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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 12, NUMBER 2, FEBRUARY 1999

JOURNAL ARTICLES...
UV-B

Item #d99feb19

“Ultraviolet Radiation at Sites on the Antarctic Coast,” J. H. Frederick (frederic@sunbeam.uchicago.edu), Zheng Qu, and C. R. Booth, Photochem. Photobiol. 68 (2), 183-190 (1998).

Variability in the UV radiation impinging on the Palmer and McMurdo stations in Antarctica from 1979 to 1992 was measured on the ground and compared with satellite measurements of atmospheric ozone. The satellite values showed that the October ozone depletion increased between 1979 and 1991, and the noontime UV-B measurements showed an increase of 50 to 65% (depending on location) during that period. When these values were factored into the biologically weighted irradiance, it indicated a 5 to 6% increase in the suppression of photosynthesis in Antarctic phytoplankton during the period. Measurements taken from 1990 to 1994 indicated that interannual variations in cloudiness were more important than changes in ozone in determining the interannual variability in UV-B exposure on the ground.

Item #d99feb20

“Intercomparison of Effective Erythemal Irradiance Measurements from Two Types of Broad-Band Instruments, During June 1995,” Stephen Wengraitis, Danielle Benedetta, and D. H. Sliney, Photochem. Photobiol. 68 (2), 179-182 (1998).

Measurements from a multiband UV monitor were compared with those from a conventional broadband UV monitor for the month of June. Daily total exposures of each instrument and intraday ratios between the two instruments were recorded. Averaged over the month, the daily total exposures agreed within 11%. The ratio of the two readings varied by time of day; it was 1.12 from 9 am to 5 pm and decreased below 0.90 outside that time period. Spectral- response and cosine-response mismatch are suspected to be the causes of these variations.

Item #d99feb21

“Iodouracil as a Personal Dosimeter for Solar UV-B,” Ronald Rahn and M. A. Lee, Photochem. Photobiol. 68 (2), 173- 178 (1998).

Iodouracil and potassium iodide in borate buffer forms triiodide on exposure to UV-B radiation. If thyodene is present, the common blue starch-iodine complex is formed, and its intensity is proportional to the UV-B exposure. The endpoint was determined with a spectrometer set at 400 nm and a densitometer, and selectivity for UV-B was demonstrated with a UV-B cutoff filter. This system could be used in a personal UV-B dosimeter, with the dosage being estimated by visual inspection or measured by UV spectroscopy.