A European satellite-derived UV climatology available for impact studies

This paper presents a satellite-derived climatology of the surface UV radiation, intended to support impact studies on the environment and human health. As of today, the dataset covers the period from 1 January 1984 to 31 August 2003, with daily dose maps covering Europe with a spatial resolution of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Radiation protection dosimetry 2004-01, Vol.111 (4), p.407-411
Main Author: Verdebout, J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Climate
Databases, Factual
Environment
Europe
Geographic Information Systems
Radiation Dosage
Radiation Monitoring - methods
Radiometry - methods
Risk Assessment - methods
Risk Factors
Seasons
Solar Energy
Spacecraft
Topography, Medical - methods
Ultraviolet Rays
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Summary:This paper presents a satellite-derived climatology of the surface UV radiation, intended to support impact studies on the environment and human health. As of today, the dataset covers the period from 1 January 1984 to 31 August 2003, with daily dose maps covering Europe with a spatial resolution of 0.05°. A comparison between the modelled erythemal daily dose and measurements in Ispra yields an r.m.s. value with a relative difference of 29% and a bias of 3%. The seemingly large dispersion is, however, due to a restricted number of days for which the relative difference is very high. The climatological dataset documents systematic patterns in the geographical distribution of the surface UV radiation due to cloudiness, altitude and snow. It also shows a large year-to-year variability in monthly doses of upto ±50% in spring and ±30% in summer.
ISSN:0144-8420
1742-3406
DOI:10.1093/rpd/nch063