Instrument for Measurement of Global and Direct Components of Solar Ultraviolet-B Radiation

The proposed project would lead to the development of a low cost ($10-20,000) solar ultraviolet-B radiation instrument capable of measuring the narrowband direct, diffuse and global solar spectral radiation in the 300-368 nm wavelength range. This new instrument is an extension of the well-proven multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer and would substantially improve the existing measurement of solar UV-B radiation. The instrument is of the filter spectrometer type and utilizes a micro-processor controlled rotating shadowband to block out the sun's disk when the measurement of the diffuse component is being made. The measurement of the global solar radiation is made with the shadowband rotated to its nadir position. The subtraction of the diffuse component from the global irradiance value results in a value for the direct component. The major research task involves extending the measurement range from the visible to the UV-B wavelengths.