https://doi.org/10.1140/epjqt/s40507-025-00331-8
Research
Estimating the impact of light pollution on quantum communication between QEYSSat and Canadian quantum ground station sites
1
Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr NW, T2N 1N4, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
2
Institute for Quantum Computing, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, 200 University Ave W, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
3
Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University, University Dr. W, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
a
mathew.yastremski@ucalgary.ca
b
paul.godin@uwaterloo.ca
c
tjennewe@uwaterloo.ca
Received:
11
December
2024
Accepted:
17
February
2025
Published online:
27
February
2025
Satellite to ground quantum communication typically operates at night to reduce background signals, however it remains susceptible to noise from light pollution of the night sky. In this study we compare several methodologies for determining whether a Quantum Ground Station (QGS) site is viable for exchanging quantum signals with the upcoming Quantum Encryption and Science Satellite (QEYSSat) mission. We conducted ground site characterization studies at three locations in Canada: Waterloo, Ontario, Calgary, Alberta, and Priddis, Alberta. Using different methods we estimate the background counts expected to leak into the satellite-ground quantum channel, and determined whether the noise levels could prevent a quantum key transfer. We also investigate how satellite data recorded from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) can help estimate conditions of a particular site, and find reasonable agreement with the locally recorded data. Our results indicate that the Waterloo, Calgary, and Priddis QGS sites should allow both quantum uplinks and downlinks with QEYSSat, despite their proximity to urban centres. Furthermore, our approach allows the use of satellite borne instrument data (VIIRS) to remotely and efficiently determine the potential of a ground site.
Key words: Light pollution / Quantum communication / QKD / Satellite / Atmosphere / Photon rate / Radiance / QBER / VIIRS / Spectroscopy / Uplink / Downlink / QEYSSat / Canada
© The Author(s) 2025
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
