Modern polymeric materials possess an ever increasing potential in a large variety of outdoor objects and structures
offering an alternative for many traditional materials. In outdoor applications, however, polymers are subject to a
phenomenon called weathering. This is primarily observed as unwanted property changes: yellowing or fading, chalking,
blistering, and even severe erosion of the material surface. One of the major weathering factors is UV radiation.
In spring 2005, the Finnish Meteorological Institute with its research and industrial partners launched a five-year
material research project named UVEMA (UV radiation Effects on MAterials). Within the framework of the project, a
weathering network of seven European sites was established. The network extends from the Canary Islands of Spain
(latitude 28.5°N) to the Lapland of Finland (latitude 67.4°N), covering a wide range of UV radiation conditions. Since
autumn 2005, the sites of the network have been maintaining weathering platforms of specimens of different kinds of
polymeric materials. At the same time, the sites have been maintaining their long-term monitoring programmes for
spectrally resolved UV radiation. Within UVEMA, these data are used for explaining the differences between the
degradation rates of the materials at each site and for correlating the UV conditions in accelerated ageing tests to those
under the Sun.
We will present the objectives of the UVEMA project aiming at deeper understanding of the ageing of polymers and
more reliable assessments for their service life time. Methodologies adopted within the project and the first results of the
project will be summarized.
Long-term records of solar UV radiation reaching the Earth's surface are scarce. Radiative transfer calculations and statistical models are two options to re-construct decadal changes in solar UV radiation from long-term records of measured atmospheric parameters that contain information on the effect of clouds, atmospheric aerosols and ground albedo on UV radiation. Based on earlier studies, where the long-term variation of daily solar UV irradiation was derived from measured global and diffuse irradiation as well as atmospheric ozone by a non-linear regression method(1), we have chosen another approach for the re-construction of time series of solar UV radiation. An Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been trained with measurements of solar UV irradiation taken at the Observatories Potsdam and Lindenberg in Germany as well as measured parameters with long-term records such as global and diffuse radiation, sunshine duration, horizontal visibility and column ozone.
This study is focused on the re-construction of daily broad-band UV-B (280-315 nm), UV-A (315-400 nm) and erythemal UV irradiation (ER). Due to fast changes in cloudiness at mid-latitude sites, solar UV irradiance shows an appreciable short-term variability. One of the main advantages of the statistical method is that it uses doses of highly variable input parameters calculated from individual spot measurements that are taken at short time steps, and thus do contain the short-term variability of solar irradiance. Our study has been supported by the European SCOUT-O3 project funding. The ANN model results have been evaluated within the European action COST726(2).
The objectives of the COST action 726 are to establish long-term changes of UV-radiation in the past, which can only be derived by modelling with good and available proxy data. To find the best available models and input data, 16 models have been tested by modelling daily doses for two years of data measured at four stations distributed over Europe. The modelled data have been compared with the measured data, using different statistical methods. Models that use Cloud Modification Factors for the UV spectral range, derived from co-located measured global irradiance, give the best results.
Solar spectral UV-monitoring data for 8 European sites with 5-10 years of data, and covering a latitudinal range from 41 degrees North to 67 North have been re-evaluated and resubmitted to the European UV-database (EUVDB) in Finland as part of the EU-project SCOUT-O3. All resubmitted spectra (420000) were quality checked, flagged, and corrected with respect to wavelength scale errors and spectral distortions using the SHICrivm software package. Additional data products provided by the software are standardized spectra, spectral atmospheric transmissions, and biologically weighted UV-irradiances for a wide variety of biological action spectra. The resubmitted spectra were shown to have improved based on the EUVDB quality flagging criteria. Spectral and effective irradiances were integrated and summed in a standardized way to obtain daily, monthly, and seasonal UV-doses. The measured summer sums varies from 478 kJ/m2 for Thessaloniki to 228 kJ/m2 for Sodankyla. Clouds reduced the exposure during summer time by 30% on average, in Bilthoven this was 35%, while in Thessaloniki only 17% was reduced. Using co-located ozone and pyranometer measurements results of a generic UV-modelling approach, derived in a specific low albedo and low surface elevation environment, are systematically compared to the UV-doses obtained for all sites. Generally, a good agreement is found, measured and modelled total UV-doses agree within a few percent with a standard deviation of 15 typically. Deviations with respect to the application in a high surface albedo and high altitude environment have been identified and handles to improve the modelling have been assigned.
Short spectral scan times of preferably less than 1 min in the UV region are an important prerequisite for modern spectroradiometers to reflect short-term solar irradiance radiation variations that can occur as a result of fast changes in cloud cover and/or cloud optical depth. Two different types of fast measuring spectroradiometers for solar UV irradiance are compared in a first field campaign: (1) the UV spectroradiometer on filter model basis (UV-SPRAFIMO) and (2) the modified version of the spectroradiometer SPECTRO 320D by Instrument Systems. The UV-SPRAFIMO instrument combines a filter radiometer with five narrowband (FWHM2.0 to 2.7 nm) filters centered at fixed wavelengths in the UV-B and UV-A regions with an advanced neural network-based model. Up to 5 measurements/s can be taken concurrently in the five wavelength channels. After averaging the measurements over preselectable time intervals, the measured irradiances are converted by the neural network model into a full spectrum from 280 to 450 nm at arbitrary wavelength steps (0.05 nm). The SPECTRO 320D spectroradiometer consists of a grating double monochromator with a cooled photomultiplier tube (PMT) receiver. The instrument version run by Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) is thermostatted and equipped with a Schreder type cosine diffuser as the entrance optics. A spectral scan from 290 to 450 nm with a selected 0.2-nm wavelength step takes less than 30 s. The two spectroradiometers are used in a field campaign at Izana (Tenerife Island) at a height of 2440 m above sea level (ASL) to compare measured spectral and integral values of solar irradiance. Results of that comparison and the instruments' characteristics are discussed. This first field comparison shows that due to the fast measurements regime, cloud effects on the measured spectra can be appreciably reduced. The campaign shows an acceptable agreement between the spectra measured by both instruments. It also reveals some issues for further improvements of the instrument design.
Anton Kaifel, Jasmine Kaptur, Oliver Reutter, Michael Wohlfart, Harry Schwander, Peter Koepke, K. Dehne, Uwe Feister, Rolf-Dieter Grewe, Michael Koehl, Franz Brucker
UV-SPRAFIMO is a completely new developed UV instrument for very fast measurements of solar spectral irradiance with high spectral resolution and arbitrary step width. It combines sophisticated filter radiometer technique with a new model based on neural networks. UV-SPRAFIMO has the following specifications:
(1) Spectral region 280 - 400 nm.
(2) Arbitrary spectral resolution and step width of the UV spectra (≥ 0.05 nm).
(3) Simultaneous measurement of all spectral channels.
(4) Up to 5 measurements per second with arbitrary averaging interval of 5 to 30 seconds.
(5) Weatherproofed, air conditioned housing and fully automatic measurement system.
(6) No moving parts.
(7) Data logger up to 64 Mbytes memory for long-term measurements at remote sites.
(8) GPS to automatically set up time and geographical position data.
(9) PC based, graphical user interface for measurement set up and monitoring and processing of data.
(10) Online calculation and visualization of integrated irradiances like UV-A, UV-B and UV-Index as well as erythemal or user defined weighted irradiance.
(11) Simultaneous total ozone column retrieval from spectral measurements.
UV-SPRAFIMO is a standalone and easy to use UV spectral radiometer; it was tested in different climate regions during field measurement campaigns in order to compare measurement performance and accuracy to high quality scanning spectral radiometers. Details of functional principles and results of the measurement campaigns are presented.
Two recently developed different types of fast spectroradiometers measuring solar UV irradiance have been compared in a field campaign: i) the UV spectroradiometer on filter model basis (UV-SPRAFIMO) and ii) the modified version of the spectroradiometer SPECTRO 320D by Instrument Systems. The all-weather UV-SPRAFIMO instrument combines a UV filter radiometer with 5 narrow-band (FBHM ≈ 2.0 to 2.5 nm) filters centered within ± 0.01 nm at 303.5, 309.0, 314.5, 327.0 and 387.0 nm, and an advanced neural network-based model. It allows up to 5 measurements per second to be taken that are averaged within time intervals between 5 and 30 s. The neural networks model that is embedded in the PC-based processing software converts the 5 measured irradiances into a full spectrum from 280 to 450 nm at small wavelength steps (≥ 0.05 nm). These spectra can be convoluted with user-defined slit function and integrated to broad-band and action-spectra-weighted irradiance values. Users can access the data stored in the internal data logger by a serial RS232 interface or by a modem and display them on a PC-based Graphical User Interface.
The spectroradiometer SPECTRO320D consists of a grating double monochromator with a cooled (-20°C) PMT receiver. The modified instrument version run by DWD uses a Schreder type cosine diffuser that directs the solar global irradiance via quartz fiber optics onto the spectroradiometer's entrance slit. The spectroradiometer used at the campaign was installed in a thermostatted (22 ± 0.02)°C aluminum box. The modified instrument version performs a spectral scan over the whole UV region in two subsequent parts, with a lower speed in the UV-B than in the UV-A to account for the exponential changes of solar irradiance with increasing wavelengths in the UV-B and for the almost linear change in the UV-A region. In the configuration applied in the comparison, i.e. wavelength steps of 0.2 nm within the scan range from 290 nm to 450 nm, the resulting scan time of the SPECTRO 320D was 23 s. The two spectroradiometers, which both have been absolutely calibrated in the DWD lab using FEL 1000 W halogen lamps traceable to the German Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), were used in a field campaign at Izana (Tenerife Island) at a height of 2409 m to compare measured spectral and integral values of solar irradiance. Results of that comparison and the instruments’ characteristics revealed under those special field conditions will be discussed.
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