UV Index monitoring in Europe

Alois W. Schmalwieser; Julian Gröbner; Mario Blumthaler; Barbara Klotz; Hugo De Backer; David Bolsée; Rolf Werner; Davor Tomsic; Ladislav Metelka; Paul Eriksen; Nis Jepsen; Margit Aun; Anu Heikkilä; Thierry Duprat; Henner Sandmann; Tilman Weiss; Alkis Bais; Zoltan Toth; Anna-Maria Siani; Luisa Vaccaro; Henri Diémoz; Daniele Grifoni; Gaetano Zipoli; Giuseppe Lorenzetto; Boyan H. Petkov; Alcide Giorgio di Sarra; Francis Massen; Charles Yousif; Alexandr A. Aculinin; Peter den Outer; Tove Svendby; Arne Dahlback; Bjørn Johnsen; Julita Biszczuk-Jakubowska; Janusz Krzyscin; Diamantino Henriques; Natalia Chubarova; Predrag Kolarž; Zoran Mijatovic; Drago Groselj; Anna Pribullova; Juan Ramon Moreta Gonzales; Julia Bilbao; José Manuel Vilaplana Guerrero; Antonio Serrano; Sandra Andersson; Laurent Vuilleumier; Ann Webb; John O'Hagan

doi:10.1039/C7PP00178A

UV Index monitoring in Europe

Alois W. Schmalwieser,

*^a Julian Gröbner,^b Mario Blumthaler,^c Barbara Klotz,^c Hugo De Backer,

^d David Bolsée,^e Rolf Werner,^f Davor Tomsic,^g Ladislav Metelka,^h Paul Eriksen,ⁱ Nis Jepsen,ⁱ Margit Aun,^j Anu Heikkilä,^k Thierry Duprat,^l Henner Sandmann,^m Tilman Weiss,ⁿ Alkis Bais,^o Zoltan Toth,^p Anna-Maria Siani,^q Luisa Vaccaro,^r Henri Diémoz,^s Daniele Grifoni,^t Gaetano Zipoli,^u Giuseppe Lorenzetto,^v Boyan H. Petkov,^w Alcide Giorgio di Sarra,^x Francis Massen,^y Charles Yousif,^z Alexandr A. Aculinin,^aa Peter den Outer,^ab Tove Svendby,^ac Arne Dahlback,^ad Bjørn Johnsen,

^ae Julita Biszczuk-Jakubowska,^af Janusz Krzyscin,^ag Diamantino Henriques,^ah Natalia Chubarova,^ai Predrag Kolarž,^aj Zoran Mijatovic,^ak Drago Groselj,^al Anna Pribullova,^am Juan Ramon Moreta Gonzales,^an Julia Bilbao,^ao José Manuel Vilaplana Guerrero,

^ap Antonio Serrano,

^aq Sandra Andersson,^ar Laurent Vuilleumier,

^as Ann Webb

^at and John O'Hagan^au

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a University of Veterinary Medicine, Unit of Physiology and Biophysics, Vienna, Austria
E-mail: alois.schmalwieser@vetmeduni.ac.at

^b PMOD/WRC, Davos Dorf, Switzerland

^c Medical Univ. Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria

^d Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium, Observations, Brussels, Belgium

^e Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Brussels, Belgium

^f Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

^g Metorological and hydrological institute of Croatia, Metorological and hydrological institute of Croati, Croatia

^h Czech Hydrometeorological Institute, Solar and Ozone Department, Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic

ⁱ Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark

^j Tartu Observatory, Tartumaa, Estonia

^k Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland

^l Météo-France, Toulouse Cedex, France

^m Bundesamt fur Strahlenschutz Neuherberg, Section for Optical Radiation, Neuherberg, Germany

ⁿ sglux GmbH, Berlin, Germany

^o Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

^p Hungarian Meteorological Service, Marczell György Main Observatory, Budapest, Hungary

^q Sapienza Universita’ di Roma, Physics Department, Rome, Italy

^r ISPRA, Physical Agents Unit, Rome, Italy

^s ARPA Valle d'Aosta loc, Saint-Christophe, Italy

^t LaMMA Consortium, Institute of Biometeorology of the National Research Council, Sesto Fiorentino, Italy

^u CNR-IBIMET, Florence, Italy

^v ARPA di Vicenza, Vicenza, Italy

^w National Research Council, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, Bologna, Italy

^x ENEA, Laboratory for Observations and Analyses of the Earth and Climate, Rome, Italy

^y Lycée Classique de Diekirch, Computarium and meteoLCD, Diekirch, Luxembourg

^z University of Malta, Institute for Sustainable Energy, Marsaxlokk, Malta

^aa Institute of Applied Physics of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, Kishinev, Moldova (the Republic of)

^ab Dutch National Health Institute (RIVM), Netherlands

^ac NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research, Kjeller, Norway

^ad University of Oslo, Institute of Physics, Oslo, Norway

^ae Statens Stralevern, Monitoring and Research, Oesteras, Norway

^af Institute of Meteorology and Water Management, Gdynia, Poland

^ag Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszw, Poland

^ah Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera, Observatório Afonso Chaves, Ponta Delgada S. Miguel, Portugal

^ai Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation

^aj University of Belgrade, Zemun, Serbia

^ak University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad, Serbia

^al Slovenian Environment Agency, Ljubljana, Slovenia

^am Slovakian Academy of Sciences, Tatranska Lomnica, Slovakia

^an Spanish Meteorological Agency, Area of Atmospheric Observation Networks, Madrid, Spain

^ao University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain

^ap National Institute for Aerospace Technology, Mazagon, Spain

^aq University of Extremadura, Department of Physics, Badajoz, Spain

^ar SMHI, Norköpping, Sweden

^as MeteoSwiss, Atmospheric data division, Payerne, Switzerland

^at University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

^au Public Health England Centre for Radiation Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Radiation Dosimetry, Didcot, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Abstract

The UV Index was established more than 20 years ago as a tool for sun protection and health care. Shortly after its introduction, UV Index monitoring started in several countries either by newly acquired instruments or by converting measurements from existing instruments into the UV Index. The number of stations and networks has increased over the years. Currently, 160 stations in 25 European countries deliver online values to the public via the Internet. In this paper an overview of these UV Index monitoring sites in Europe is given. The overview includes instruments as well as quality assurance and quality control procedures. Furthermore, some examples are given about how UV Index values are presented to the public. Through these efforts, 57% of the European population is supplied with high quality information, enabling them to adapt behaviour. Although health care, including skin cancer prevention, is cost-effective, a proportion of the European population still doesn't have access to UV Index information.

Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences

UV Index monitoring in Europe

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