A first approach in measuring, modeling, and forecasting the vitamin D effective UV radiation

There has been a growing interest in the connection of vitamin D and solar ultraviolet-B (UVB) radiation because numerous studies have shown that there is an anti-correlation between the vitamin D level and many types of cancer and various diseases. Additionally there is the well known anti-correlation with osteoporosis and its progress, a disease that affects approximately in 30% of all post-menopausal women. Information about the actual effectiveness of solar UVB radiation in producing vitamin D could therefore a very helpful tool for health care. Such information should base on well estimated parameters either measured or modeled. Therefore, we investigated the possibilities in measuring, modeling and forecasting the vitamin D effective radiation. Measurements were made with two different broadband devices. One is a hand-held radiometer which was designed as a personal dosimeter and another is a device which is in use world wide to measure the erythemally effective UV radiation. Further on we introduce a world wide forecast of the vitamin D effective UV radiation for clear skies together with its validation. Input parameters for the forecast are date and time, geographical position and altitude, total ozone, low aerosol content and neglected albedo.

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