Ultraviolet Radiation Research and Monitoring

Definition

The UV Index is an irradiance scale computed by multiplying the CIE erythemal irradiance integral in watts m^-2 by 40. The term "erythema" refers to the reddening of the skin due to sunburn. Other irradiance integrals exist which describe other physical and biological effects of UV radiation. However, this one has become the one used most often. For a fuller description, including the calculation of CIE erythemal irradiance integral, click here.

UV Climate of Canada and the USA

The UV Index can be measured on the ground directly using the Brewer Spectrophotometer. They are located at 13 sites in Canada and 21 sites in the United States. (PDF or GIF). It can also be estimated indirectly from ground observations taken by pyranometers, combined with information about the ozone layer, humidity and snow. (Pyranometers measure solar radiation at all wavelengths, not just UV.) There are 42 of these sites in Canada and 43 sites in the United States. (PDF or GIF). In addition, the TOMS satellite takes readings once per day from which estimates can be made. These cover the entire Earth on a grid of approximately 100 by 100 kilometres.

Climate maps

• Mean Noon UV from TOMS PDF, 12 months
  GIF: January February March April May June July August September October November December
• Mean Noon UV from pyranometers PDF, 12 months
  GIF: January February March April May June July August September October November December
• 95 percentile Noon UV from pyranometers PDF, 12 months
  GIF: January February March April May June July August September October November December
• Mean daily CIE integral from pyranometers PDF, 12 months.
  GIF: January February March April May June July August September October November December
  Note that this would be applicable for things that are exposed to the sun all day, such as plants. The UV index is a measure of erythema, i.e. burning skin. Other integrals might give a better measure.

Climate tables

• From Brewer spectrophotometers text
• From pyranometers text

Plots, Graphs

• UV Index today
• Year-to-date UV Index
• Year-to-date daily maximum UV Index
• UV index calculator Where you can see the UV index on a cloudless day, anywhere on the earth, any day of the year. You can adjust for altitude, thickness of the ozone layer, or other factors.

Data

• Today's UV and ozone
• WOUDC - World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre
• The use of pyranometers to estimate the ultraviolet index and the resulting climatology was described in the paper, "Estimating UV Index climatology over Canada", by several scientists of Environment Canada, Experimental Studies section, and published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology, issue of March 2003. The data used in the preparation is available.
• Recent UV data in the format used by the WOUDC is available at our site. Warning: it has not yet been quality-controlled. Older data can be obtained from the WOUDC.