Monthly UV Solar Irradiation for the State of Pernambuco
Abstract
: The Ultraviolet Solar Radiation UV (A+B) incident in the state of Pernambuco is considered high nearly almost all the year. This fact happens mainly due to its geographical localization nearing the Equator line. In 2008, aiming to collect the global radiation and UV (A+ B), two measurement stations were strategically set up, one in the municipality of Pesqueira, at 214 km of the capital of Recife, and the other, in the municipality of Araripina located at 690 km from the capital. The two municipalities are located in the countryside of the region, known as Agreste and Sertão, with two of the particular climates of the state of Pernambuco. The measurements enabled the creation of statistical models as to calculate the UV (A+ B) radiation in the neighboring regions, by means of the information of the global radiation. For the other localities, including the capital Recife, located in the region known as Zona da Mata, which represents the third particular climate in the state, the SPECTRAL2 computational parametric model was used from entry data as aerosol optical depth, pressure amongst others. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) was calculated by empirical equation relating this with Linke Turbidity Index, for air mass 2, TLm , broadband water vapors optical depth and clean dry atmosphere. The method used for calculating TLm was the following: from a very large given temporal series of daily solar irradiation (more than 5 years) for each month and year, the highest daily solar irradiation was chosen. For each local and each month, a clear sky model was processed for TLm, varying from 2 to 8 until the clear sky irradiation corresponded to one of maximum values previously chosen. The process is then repeated for other maximum values and months and then 12 monthly mean values of TLm are obtained for the Pernambuco state. Given all the facts, it was possible to generate solar UV monthly maps ( maximum) for the state of Pernambuco. This map will be important as to alert the population regarding blindness and skin cancer prevention.