Ultraviolet Radiation in the Arctic

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This award will support the continuation of UVR (ultra-violet radiation) measurements at the Ultraviolet Spectral Irradiance Monitoring Network (UVSIMN) sites at Barrow, Alaska, and Summit, Greenland. UVR has been measured at Barrow since 1990 and at Summit since 2004. The UVSIMN is a contribution to the Arctic Observing Network (AON) and the Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH). The key "Intellectual Merit" of the proposed project centers on acquiring data that can be used to advance knowledge of (1) the present and future solar radiation climate of the Arctic and (2) the factors that drive changes in UVR. For example, by combining UVR data with other measurements and modeling, parameterizations can be developed to predict future UVR intensities and improve climate models (e.g., CCMs). The "Broader Impacts" of this activity are to provide data to researchers in various disciplines, including satellite ground-truthing, and to educators for use in science courses and curricula. Undergraduate students at the University of Chicago will be involved in data processing and quality assessment/control. In collaboration with the Graham School of General Studies, the PI will provide summer courses for teachers in Chicago public schools where enrollments consist predominantly of minorities. Courses will be related to atmospheric and environmental research in the Polar Regions, and material will partly be drawn from results of the proposed project.