Study on solar ultraviolet erythemal dose distribution over Peninsular Malaysia using Ozone Monitoring Instrument

Abstract

The discovery of Antarctic hole in early 1980, causes a rise of global interest towards the amount of solar ultraviolet radiation (UV) falling onto the surface of the Earth. The danger that UV radiation brings to the Earth ecosystem makes any information related to UV radiation becomes valuable. Almost all the irradiative energy entering the Earth’s atmosphere comes from the sun. The incoming solar radiation covers the entire electromagnetic spectrum from gamma and X-rays, through UV, visible, and infrared radiation to microwaves and radiowaves. For this study, the data are obtained from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) that onboard AURA satellite. Moreover, the study also focused on analyzing and mapping the distribution trend of UV erythemal daily dose rate over Peninsular Malaysia in 2015. The maximum UV erythemal daily dose appeared in April with its value of 7711.43 J/m2 while the minimum daily dose was in December recorded at 5518.13 J/m2. Consequently, April and December also charted to be having the maximum and minimum monthly mean erythemal dose. The study found that there is a strong correlation between spatial and temporal variation of UV erythemal daily dose with monsoon seasons and solar inclination angle in Peninsular Malaysia. Keywords: Ultraviolet, Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), Erythemal, Peninsular Malaysia