uv-b monitoring and research activities at the south

UV-B Monitoring and Research

Activities at the South African

Weather Service

Katlego Ncongwane

Climate and Environmental Research and Monitoring Unit

South African Weather Service

Crafting a road map for research on sun exposure and health in South Africa 29-30 May 2012

Document Reference: RES-GAW-MOL009-001.1-2012-05-29Document Template Reference: TQM-PRE-001.1 Date of last revision 28 May 2012

Presentation outline

1. Monitoring activities by CERM unit at SAWS

2. Solar UV monitoring in Africa and around the world

3. Solar UV monitoring in South Africa

4. Solar UV monitoring at SAWS

5. Challenges

6. Research and other activities

7. Solar UV monitoring outlook


CERM GAW RESEARCH ACTIVITIES


• Total Column Ozone( Irene and Springbok ) & EEC Ozonesondes ( Irene )

• WMO Global Atmosphere Watch Station: Trace Gases( Cape Point )

• BSRN Station: Solar Radiation ( De Aar )

• National UVB Network ( Cape Town, Cape Point, Port Elizabeth, De Aar, Durban, Pretoria )

DOBSON 132

DOBSON 89

Total ozone monitoring program

Dobson spectrophotometerDobson spectrophotometer


DOBSON 35 Cape Point

WMO Global Atmosphere Watch

�

Parameters measured at Cape Point

Greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrousOxide and surface ozone Stratospheric ozone depleting gases: CFC-11, CFC-12(CF2Cl2), and methyl tetrachlorideReactive gases: carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO2 )


� (SO2 )Radon - a tracer for continental airTotal gaseous mercury (TGM)Meteorological parameters: wind, temperature, pressure, and humidityPrecipitation chemistry, sulfate, nitrate, chloride, ammonium, potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesia, pH, conductivity, heavy metalsAerosols: backscattering and light scattering coefficientsNephelometry; PM1; PM10Carbonaceous/ inorganics (optical)Particle counter; PM1; PM10)Aerosol measurement; Aerosol optical depth (AOD),Condensation particle counter (CPC) Solar Radiation: global/diffuse irradiance, UV-A and UV-B

BSRN Station


UV-B Monitoring Networks in Africa and

around the worldaround the world

Document Reference: RES-GAW-MOL009-001.1-2012-05-29Document Template Reference: TQM-PRE-001.1 last revised on 28 May 2012

UV-B Monitoring

Monitoring began 1987 following recommendation by

International Bodies :

1. World Health Organization (WHO)

2. World Meteorology Organization (WMO)

3. United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP)

4. International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNRP)

High number of monitoring sites in Northern Hemisphere and less

• There has been an increase in monitoring sites however the networkremain less dense particularly in the Southern Hemisphere

• Most of the stations are primarily located in Europe and Australia

• There are few monitoring sites in Africa

• Some of the countries monitoring solar UV in Africa (Algeria, Namibia,Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt)


High number of monitoring sites in Northern Hemisphere and lessin the Southern Hemisphere

UV-B Monitoring in South Africa

To the best of my knowledge :

1.The South African Weather Service with six stations network since 1994

2. School of Pure and Applied Physics at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal.

The School operate three instruments since 1994

• 2 Multiband instruments


• 2 Multiband instruments

• 1 Broadband instrument

3. The school of Pharmacy at the Medical University of South Africa

The school operate 1 broad-band instrument since 1994

Solar UV monitoring sites in South Africa

Solar UV monitoring stations across South Africa (Wright, 2010) Modified

Solar UV Monitoring at the South African

Weather ServiceWeather Service

UV-B monitoring at SAWSA Collaborative initiative between:

1. South African Weather Service (SAWS)

2. School of Pharmacy at the Medical University of South Africa

With Sponsorship

1. Johnson & Johnson

2. Cancer Association of south Africa

3. Pharmacy Professional Awareness Campaign

Network Objective(s)Network Objective(s)

• To create and enhance public awareness on UV

• To provide real-time information of the hazard of exposure to biologically active UVB radiation

