Weine Josefsson

SUSPEN intercomparison of ultraviolet spectroradiometers

Results from an intercomparison campaign of ultraviolet spectroradiometers that was organized at Nea Michaniona, Greece July, 1–13 1997, are presented. Nineteen instrument systems from 15 different countries took part and provided spectra of global solar UV irradiance for two consecutive days from sunrise to sunset every half hour. No data exchange was allowed between participants in order to achieve absolutely independent results among the instruments. The data analysis procedure included the determination of wavelength shifts and the application of suitable corrections to the measured spectra, their standardization to common spectral resolution of 1 nm full width at half maximum and the application of cosine corrections. Reference spectra were calculated for each observational time, derived for a set of instruments which were objectively selected and used as comparison norms for the assessment of the relative agreement among the various instruments. With regard to the absolute irradiance measurements, the range of the deviations from the reference for all spectra was within ±20%. About half of the instruments agreed to within ±5%, while only three fell outside the ±10% agreement limit. As for the accuracy of the wave-length registration of the recorded spectra, for most of the spectroradiometers (14) the calculated wavelength shifts were smaller than 0.2 nm. The overall outcome of the campaign was very encouraging, as it was proven that the agreement among the majority of the instruments was good and comparable to the commonly accepted uncertainties of spectral UV measurements. In addition, many of the instruments provided consistent results relative to at least the previous two intercomparison campaigns, held in 1995 in Ispra, Italy and in 1993 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. As a result of this series of intercomparison campaigns, several of the currently operating spectroradiometers operating may be regarded as a core group of instruments, which with the employment of proper operational procedures are capable of providing quality spectral solar UV measurements.

Effect of clouds on UV irradiance: As estimated from cloud amount, cloud type, precipitation, global radiation and sunshine duration

Ten years of measurements of UV irradiance, monitored by the Robertson-Berger (RB) meter in Norrkoping, 58.58°N, 16.15°E, Sweden, have been combined with concurrent synoptic cloud observations, measurements of sunshine duration, and global radiation to establish the relative influence of clouds on UV irradiance. It is shown that the cloud effect for UV wavelengths is less than for the whole solar spectrum (global radiation). Relations retrieved for global radiation may be used by correcting for the differences. High-level clouds are more transparent than low- and medium-level clouds. As expected, it was found that precipitating clouds in general are more opaque than nonprecipitating clouds. If there is any solar elevation dependency in the effect of clouds, it is small. Using only total cloud amount as parameter to model, the cloud effect on UV irradiance will give a substantial uncertainty, which can be decreased considerably using cloud type and/or information on precipitation conditions. It has also been shown that sunshine duration can be used in a similar way as cloud cover.

Methods for cosine correction of broadband UV data and their effect on the relation between UV irradiance and cloudiness

Irradiance measurements on a horizontal surface often deviate from theory where the irradiance is supposed to be proportional to the cosine of the angle of incidence. This discrepancy is known as the cosine error. In this paper, three different methods for cosine error correction are investigated. The simplest method is based on the assumption of an isotropic sky radiance distribution, regardless of sky conditions, and the irradiance is treated as a single component. In the second method the irradiance is divided into one direct solar and one diffuse sky component, where the latter is assumed to have an isotropic distribution. Finally, a third method also divides the irradiance into two components but under the assumption of an anisotropic sky radiance distribution. Irradiances under general sky conditions are found by interpolation between clear and overcast cases on the basis of sunshine duration or cloud cover. The three methods are applied to data from a Robertson-Berger sunburning meter located in Norrkoping, Sweden. Both methods, where the irradiance is divided into two components, produce acceptable and similar results, while the isotropic one-component method does not.

Comparison and validation of the aerosol optical depth obtained with the Langley plot method in the UV‐B from Brewer Ozone Spectrophotometer measurements

(1) The Aerosol Optical Depths (AODs) retrieved from Brewer Ozone Spectrophotometer measurements with a method previously developed (Cheymol and De Backer, 2003) are now validated by comparisons between AODs from six Brewer spectrophotometers and two CSEM SPM2000 sunphotometers: two Brewer spectrophotometers 016 and 178 at Uccle in Belgium; one Brewer spectrophotometer 128 and one sunphotometer CSEM SPM2000 at Norrkoping in Sweden; and three Brewer instruments 040, 072, 156 at Arosa and one CSEM SPM2000 sunphotometer at Davos in Switzerland. The comparison between AODs from Brewer spectrophotometer 128 at 320.1 nm and sunphotometer SPM2000 at 368 nm at Norrkoping shows that the AODs obtained from the Brewer measurements with the Langley Plot Method (LPM) are very accurate if the neutral density filter spectral transmittances are well known: with the measured values of these filters, the correlation coefficient, the slope, and the intercept of the regression line are 0.98, 0.85 ± 0.004, and 0.02 ± 0.0014, respectively. The bias observed is mainly owing to the wavelength difference between the two instruments. The comparison between AODs from different Brewer spectrophotometers confirm that AODs will be in very good agreement if they are measured with several Brewer instruments at the same place: At Uccle, the correlation coefficient, slope, and intercept of the regression line are 0.98, 1.02 ± 0.003, and 0.06 ± 0.001, respectively; at Arosa, the comparisons between the AODs from three Brewer spectrophotometers 040, 072, and 156 give a correlation coefficient, a slope, and an intercept of the regression line above 0.94, 0.98 and below 0.04, respectively.

