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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 2, NUMBER 10, OCTOBER 1989

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION

Item #d89oct60

"The Ultraviolet Radiation Environment of Antarctica: McMurdo Station During September-October 1987," D. Lubin (Dept. Geophys. Sci., Univ. Chicago, Chicago IL 60637), J.E. Frederick, A.J. Krueger, J. Geophys. Res., 94(D6), 8491-8496, June 20, 1989.

Daily data from the Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer were combined with a model of atmospheric radiative transfer to compute the time evolution of ultraviolet irradiance at wavelengths from 290 to 350 nm. At a wavelength near 305 nm, the irradiance in early October exceeds values appropriate to an unperturbed ozone layer by a factor of 5-6. As December 21 approaches, the noontime ultraviolet irradiance increases, irrespective of changes in ozone. Any lengthening of the period of ozone depletion toward summer solstice will have a substantial impact on the ultraviolet irradiance received by the Antarctic surface.

Item #d89oct61

"Measurements of Enhanced Springtime Ultraviolet Radiation at Palmer Station, Antarctica," D. Lubin (address immed. above), J.E. Frederick et al., Geophys. Res. Lett., 16(8), 783-785, Aug. 1989.

Measurements of ultraviolet solar spectra from Palmer Station, Antarctica, have defined the surface radiation environment of the region during the Austral spring of 1988. At wavelengths less than 310 nm, the influence of the 1988 ozone hole is apparent. The noontime irradiance observed in the wavelength band 295-305 nm on October 19, two months prior to summer solstice, exceeded any value measured through December 21.

Item #d89oct62

"On the Disproportionate Role of Tropospheric Ozone as a Filter Against Solar UV-B Radiation," C. Brühl (Max Planck Inst. für Chem., Postfach 3060, 6500, Mainz, FRG), P.J. Crutzen, ibid., 16(7), 703-706, July 1989.

Increases in tropospheric ozone due to photochemical production, mostly due to growing industrial and technological NOx emissions in the industrialized Northern Hemisphere, can overcompensate for increased UV-B radiation resulting from ozone depletions due to chlorine-catalyzed reactions in the stratosphere. Analyses using calculated ozone profiles as well as those observed at Hohenpeissenberg in Bavaria show that decreases of UV-B radiation at the earth's surface are possible even when total ozone declines.

Item #d89oct63

Comment and Reply on "Ultraviolet Levels Under Sea Ice During the Antarctic Spring," Science, 245(4914), 194-195, July 14, 1989.

Spring UV enhancement will be exaggerated under the vast sea ice cover surrounding Antarctica because of seasonal variations measured in ice turbidity.