SGER: Recent Changes of Solar Ultraviolet Radiation in the Arctic

This award will support continued UV and visible solar irradiance observations at Barrow, Alaska, and Summit, Greenland, until 31 May 2009, and subsequent processing of fully calibrated data for submission to the World Ozone and Ultraviolet Radiation Data Centre (WOUDC) and the Cooperative Arctic Data and Information Service (CADIS) of the Arctic Observing Network (AON). The observations will maintain unbroken records of fully calibrated UV and visible solar irradiance data at Barrow, where data acquisition began in 1990, and at Summit, where data acquisition began in 2004. Submission of data to the data centers will ensure that they are freely and openly available to the scientific community and other interested parties. The Barrow and Summit observing sites are part of the NSF Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitoring Network (UVSIMN) that has supported research into the effects of stratospheric ozone depletion and other climatic factors on UV radiation at the Earth's surface, and consequences for aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and people. The broader impacts include the provision of data to educators, researchers, and policy makers, for example through continued contributions to assessment reports.