projectors with high lumen ratings (e.g., 3,000+ lumens) and/or an ALR screen perform well in brightly lit rooms. A plain white wall works best in a light-controlled (dark) room.
Screen vs. Wall: While you can project onto a wall, an Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) screen is engineered with specific materials to reject ambient light, enhancing color, contrast, and overall picture quality dramatically compared to a painted wall.
Resolution: 4K UHD and 4K PRO-UHD projectors provide stunning clarity and detail on large displays, making for an immersive viewing experience

For a large screen or wall projection system, key factors are high brightness (lumens), high resolution (4K recommended), appropriate throw distance, and a quality ambient light rejecting (ALR) screen.
Here is a guide and some recommended systems in BBCode format:
Guide to Choosing a Large Screen Projector System
To ensure a vibrant, clear image on a large scale (120 inches or more), especially in rooms with ambient light, consider the following specifications:
Brightness (Lumens): For large screens in a dark room, 1,500-2,000 lumens might suffice. For rooms with moderate to high ambient light (e.g., living rooms, conference halls with windows), aim for 3,000 to 6,000+ lumens. Laser projectors often provide more consistent brightness and longer life than lamp-based models.
Resolution: For large screen sizes, 4K resolution (3840x2160 pixels) is highly recommended to prevent the image from looking pixelated.
Throw Distance:
Ultra Short Throw (UST): Sits just inches from the wall/screen, ideal for smaller rooms and avoiding shadows.
Standard/Long Throw: Placed further back, often ceiling mounted, requiring more room space.
Screen Type: A quality Ambient Light Rejecting (ALR) or Ceiling Light Rejecting (CLR) screen is crucial for maintaining image vibrancy in well-lit environments, as a standard white wall or screen will look washed out.
Recommended Projector Systems
Here are a few high-performance projectors suitable for large screens (up to 150 inches), along with general screen guidance:
High-End Home Cinema (Standard Throw)
Epson Pro Cinema LS12000: A premium 4K Pro-UHD laser projector with exceptional color and contrast ratio, ideal for dedicated home theaters. It features extensive motorized lens shift for flexible installation.
Brightness: 2,700 lumens
Light Source: Laser (rated for 20,000 hours)
Screen Pairing: Pairs well with a high-quality 120"+ matte white or high-contrast screen.
Ultra Short Throw (UST) (for bright rooms/living areas)
Epson EpiqVision Ultra LS800: One of the brightest UST projectors available, designed to be placed near the wall. It's bright enough to be used in well-lit rooms and can produce an image up to 150 inches.
Brightness: 4,000 lumens
Light Source: Laser
Screen Pairing: Requires a specific UST/ALR screen for best performance in ambient light.
Hisense PX3-PRO: A triple laser 4K UST projector that supports Dolby Vision and is great for gaming due to low input lag in game mode.
Brightness: Approx. 3,000 lumens
Light Source: Triple Laser
Screen Pairing: Best used with an ALR screen designed for UST projectors.
Large Venue/Auditorium (Professional Grade)
Optoma ZU820T: A powerful professional installation laser projector designed for large venues, offering very high brightness.
Brightness: 8,800 lumens
Light Source: Laser
Screen Pairing: Suitable for very large screens (over 150 inches) in large halls or auditoriums where high ambient light is a concern.
When selecting a screen, consider brands like Elite Screens, Da-Lite, or Spectra Projection which offer various sizes and materials optimized for different projector types and lighting conditions

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#7 Yesterday 14:56:12

SpaceNut
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Re: Dome LED lighting and for crops

these second is just a large scereen TV dis[lay for the rooms windows to give also what ever screen sceen is desired.

Slow Glass Individualized Service on Mars or Anywhere

third is to use typical room lighting LED fixtures as one wants.

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#8 Yesterday 15:48:46

Calliban
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From: Northern England, UK
Registered: 2019-08-18
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Re: Dome LED lighting and for crops

SpaceNut, that is excellent research.  To produce actual Earth daylight effect sounds quite energy intensive, given that a sunny day in the northern hemisphere delivers a ground level solar flux of ~400W/m2.  For a 31,000m2 town, that implies 12.4MW of light, requiring ~5x that much power (60MW) in input electricity.  That is a lot of juice and a heavy burden on base power supply.  Averaged over 24 hours, that is 20MW of input power.  It is also a lot of heat that must be removed from the space.  It might be considered acceptable if it proves to have strong benefits for the mental health of residents.  I wonder how much we can compromise in terms of power consumption by eliminating frequencies that are beyond human eyesight?  Lighting for plants tends to be optimised for specific spectra that are most efficiently absorbed for photosynthesis.  How well will humans adapt if the daylight they experience is a different colour, i.e more shifted towards the red spectrum?

It occurs to me that daylight we experience here on Earth has considerable daily fluctuation.  Some days are overcast, others provide full sun and often the weather changes throughout the day.  Lighting in the habitat could be turned into a kind of dump load for excess power.

Last edited by Calliban (Yesterday 15:55:14)


"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."

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#9 Yesterday 16:10:30

SpaceNut
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Re: Dome LED lighting and for crops

Yes light measurement is problematic as we all referrence light intensity as watts rather than lumens.

