UV climate over the Southern Ocean south of Australia, and its biological impact - 1994 data

• Other Authors: Australian Antarctic Division (isOwnedBy)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: data.gov.au
• Subjects: AMD; CEOS; FIELD INVESTIGATION; FIELD SURVEYS; GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS; Macam spectral radiometer; Radiometers; UV; wavelength; Antarctic; Davis Station; Davis-Station; Southern Ocean; The Antarctic; Vestfold; Vestfold Hills; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://researchdata.edu.au/uv-climate-southern-1994-data/1934073; http://data.gov.au/dataset/d3d4a7f3-3f9d-42a3-8b9d-6d99366d9edc

Ozone depletion over Antarctica increases UVB irradiances reaching the Earth's surface in the region. Marine microbes, that support the Antarctic food web and play an integral part in carbon cycling, are damaged by UVB. This research determines Antarctic UV climate, biological responses to UV from the molecular to community level, and combines these elements to predict UV-induced changes in Antarctic marine microbiology.\n\nA season of field work was undertaken over November and December 1994 based from Davis Station with the intention of making field measurements of ultraviolet radiation in the fast ice environment, as well as some of the lakes in the Vestfold Hills.\n\nInstrumentation\nThe instrument for the measurements was a Macam spectral radiometer, owned by Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania. Field personnel were Dr Kelvin Michael (IASOS) and Mr Michael Wall (Honours student, Geography and Environmental Studies, UTas).\n\nThe radiometer was equipped with a 25-metre quartz light pipe, with a cosine sensor attachment at the end. To make a measurement of ultraviolet irradiance, the sensor would be oriented so that its sensing surface was horizontal, and it would collect light which was then transmitted along the light pipe to the radiometer - a suitcase-sized unit which ran on battery power in the field. The radiometer was encased in a wooden box lined with polystyrene foam to provide protection from the elements and heat insulation. The radiometer was controlled via a laptop PC and the data were stored on the hard disk of the PC.\n\nMeasurements\nMeasurements of the attenuation of ultraviolet and visible radiation as a function of wavelength in water were made at the ice edge and lake measurement sites. At the ice edge, the light pipe was spooled over a wheel and lowered to preset depths (typically 1,2,4,8,16 and 32 m below the water surface). On a lake, a 25-cm augur hole was drilled, and the light pipe was lowered by hand to various depths, the exact depths chosen depended on the ...