Variability in solar irradiance observed at two contrasting Antarctic sites
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2016 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Atmospheric Research |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2016.01.005 |
| Field | Atmosphere sciences, meteorology |
| Keywords | solar irradiance;Antarctica;environmental effect;ozone column;radiation amplification factor |
| Description | he features of erythemally weighted (EW) and short-wave downwelling (SWD) solar irradiances, observed during the spring–summer months of 2007–2011 at Johann GregorMendel (63°48'S, 57°53'W, 7ma.s.l.) and Dome Concordia (75°06'S, 123°21'E, 3233 m a.s.l.) stations, placed at the Antarctic coastal region and on the interior plateau respectively, have been analysed and compared to each other. The EW and SWD spectral components have been presented by the corresponding daily integrated values and were examined taking into account the different geographic positions and different environmental conditions at both sites. The results indicate that at Mendel station the surface solar irradiance is strongly affected by the changes in the cloud cover, aerosols and albedo that cause a decrease in EW between 20% and 35%, and from 0% to 50% in SWD component, which contributions are slightly lower than the seasonal SWD variations evaluated to be about 71%. On the contrary, the changes in the cloud cover features at Concordia station produce only a 5% reduction of the solar irradiance, whilst the seasonal oscillations of 94% turn out to be the predominant mode. The present analysis leads to the conclusion that the variations in the ozone column cause an average decrease of about 46% in EW irradiance with respect to the value found in the case of minimum ozone content at each of the stations. In addition, the ratio between EW and SWD spectral components can be used to achieve a realistic assessment of the radiation amplification factor that quantifies the relationship between the atmospheric ozone and the surface UV irradiance. |
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