Program launched date and first measurement sites

1994

Pretoria, Cape Town , Durban and MEDUNSA

3 additional stations were added in to the network


Monitoring Sites InformationLocation Station Name Instrument Longitude

Latitude

Altitude Instillation date

Pretoria Bolepi House SAWS

Headquarters

Solar Light 501 UV-

Broadband Biometer

28.25S

2582E

1.517m Dec 1993

Cape Town Cape Town Weather

office

Solar Light 501 UV-

Broadband Biometer

18.6S

33.97E

42m Dec 1993

Cape Town Cape Point GAW Station Solar Light 501 UV-

Broadband Biometer

18.49S

34.35E

228m Feb 1994

Broadband Biometer 34.35E

Durban Durban Weather office Solar Light 501 UV-

Broadband Biometer

31.12S

29.61E

103m Dec 1993

Port

Elizabeth

Port Elizabeth Weather

Office

Solar Light 501 UV-

Broadband Biometer

25.6S

33.98E

63m Jan 2002

De Aar De Aar BSRN Station Solar Light 501 UV-

Broadband Biometer

30.67S

23.99E

1.286m Jan 2000


National UVB Network at SAWS


Monitoring sites

Durban (King Shaka Airport) De Aar BSRN Station

Cape Town International AirportCape Point GAW Station

Pretoria Bolepi House


Port Elizabeth

The nature of Solar UV in South Africa and

around the world


Increase of Solar UV

Solar UV increase has been observed in various sites across the world

Approximately about 5% at 30°N and 30°SAn estimation 15% at 55°S

40% at 85°S per decade

It is unclear for South Africa because the Broad-band instruments used in the network have inherent calibration deficiencies as such we can’t derive satisfactory long-term trends.

Spectroradiometer instruments will be useful for trends detection


Solar UV in South Africa

Solar UV remains very high in sunny South Africa

Some data from the network

Maximum UV Index recorded at all stations except for Port Elizabeth lie in the Extreme Exposure category

16

Maximum UV Indices 1994-2009CP CTI DA PE DBN PTA


0

4

8

12

16

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

UV

Ind

ex

Maximum UV Index recorded at all

six sites is above 8. De Aar records

values above 11

Daily UV Indices at six stations

April 2012

02468

101214

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29

Cape Town International

02468

101214

1 3 5 7 9 11131517192123252729

Cape Point

68

101214

Durban

68

101214

De Aar

EXPOSURE CATEGORY UV RANGE

EXTREME 11+

VERY HIGH 8 TO 10

HIGH 6 TO 7

MODERATE 3 TO 5

LOW <2

0246

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29

02468

101214

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29

Port Elizabeth

02468

101214

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29

Pretoria

0246

1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29

Maximum UV Indices

Solar UV-B radiation at the six geographical sites follow a similar annual cycle,

with maximum values recorded in the summer months (December, January and

February) and minimum values in the winter months (June, July and August).

16

Maximum monthly average UV Indices 1994-2009

CP CTI DA PE DBN PTA

0

4

8

12

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

UV

Ind

ices


Challenges

• Periodical referencing of instruments which to an extend affects data quality

• Addressing data gabs

• keeping to the objective of raising awareness on harmful UV• keeping to the objective of raising awareness on harmful UV


Research and other activities

• Referencing of broadband instruments using the travelling standard as recommended (every 1 to 2 years)

• Comparative study of ground-based measurements with satellites observations

• Solar UV climatology for South Africa


• Solar UV climatology for South Africa

• Understanding of meteorological and geographical parameters affecting solar UV in South Africa

• Put more effort in the Development of UV forecast system

• Reinstatement of Real-time UV graphs on SAWS website for the public

Solar UV-B monitoring Outlook

• Efficient monitoring network

• High quality solar UV measurements for scientific research efforts and to answer some of the unanswered questions

• Dissemination of information to the general public on SAWS website and other media platforms and other media platforms

In the future

• Expand the geographical and spatial coverage of the network to other Provinces (Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Orange Free State).

• Expand application field --- agriculture and related sectors


Many thanks to the staff at the regional weather offices for their effort in

maintaining the UVB biometer network, and making the data available

Acknowledgment

maintaining the UVB biometer network, and making the data available

End

Thank you


uv-b monitoring and research activities at the south

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