The monitoring of long term trends and geographical variability of UV irradiance and how it may impact the environment has become increasingly important since the discovery of the `ozone hole` over vast regions of the Southern Hemisphere. In addition to potential environmental impacts, UV radiation has been shown to be hazardous to human health in several regards. However, critical evidence of the temporal and geographic extent of elevated UV radiation levels is in its infancy. Thus, there is an immediate need to deploy networks of suitable instruments. In this context, some small-scale deployments have been undertaken by a few groups. Yet there appears to be no significant level of agreement within the community that suitable, cost-effective instrumentation exists. In this Small Business Innovation Research Phase I, Biospherical Instruments, Inc., proposes to develop and demonstrate an instrument system, including measurement methodology, designed to monitor both ambient (downwelling) UV irradiance in the traditional sense, as well as measuring irradiance that may be damaging for visual systems (eyes). Critical aspects of this proposal include: 1) development of novel viewing geometries specifically appropriate to ocular studies; 2) development of data processing methods to process these data with the goal of issuing on-site advisories; and 3) the development of specific calibration techniques designed to be able to assess the quality of the resulting data.
