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ULTRAVIOLET MONITORING PROGRAM
Description:
The U.S. EPA operates a network of 21 Brewer spectrophotometers located at strategic points around the United States to monitor and study ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation and ozone levels. Many different types of instruments have been designed specifically for UV and ozone data collection. A spectrophotometer is one such device and is used to measure full-sky solar UV-B and some UV-A spectral flux, from which absolute irradiance and column ozone concentrations are calculated. The first Brewer instrument owned by the EPA became operational in October of 1992 on the EPA's campus in Research Triangle Park, NC. As of November, 1998 there were 21 monitoring sites in operation. Fourteen of the monitors are in National Parks and seven are in urban areas. One additional site is scheduled to come on-line in the near future.