Technics of Lighthouses
There is a technical definition for a lighthouse. Maritime signaling equipment consisting of 4 main elements:
⛆ A plinth that is more or less high in relation to sea level.Assuming a lighthouse is burning at a height of 30 meters above sea level, an observer at 4.5 meters above sea level can see the lighthouse up to 16 NM (~29.6 km) away. This is known as the geographic range of light. (One nautical mile is equivalent to 1.15 land miles and equals 1.852 kilometers). Powerful lights can also often be seen above the horizon because the light is scattered upwards by the surface of the water and reflected by the vapor particles in the atmosphere. This phenomenon is known as the loom of light.
⛆ A sources that produces light,The lighting and control also changed completely with the introduction of electricity and later again with LED lighting and solar panels. The first warning lights for sailors were built long before the Christian era. The earliest known reference to a lighthouse dates back to 1200 BC. This reference appeared in the Iliad, Homer's Greek epic poem.
The luminous intensity of a light, or its candlepower (old definition), is now expressed in international units called Candela (cd). Intensities of lighthouse beams can vary from thousands to millions of candelas.
⛆ An system to concentrate this light by directing it towards the horizon,In this part of the website you will find more information about the life of Augustin Fresnel himself and an explanation about his most important inventions. The Fresnel lenses is the 1822 important invention of Augustine Fresnel who invented a lens that would make his name commonplace along all seacoasts of the world.
⛆ A lantern to protect the lamp and optics from bad weather,> AIS - Automatic Indentification System main function is navigation and collision avoidance for IMO SOLAS vessels using short messages in the Maritime Mobile VHF band to exchange relevant information.
> DGPS - Differential Global Positioning System is a Radar-based navigation system that eliminates errors in a GPS receiver that will allow the accuracy level to be significantly enhancedcan assist
> Fog horns are devices that uses sound to warn vessels of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transportare used to give an acoustic signal in poor visibility as an aid to the navigator.
> Light Characters, a graphic and/or text description of a navigational light sequence or colour displayed on nautical charts or in a Light List with the chart symbol for a lighthouse, lightvessel or buoy.
> Radar Beacons also called RACON (RAdar and beaCON) is a radar transponder commonly used to mark maritime navigational hazards.
> Reflectors part of a the early lighthouse lights to improve visibility
> Glossery of Terms is a list of common lighthouse terms.