Extinction of UV radiation in Arctic snow at Alert, Canada (82øN)
Abstract. Extinction of ultraviolet (UV) and visible radiation (300-548 nm) in snowpack is reported for surface snow used in snow-atmosphere exchange xperiments during the Polar Sunrise Experiment ALERT 2000 (Canadian Forces Station Alert, Canada). The UV penetration distance is reported as the e-fo...
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Language: | English |
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Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.469.6046 http://www.cee.mtu.edu/~reh/papers/pubs/non_Honrath/king01_2001JD900006.pdf |
Summary: | Abstract. Extinction of ultraviolet (UV) and visible radiation (300-548 nm) in snowpack is reported for surface snow used in snow-atmosphere exchange xperiments during the Polar Sunrise Experiment ALERT 2000 (Canadian Forces Station Alert, Canada). The UV penetration distance is reported as the e-folding depth (the depth over which the monochromatic light irradiance decreases by a factor of e) for 2 nm wavelength intervals. Values in the range 5-6 cm are obtained for a uniform snowpack in the wavelength region between the ozone absorption edge in the UV and green light in the visible. Experimental evidence shows at most a weak dependence ofthe asymptotic e-folding depth on the solar zenith angle. Comparison of these data to previous studies indicates that the e-folding depths vary greatly between sites, most probably due to variations in impurities at each of the sites. These data imply that approximately 85 % of a photochemical reaction occurs in the top 10 cm of snowpack at this site. 1. |
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