PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE

 

e-ISSN 2231-8542
ISSN 1511-3701

Home / Regular Issue / JTAS Vol. 19 (S) Oct. 2011 / JST-0333-2011

 

Surface UV Irradiance Obtained by Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) Over Peninsular Malaysia

N. H. Hisamuddin Shah, H. S. Lim and M. Z. Mat Jafri

Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 19, Issue S, October 2011

Keywords: Surface UV irradiance, Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), AURA spacecraft, Peninsular Malaysia

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Ultraviolet radiation is at shorter wavelengths than the visible spectrum (400 to 700 nm) and is divided into three components: UV-A (315 to 400 nm), UV-B (280 to 315 nm), and UV-C (less than 280 nm). Global increases in UV-B fluxes from decreasing stratospheric ozone amounts caused by anthropogenic chlorine releasing gases (mostly chlorofluorocarbons) have been a matter of public concern for the past 20 years. This surface UV irradiance data retrieved from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) from AURA spacecraft with the filename OMUVB. OMUVB contains surface UV irradiance data along with supplementary information generated using the OMI global mode measurements. In this mode each file contains the sunlit portion of a single orbit from pole-to-pole, with an approximately 2600 km wide swath composed of 60 ground pixels. The OMI measurements are used to estimate the ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the Earth's surface. The product contains spectral irradiances at 305.1, 310.1, 324.1, and 380.1 nm corresponding to both the overpass time and the local solar noon. Using the correspondence latitude and longitude of Peninsular Malaysia, we can develop the pattern of distribution of UV irradiance interpolations using Sigma Plot and Adobe Photoshop.