UV-measurements in Melpitz

TROPOS contributes to the monitoring of UV radiation as part of the Germany-wide UV monitoring network of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS).

Observation side of the UV-network (2022), Screenshot of the BfS Geoportal

Motivation:

The UV sunburn-effective irradiation component of sunlight can lead to sunburn and long-term damage to the human skin. The erythemal part of UV radiation that causes sunburn depends to a large extent on the position of the sun, the time of day, the geographic latitude, the total ozone concentration in the atmosphere, the cloudiness and the altitude of a location and the degree of cloud cover, and/which is described by the UV index.

Due to the health risks to the population fromto erythemal UV irradiation, it is important to have comprehensive, daily measurements and forecasts of the UV index. For this reason, the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) operates a nationwide UV measurement network. In cooperation with partner institutions, high-quality UV measurements are carried out at more than 30 locations. The resulting observation data are made available centrally to the BfS for processing

UV measurements in Melpitz:

The TROPOS station Melpitz with its UV measuring instruments is part of the nationwide UV measuring network of the BfS, which provides daily updated measured values of the UV index on www.imis.bfs.de/geoportal/.

At the beginning of 2019, an array radiospectrometer BTS2018 was installed in Melpitz, which has been officially providing data as part of the UV measurement network since July 2019. Here, the incident solar radiation in the wavelength range between 190 nm and 430 nm is measured with spectral resolution and the UV index is determined from these measurements. In October 2021, a broadband radiometer (Sglux) was also installed for test purposes. The parallel measurements are intended to show to what extent the broadband radiometer can be a favourable alternative for a future expansion of the UV measurement network in terms of acquisition costs and operation.

left side: UV measurements in Melpitz, Array radiospectrometer (infront) und BBR (back)
right Side: UV meseurements in Melpitz, diurnal cycle of UV-Index