| Volumes and Issues Contents of Issue 13 Special Issue |
www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/3583/2008/
© Author(s) 2008. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Modelling UV irradiances on arbitrarily oriented surfaces: effects of sky obstructions
Meteorological Institute of the L.-M. University, Munich, Germany
Abstract. A method is presented to calculate UV irradiances on inclined surfaces that additionally takes into account the influence of sky obstructions caused by obstacles such as mountains, houses, trees, or umbrellas. With this method it is thus possible to calculate the impact of UV radiation on biological systems, such as, for instance, the human skin or eye, in any natural or artificial environment. The method, which consists of a combination of radiation models, is explained here and the accuracy of its results is demonstrated. The effect of a natural skyline is shown for an Alpine ski area, where the UV irradiance even on a horizontal surface may increase due to reflection from snow by more than 10 percent. In contrast, in a street canyon the irradiance on a horizontal surface is reduced to 30% in shadow and to about 75% for a position in the sun.
Final Revised Paper (PDF, 1059 KB) Discussion Paper (ACPD)
Citation: Hess, M. and Koepke, P.: Modelling UV irradiances on arbitrarily oriented surfaces: effects of sky obstructions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 3583-3591, 2008. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager
