UV-Indien network: ground-based measurements dedicated to the monitoring of UV radiation over the western Indian Ocean

Abstract

Within the framework of the UV-Indien network, nine ground stations have been equipped with ultraviolet broadband radiometers, five of them have also been equipped with an all-sky camera, and the main station in Saint-Denis de la Réunion is also equipped with a spectroradiometer. These stations are spatially distributed to cover a wide range of latitudes, longitudes, altitudes, and environmental conditions in five countries of the western Indian Ocean region (Comoros, France, Madagascar, Mauritius, and Seychelles), a part of the world where almost no measurements have been made so far. The distribution of the stations is based on the scientific interest of studying ultraviolet radiation not only in relation to atmospheric processes but also in order to provide data relevant to fields such as biology, health (prevention of skin cancer), and agriculture. The main scientific objectives of this network are to study the annual and inter-annual variability in the ultraviolet (UV) radiation in this area, to validate the output of numerical models and satellite estimates of ground-based UV measurements, and to monitor UV radiation in the context of climate change and projected ozone depletion in this region. A calibration procedure including three types of calibrations responding to the various constraints of sustaining the network has been put in place, and a data processing chain has been set up to control the quality and the format of the files sent to the various data centres. A method of clear-sky filtering of the data is also applied. Here, we present an intercomparison with other datasets, as well as several daily or monthly representations of the UV index (UVI) and cloud fraction data, to discuss the quality of the data and their range of values for the older stations (Antananarivo, Anse Quitor, Mahé, and Saint-Denis). Ground-based measurements of the UVI are used to validate satellite estimates – Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI), and the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) – and model forecasts of UVI – Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service (TEMIS) and Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (CAMS). The median relative differences between satellite or model estimates and ground-based measurements of clear-sky UVI range between −34.5 % and 15.8 %. Under clear skies, the smallest UVI median difference between the satellite or model estimates and the measurements made by ground-based instruments is found to be 0.02 (TROPOMI), 0.04 (OMI), −0.1 (CAMS), and −0.4 (CAMS) at Saint-Denis, Antananarivo, Anse Quitor, and Mahé, respectively. The diurnal variability in UVI and cloud fraction, as well as the monthly variability in UVI, is evaluated to ensure the quality of the dataset. The data used in this study are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4811488 (Lamy and Portafaix, 2021a).