Evolution of biologically active ultraviolet doses in Cyprus
- 1Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens (IAASARS/NOA), GR-15236 Athens, Greece
- 2Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, Academy of Athens, 106 79 Athens, Greece
- 3Department of Resilient Society, Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence, Fragklinou Rousvelt 82, 3012 Limassol, Cyprus
- 4Laboratory of Climatology and Atmospheric Environment, Sector of Geography and Climatology, Department of Geology and Environment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, GR-15784, Greece
- 5Department of Civil Engineering & Geomatics, Cyprus University of Technology, 3036 Limassol, Cyprus
- 6Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC), Davos 7260, Switzerland
Solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation is only a very small fraction of the total solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface. Nevertheless, it is of exceptional significance for life on Earth. In the last two decades, significant trends in biologically effective doses have been reported over many mid-latitude sites, due to changes in total ozone, aerosols, and cloudiness. In the present study, reanalysis and satellite information for aerosols, clouds, and total ozone, from Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS), MIDAS (ModIs Dust AeroSol) dataset, Spinning Enhanced Visible and InfraRed Imager (SEVIRI) aboard Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite, and Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) aboard Aura satellite respectively, for the period 2004 - 2021 are used as inputs to a radiative transfer model and UV spectra are simulated for the island of Cyprus on fine spatial (0.05° x 0.05°) and temporal (15 mins) resolution. Effective doses for the production of vitamin D in the human skin, erythema, and DNA damage are calculated from the produced spectra. There is also an effort to attribute the changes in the UV biological doses to the corresponding changes in total ozone, aerosols, and cloudiness. The significant role of dust in the changes in UV doses over the island is also discussed.
Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the ‘EXCELSIOR’: ERATOSTHENES: EΧcellence Research Centre for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment H2020 Widespread Teaming project (www.excelsior2020.eu). The ‘EXCELSIOR’ project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 857510, from the Government of the Republic of Cyprus through the Directorate General for the European Programmes, Coordination and Development and the Cyprus University of Technology. The Department of Meteorology of the Republic of Cyprus is acknowledged for providing the ground-based data for the validation of the modelled quantities.
How to cite: Fountoulakis, I., Fragkos, K., Papachristopoulou, K., Nisantzi, A., Gkikas, A., Hadjimitsis, D., and Kazadzis, S.: Evolution of biologically active ultraviolet doses in Cyprus, EGU General Assembly 2023, Vienna, Austria, 23–28 Apr 2023, EGU23-6396, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-6396, 2023.
