Abstract
Ultraviolet (UV) rays are electromagnetic waves that account for about 5% of solar light, and when overexposed, they pose malevolent effects on human skin and health. However, with recent reports on the beneficial effects of some wavelength bands of UV rays, people’s interest in UV information has increased. This has resulted in requiring not just simple information, such as the amount of UV or UV index (UVI), but detailed UV information that directly affects health, such as EUVB (erythemally weighted UVB). However, calculating EUVB, which can be done by applying the erythemal weighted function on the intensity value in wavelength, requires specialized optical measurement devices, which cannot be easily accessed by the general public; furthermore, public institutions’ UV information services do not offer EUVB information for individuals. Therefore, the present study proposes a UVI sensor-based portable measurement device, with which the general public can have easy access to UV-related information. The proposed device comprises a UVI sensor that can measure the intensity of erythemal UV radiation, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module that supports communication, and a micro controller unit (MCU) for key operations. In addition, it applies the ratio of EUVB by month/time, resulting from the actual analysis of natural light to calculate the EUVB and provides the amount of UVI and EUVB to check if they meet conditions required for outdoor activities through the device and smartphone applications. The applicability of the proposed device was verified by the measurement performance comparison test with the standard device, a spectrometer (CAS 140 CT), which showed an average error of 0.045 for UVI and 0.0014 W/m2. The proposed device’s offering of UV-related information such as UVI and EUVB to the user is expected to prevent potential damage due to exposure to UV and to support healthy outdoor activities.
Highlights
The solar radiation energy emitted from the sun and reaching the earth is delivered in electromagnetic waveforms, such as ultraviolet (UV) rays, visible rays, and infrared rays
Low Energy (BLE) module that supports wireless communication with the smartphone application, a micro controller unit (MCU, Arduino, Italy) for performing operations with the raw values acquired from the sensor, a display module offering the measured UV information visually, and a rechargeable battery module for supplying power
The test was conducted at the rooftop of a 10-story building in Kongju University, located in Cheonan, Chungcheongnam-do, which had an identical environment as the actual measurement environment for extracting the erythemally weighted UVB (EUVB) ratio index, on February 8, 2018, for 12 h from sunrise (07:27) to sunset (18:30)
Summary
The solar radiation energy emitted from the sun and reaching the earth is delivered in electromagnetic waveforms, such as ultraviolet (UV) rays, visible rays, and infrared rays. Some researchers have studied the effect of the UV bands (280 to 380 mm) on human skin by measuring the intensity of natural light by wavelength with a special optical measuring instrument, i.e., a spectrometer [16] While such special measuring equipment allows accurate calculation of the broadband UV radiation, it is difficult for general users to use such devices as they are expensive and require specialized knowledge to use. Low Energy (BLE) module that supports wireless communication with the smartphone application, a micro controller unit (MCU, Arduino, Italy) for performing operations with the raw values acquired from the sensor, a display module offering the measured UV information visually, and a rechargeable battery module for supplying power It is equipped with the monthly/hourly EUVB ratio index, which helps to calculate the EUVB through the UVI values in the MCU. By providing the UVI and EUVB information surrounding the user, hopefully, the proposed device will support the users with healthy outdoor activities through preventing potential damage from their exposure to UV
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