Focused sun observations using a Brewer ozone spectrophotometer

Direct sun measurements are the most direct and physically well defined type of measurement of total ozone with Dobson and Brewer spectrophotometers along with focused sun measurements. The direct sun and focused sun methods are influenced by many sources of error at low solar elevations. A large error arises from the addition of radiation scattered from air along the path of the solar beam. A method to correct for this error using the Brewer instrument is described. The method gives reasonably accurate values down to solar elevations of 5 deg compared to 10-20 deg without corrections. This is especially important for high-latitude stations, where the low solar elevations are a limiting factor for accurate measurements of the total ozone, particularly during the winter. 7 refs.

Quality assurance of reference standards from nine European solar-ultraviolet monitoring laboratories

A program for quality assurance of reference standards has been initiated among nine solar-UV monitoring laboratories. By means of a traveling lamp package that comprises several 1000-W ANSI code DXW-type quartz-halogen lamps, a 0.1-ohm shunt, and a 6-1/2 digit voltmeter, the irradiance scales used by the nine laboratories were compared with one another; a relative uncertainty of 1.2% was found. The comparison of 15 reference standards yielded differences of as much as 9%; the average difference was less than 3%.

Monitoring Ultraviolet Radiation

This chapter will focus on measurements of irradiance in the ultraviolet (UV) part of the solar spectrum. Therefore, in this chapter UV refers to solar ultraviolet radiation. To accurately measure UV is not a simple task, and many complex sources of error may produce spurious data. The present interest in the depletion of the ozone layer and the probable increase of harmful solar UV has initiated the start of many UV-monitoring programs, which will substantially increase the amount of UV data in the near future. There is also an urgent need for an internationally established and accepted standard procedure to measure UV and to calibrate the measurement instruments. The lack of accurate UV standards makes comparisons between different data sets problematic.

The PROMOTE UV Record: Toward a Global Satellite-Based Climatology of Surface Ultraviolet Irradiance

This paper describes the PROMOTE UV Record, which aims to provide a global long-term record of the surface UV radiation. The algorithm developed takes as input cloud information from the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) and a recently developed multisensor assimilated record of the total ozone column. Aerosols and surface albedo are based on climatologies. Here, first validation results of the PROMOTE UV Record are presented through comparison against ground-based measurements of daily erythemal UV doses at eight European stations. The validation shows that the method is working reasonably, although there is a clear tendency toward overestimation. Typically, the median bias as compared to measurements is 3%-10% and 56%-68% of the daily doses are within plusmn20% from the ground-based reference. The prototype version of the PROMOTE UV Record included in this paper covers the period from July 2002 to June 2005. The time series will later be extended to start in 1983.

Spike detection and correction in Brewer spectroradiometer ultraviolet spectra

The occurrence of spikes in Brewer UV spectra is studied. Use is made of continuous measurement data over several years, com- prising more than 90,000 spectra, from one single-monochromator and two double-monochromator Brewers. It is shown that the double mono- chromators, especially, may suffer from more than 200 spikes per ;5000 annual spectra. The spikes are not always randomly distributed over the wavelength range. The single monochromator is found to have an an- nual average of only 36 spikes above 300 nm, but it is noted that there were a significant number of spikes at shorter wavelengths, indicating possible bias in the stray light correction unless taken into consideration. The error caused by noncorrected spikes varies greatly from case to case. In an intensive study of 150 spectra measured during one summer week, the effect of one moderate-size spike was found to be more than 5% on a DNA action dose rate and close to 1% on a DNA action daily dose. When high accuracy of in situ UV measurements is required, our results suggest a need to remove spikes from the spectra. A simple statistical approach is employed. The method is applicable to any single- or double-monochromator Brewer spectroradiometer. However, under rapidly changing cloudiness it can be difficult to distinguish between noise spikes and the variation in irradiance due to changes in the state of the sky. Our data show that ancillary radiation measurements may be

UV climatology from quality controlled ground-based spectral UV measurements

Solar spectral UV-monitoring data for 8 European sites with 5-10 years of data, and covering a latitudinal range from 41 degrees North to 67 North have been re-evaluated and resubmitted to the European UV-database (EUVDB) in Finland as part of the EU-project SCOUT-O3. All resubmitted spectra (420000) were quality checked, flagged, and corrected with respect to wavelength scale errors and spectral distortions using the SHICrivm software package. Additional data products provided by the software are standardized spectra, spectral atmospheric transmissions, and biologically weighted UV-irradiances for a wide variety of biological action spectra. The resubmitted spectra were shown to have improved based on the EUVDB quality flagging criteria. Spectral and effective irradiances were integrated and summed in a standardized way to obtain daily, monthly, and seasonal UV-doses. The measured summer sums varies from 478 kJ/m2 for Thessaloniki to 228 kJ/m2 for Sodankyla. Clouds reduced the exposure during summer time by 30% on average, in Bilthoven this was 35%, while in Thessaloniki only 17% was reduced. Using co-located ozone and pyranometer measurements results of a generic UV-modelling approach, derived in a specific low albedo and low surface elevation environment, are systematically compared to the UV-doses obtained for all sites. Generally, a good agreement is found, measured and modelled total UV-doses agree within a few percent with a standard deviation of 15 typically. Deviations with respect to the application in a high surface albedo and high altitude environment have been identified and handles to improve the modelling have been assigned.