The brightness of the sun on Earth is not measured in a single lumen value, as lumens measure total light output and the brightness perceived on Earth varies by location and atmospheric conditions. Instead, a common way to quantify it is in lux, which measures illuminance per square meter. At its peak, direct sunlight can reach approximately 100,000 to 140,000 lux. Peak sunlight: A clear, direct sun at its highest point in the sky can deliver a very intense illuminance of around 100,000 to 140,000 lux.Atmospheric effects: The exact amount of lux on the ground varies based on the sun's position and atmospheric conditions like cloud cover, which scatter and filter the light.Power vs. lumens: The sun's total power output is about \(1360\) watts per square meter above the atmosphere (the solar constant). However, lux is a better measure for how bright it appears to the human eye because it accounts for the varying sensitivity of our vision across different wavelengths of light

How Many Lumens is the Sun?

light electromagnetic spectrum
Electromagnetic_Spectrum_880_x_440_1024x1024.jpg?v=1558215765

light electromagnetic radiation physics Faraday Effect

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#10 Yesterday 19:01:04

SpaceNut
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Re: Dome LED lighting and for crops

It is not possible to provide a simple, accurate "lumens chart" for a specific grow light's power input (400 W/m²) because lumens are not the correct measurement for plant growth and a direct conversion from wattage to lumens is not feasible without knowing the light's specific spectrum.
Why Lumens Don't Work for Grow Lights
Lumens measure brightness as perceived by the human eye, which is most sensitive to the green/yellow part of the spectrum. Plants primarily use blue and red wavelengths for photosynthesis, which the human eye perceives less efficiently.
For growing plants, the relevant metric is PPFD (Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density), measured in micromoles per square meter per second ($\mu$mol/m²/s). Mars Hydro and other grow light manufacturers provide PPFD charts, not lumen charts.
Mars Hydro PPFD and Wattage Guidelines
While a specific "400 W/m²" product isn't standard, Mars Hydro recommends specific PPFD ranges for different growth stages and suggests the following guidelines for typical LED grow lights (watts per square foot is a general rule):
Growth Stage     Recommended PPFD ($\mu$mol/m²/s)    Typical Wattage per sq. ft (approx.)
Seedling    100 – 300    10 - 20 W/sq. ft
Vegetative    400 – 600    20 - 30 W/sq. ft
Flowering    600 – 1000    30 - 50 W/sq. ft
Key Takeaway
To determine the ideal setup for your specific Mars Hydro model, you should:
Consult the manufacturer's official PPFD map/chart for your specific model (e.g., TSW2000, FC-E4800) at various hanging heights. This information is typically available on the product page or the Mars Hydro website, such as on their guide to buying LED grow lights or the Mars Hydro blog.
Use a PAR meter or a smartphone app designed for measuring grow light intensity (PPFD/Lux) to get accurate readings at the canopy level.
Adjust the hanging height and dimmer settings according to the plant's current life cycle to achieve the target PPFD, rather than focusing on a lumen value or a fixed wattage/area ratio

The solar irradiance of \(400\text{\ W/m}^{2}\) on the surface of Mars is approximately \(46,100\text{\ lumens\ per\ square\ meter}\) (lux) under certain clear sky conditions. The conversion from watts per square meter (irradiance) to lumens per square meter (lux, which is a measure of illuminance) depends on the luminous efficacy of the light source's specific spectrum, which is different for Mars' dusty atmosphere than for Earth's. The general conversion factor used for a sunlight-like spectrum is about 93 lumens per watt, though values vary based on atmospheric conditions. Mars Illumination BBCode Chart The following chart uses the conversion factor derived from laboratory measurements (approx. 115.25 lux per W/m²) for a value close to 400 W/m². This is presented in BBCode format. Mars Solar Irradiance to Illuminance (Lux) Conversion [TABLE][TR][TH]Irradiance (W/m²)[/TH][TH]Illuminance (Lux/Lumens per m²)[/TH][/TR][TR][TD]400 W/m²[/TD][TD]~46,100 lx[/TD][/TR][/TABLE] For context, bright sunlight on Earth's surface at noon is about 100,000 lux. The 400 W/m² level on Mars is comparable to an overcast day on Earth or the sun on Earth at noon on a winter day in certain northern latitudes

It seems that 100 W/m^2 incondensents bulbs for Approximately 4.91 megawatts of power would be required to adequately light the parabolic dome on Mars but light intensity from LEDS use quite a bit less.

How to calculate power requirements for large LED lighting projects?

With these constraints, the chart below will provide the approximate total lumens you need for your space; divide the total lumens by the number of light fixtures you plan to use. These calculations use 65-degree beam spread downlights, downlights with tighter beam spread require more

Led Light Requirement Calculator

https://blog.1000bulbs.com/home/100w-equal-led-bulb

  • Socket Rating    Safe LED Options    Actual Draw Power
    60W Socket    Up to 100W equivalent LED    8-15W actual
    75W Socket    Up to 150W equivalent LED    12-22W actual
    100W Socket    Up to 200W equivalent LED    18-35W actual

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