Diffuse attenuation coefficients for East Antarctic pack ice and snow at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths

Declining stratospheric ozone concentrations haveled to higher levels of ultraviolet (UV) B (UVB) radiation at theEarths surface, particularly in Antarctic spring time. Increasedexposure to UVB radiation can decrease the productivity of sea-icealgae, as well as cause damage to organisms living in th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Main Authors: Michael, KJ, Higgins, J
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Ieee-Inst Electrical Electronics Engineers Inc 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2013.2282158
http://ecite.utas.edu.au/88452
Description
Summary:Declining stratospheric ozone concentrations haveled to higher levels of ultraviolet (UV) B (UVB) radiation at theEarths surface, particularly in Antarctic spring time. Increasedexposure to UVB radiation can decrease the productivity of sea-icealgae, as well as cause damage to organisms living in the clearwater beneath the Antarctic pack ice. Conversely, sea-ice algaeand other photosynthetic organisms rely on photosyntheticallyactive radiation (PAR) to drive and sustain growth. Field workperformed during the 2007 Australian Antarctic Program Sea IcePhysics and Ecosystem eXperiment voyage to the East Antarcticsea-ice zone allowed the estimation of diffuse attenuation coefficientsfor pack ice and the overlying snow at UV wavelengths (305,313, 320, 340, 380, and 395 nm) and for PAR. The UV attenuationcoefficients were 9.612.7 m −1 for snow and 1.572.05 m −1 for pack ice. The PAR attenuation coefficients were 10.5 m −1 (snow) and 1.52 m −1 (pack ice). The attenuation coefficients forerythemally weighted UVB radiation were 11.3 m −1 (snow) and1.82 m −1 (pack ice). The analysis also estimated the reflectioncoefficient (albedo) of snow as 0.67 for UV wavelengths and0.68 for PAR, but the snow cover was not always optically thick.