Abstract. We characterize the temperature dependence of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/University of Georgia network of Brewer spectrophotometers as used to measure solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The instruments used in this study are operated in partnership with the National Park Service at 14 national park sites and in 7 urban areas. The daily and seasonal measurements of UV radiation provided by the instruments can be affected by changes in the internal instrument temperatures at the sites. These effects can lead to errors on the order of _+ 10% in the resulting spectral data and of the same order of magnitude for CIE-weighted UV. Fortunately, the temperature dependence for each instrument can be quantified and the data corrected, improving the accuracy to values closer to the levels attainable with high-quality calibration and operation. The temperature dependence of the Brewers is found to vary significantly among the different instruments. A 0.8% per degree Celsius dependence can result in temperature effects as large as 12% at sites where temperatures can vary by 15øC in 1 day. These effects can result in a _+5% error in the spectral irradiance. The errors to the spectral irradiance vary seasonally in a manner that is not random: in the warmer summertime the temperature dependence of the instruments can cause the irradiances to be underestimated, while during the colder winters the effect will be to overestimate UV amounts. In the part of the spectrum above 325 nm, the temperature dependence is generally independent of wavelength. Below 325 nm the temperature effects vary as a function of wavelength over a range of values and are generally largest at the shortest wavelengths. Because changes in temperature from one calibration to the next can affect an instrument's response, understanding the temperature effects is necessary to ensure that artificial trends are not introduced into the Brewer data records.
In this study, satellite, lidar, and other ground-based measurements are utilized to compile a long-term climatology of
[1] We present a comparison of trends in total column ozone from 10 two-dimensional and 4 three-dimensional models and solar backscatter ultraviolet-2 (SBUV/2) satellite observations from the period 1979-2003. Trends for the past , the recent 7 years (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003), and the future (2000-2050) are compared. We have analyzed the data using both simple linear trends and linear trends derived with a hockey stick method including a turnaround point in 1996. If the last 7 years, 1996-2003, are analyzed in isolation, the SBUV/2 observations show no increase in ozone, and most of the models predict continued depletion, although at a lesser rate. In sharp contrast to this, the recent data show positive trends for the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres if the hockey stick method with a turnaround point in 1996 is employed for the models and observations. The analysis shows that the observed positive trends in both hemispheres in the recent 7-year period are much larger than what is predicted by the models. The trends derived with the hockey stick method are very dependent on the values just before the turnaround point. The analysis of the recent data therefore depends greatly on these years being representative of the overall trend. Most models underestimate the past trends at middle and high latitudes. This is particularly pronounced in the Northern Hemisphere. Quantitatively, there is much disagreement among the models concerning future trends. However, the models agree that future trends are expected to be positive and less than half the magnitude of the past downward trends. Examination of the model projections shows that there is virtually no correlation between the past and future trends from the individual models.
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