A Steep Latitudinal Gradient of Solar Ultraviolet‐B Radiation in the Arctic‐Alpine Life Zone
Solar ultraviolet—B (280—320 nm) spectral irradiance and total shortwave radiation were measured along an arctic—alpine life zone gradient from the Arctic (70°N) at sea level to equatorial latitudes at high elevations above sea level. This series of measurements portrays the radiant flux to be antic...
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crwiley:10.2307/1937426 2024-06-23T07:49:39+00:00 A Steep Latitudinal Gradient of Solar Ultraviolet‐B Radiation in the Arctic‐Alpine Life Zone Caldwell, Martyn M. Robberecht, Ronald Billings, W. D. 1980 http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1937426 http://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F1937426 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F1937426 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/1937426 en eng Wiley http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor Ecology volume 61, issue 3, page 600-611 ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170 journal-article 1980 crwiley https://doi.org/10.2307/1937426 2024-06-13T04:24:14Z Solar ultraviolet—B (280—320 nm) spectral irradiance and total shortwave radiation were measured along an arctic—alpine life zone gradient from the Arctic (70°N) at sea level to equatorial latitudes at high elevations above sea level. This series of measurements portrays the radiant flux to be anticipated during periods of maximum annual solar radiation. Along this arctic—alpine gradient, maximum daily total shortwave irradiance varies only by a factor of 1.6 and total daily shortwave radiation by less than 15% for cloudless conditions. In contrast, the maximum integrated effective UV—B irradiance can vary by a full order of magnitude and by seven—fold for total daily effective radiation. The steep UV—B radiation gradient is the result of a natural latitudinal gradient in total atmospheric ozone column thickness, prevailing solar angles at different latitudes, elevation above sea level, and an optical amplification effect, which results from a combination of highly wavelength—dependent radiation attenuation in the atmosphere and the pronounced wavelength dependence of biological action spectra. Forty to 70% of the solar UV—B flux is in the form of scattered radiation. Because of the large proportion of diffuse UV—B radiation, steeply inclined foliage would still receive a sizable fraction of the global UV—B irradiance in most situations. Snow cover can add substantially to the radiation load. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Wiley Online Library Arctic Ecology 61 3 600 611 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
Wiley Online Library |
op_collection_id |
crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Solar ultraviolet—B (280—320 nm) spectral irradiance and total shortwave radiation were measured along an arctic—alpine life zone gradient from the Arctic (70°N) at sea level to equatorial latitudes at high elevations above sea level. This series of measurements portrays the radiant flux to be anticipated during periods of maximum annual solar radiation. Along this arctic—alpine gradient, maximum daily total shortwave irradiance varies only by a factor of 1.6 and total daily shortwave radiation by less than 15% for cloudless conditions. In contrast, the maximum integrated effective UV—B irradiance can vary by a full order of magnitude and by seven—fold for total daily effective radiation. The steep UV—B radiation gradient is the result of a natural latitudinal gradient in total atmospheric ozone column thickness, prevailing solar angles at different latitudes, elevation above sea level, and an optical amplification effect, which results from a combination of highly wavelength—dependent radiation attenuation in the atmosphere and the pronounced wavelength dependence of biological action spectra. Forty to 70% of the solar UV—B flux is in the form of scattered radiation. Because of the large proportion of diffuse UV—B radiation, steeply inclined foliage would still receive a sizable fraction of the global UV—B irradiance in most situations. Snow cover can add substantially to the radiation load. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Caldwell, Martyn M. Robberecht, Ronald Billings, W. D. |
spellingShingle |
Caldwell, Martyn M. Robberecht, Ronald Billings, W. D. A Steep Latitudinal Gradient of Solar Ultraviolet‐B Radiation in the Arctic‐Alpine Life Zone |
author_facet |
Caldwell, Martyn M. Robberecht, Ronald Billings, W. D. |
author_sort |
Caldwell, Martyn M. |
title |
A Steep Latitudinal Gradient of Solar Ultraviolet‐B Radiation in the Arctic‐Alpine Life Zone |
title_short |
A Steep Latitudinal Gradient of Solar Ultraviolet‐B Radiation in the Arctic‐Alpine Life Zone |
title_full |
A Steep Latitudinal Gradient of Solar Ultraviolet‐B Radiation in the Arctic‐Alpine Life Zone |
title_fullStr |
A Steep Latitudinal Gradient of Solar Ultraviolet‐B Radiation in the Arctic‐Alpine Life Zone |
title_full_unstemmed |
A Steep Latitudinal Gradient of Solar Ultraviolet‐B Radiation in the Arctic‐Alpine Life Zone |
title_sort |
steep latitudinal gradient of solar ultraviolet‐b radiation in the arctic‐alpine life zone |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
1980 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/1937426 http://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F1937426 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.2307%2F1937426 https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.2307/1937426 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Ecology volume 61, issue 3, page 600-611 ISSN 0012-9658 1939-9170 |
op_rights |
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.2307/1937426 |
container_title |
Ecology |
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61 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
600 |
op_container_end_page |
611 |
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1802640189144694784 |