Erythemal Index for August 2000 through July 2001: Europe and Africa
The Erythemal Index is a measure of ultraviolet radiation (UV) at ground level on the Earth. UV exists to the left of the visible spectrum and is divided into three components (UV-A, UV-B and UV-C). UV-B (290-320 wavelengths) is the most dangerous form of UV radiation that can reach ground level. Atmospheric ozone shields life at the surface from most of the harmful components of solar radiation. Chemical processes in the atmosphere can effect the level of protection provided by the ozone in the upper atmosphere. This thinning of the atmospheric ozone in the stratosphere leads to elevated levels of UV-B at ground level and increases the risks of DNA damage in living organisms.
This erythemal index for Europe and Africa shows the range of ground levels of UV radiation from the highest (in red) to the lowest (in purple). This animation shows the fluctuation with the red areas moving from the equatorial region, Southward, then back to the middle as time passes from August, 2000 to July, 2001.
April, 2001
August, 2000
December, 2000
February, 2001
January, 2001
July, 2001
June, 2001
March, 2001
May, 2001
November, 2000
October, 2000
September, 2000
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Scientific Visualization Studio
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Animator
- Michael Mangos (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Scientist
- Richard McPeters (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Wednesday, August 8, 2001.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:57 PM EDT.
Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
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[Earth Probe: TOMS]
ID: 17
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.