The Ultraviolet Index Is Well Estimated by the Terrestrial Irradiance at 310 nm.

Peter D Kaplan,Emmanuel L P Dumont

doi:10.3390/s21165528

Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV) exposure significantly contributes to non-melanoma skin cancer. In the context of health, UV exposure is the product of time and the UV Index (UVI), a weighted sum of the irradiance I(λ) over all wavelengths from λ = 250 to 400 nm. In our analysis of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s UV-Net database of over 400,000 spectral irradiance measurements taken over several years, we found that the UVI is well estimated by 77 I310. To further understand this result, we applied an optical atmospheric model to generate terrestrial irradiance spectra and found that it applies across a wide range of conditions. An accurate UVI radiometer can be built from a photodiode covered by a bandpass filter centered at 310 nm.

Highlights

One of the most important risk factors for non-melanoma skin cancer is ultraviolet light (UV) exposure [1,2]
UV does not correlate with visible brightness, its damage is wavelength dependent, and the harm is delayed by both hours and years
When the erythema action spectrum is multiplied by the ambient ultraviolet spectrum, one obtains the UV Index (UVI), a unit adopted by the World Health Organization [8,9]

Summary

Introduction

One of the most important risk factors for non-melanoma skin cancer is ultraviolet light (UV) exposure [1,2]. We present a novel way to estimate the UVI. It was developed by analyzing over 400,000 UV spectra collected over 10 years at multiple sites [10]. Using a simple atmospheric model [12] to explore the range over which the result is applicable, we find that the strategy is likely to apply across essentially all terrestrial atmospheric conditions. This feasible, accurate, and wearable approach to UV-monitor design has promise for use in data-driven

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion