Solar UV radiation in Saint-Denis, La Reunion and Cape Town, South Africa : 10 years climatology and human exposure assessment at altitude

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dc.contributor.author Cadet, Jean-Maurice
dc.contributor.author Bencherif, Hassan
dc.contributor.author Du Preez, David Jean
dc.contributor.author Portafaix, Thierry
dc.contributor.author Sultan-Bichat, Nathalie
dc.contributor.author Belus, Matthias
dc.contributor.author Brogniez, Colette
dc.contributor.author Auriol, Frederique
dc.contributor.author Metzger, Jean-Marc
dc.contributor.author Ncongwane, Katlego P.
dc.contributor.author Coetzee, Gerrie J.R.
dc.contributor.author Wright, Caradee Yael
dc.date.accessioned 2020-01-23T12:17:45Z
dc.date.available 2020-01-23T12:17:45Z
dc.date.issued 2019-10-01
dc.description.abstract Solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) monitoring is important since it depends on several atmospheric parameters which are associated with climate change and since excess solar UVR exposure and has significant impacts on human health and wellbeing. The objective of this study was to investigate the trends in solar UVR during a decade (2009–2018) in Saint-Denis, Reunion Island (20.9 S, 55.5 E, 85 m ASL) and Cape Town, South Africa (33.97 S, 18.6 E, 42 m ASL). This comparison was done using total daily erythema exposure as derived from UVR sensors continuously at both sites. Climatology over the 10-year period showed extreme UVR exposure for both sites. Slight changes with opposite trends were found, +3.6% at Saint-Denis and 3.7% at Cape Town. However, these two sites often experience extreme weather conditions thereby making the trend evaluation di cult. Human exposure assessment was performed for hiking activities at two popular high-altitude hiking trails on the Maïdo–Grand Bénare (Reunion) and Table Mountain (Cape Town) with a handheld radiometer. Extreme exposure doses of 64 SED and 40 SED (Standard Erythemal Dose, 1 SED = 100 J.m 2) were recorded, respectively. These high exposure doses highlight the importance of raising public awareness on the risk related to excess UVR exposure at tourist sites, especially those at high altitude. en_ZA
dc.description.department Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology en_ZA
dc.description.librarian am2020 en_ZA
dc.description.sponsorship The CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and the NRF (National Research Foundation) in the framework of the LIA ARSAIO and by the South Africa / France PROTEA Program (project No 42470VA) and the APC was funded by LACy (Laboratoire de l’Atmosphère et des Cyclones). en_ZA
dc.description.uri http://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Cadet, J.-M., Bencherif, H., Du Preez, D.J. et al. 2019, 'Solar UV radiation in Saint-Denis, La Reunion and Cape Town, South Africa : 10 years climatology and human exposure assessment at altitude', Atmosphere, vol. 10, art. 589, pp. 1-14. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 2073-4433 (online)
dc.identifier.other 10.3390/atmos10100589
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/72886
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher MDPI en_ZA
dc.rights © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license. en_ZA
dc.subject UV index en_ZA
dc.subject UV dose en_ZA
dc.subject UV assessment en_ZA
dc.subject Hiking en_ZA
dc.subject Altitude en_ZA
dc.subject La reunion en_ZA
dc.subject South Africa (SA) en_ZA
dc.subject Ultraviolet (UV) en_ZA
dc.subject Solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) en_ZA
dc.title Solar UV radiation in Saint-Denis, La Reunion and Cape Town, South Africa : 10 years climatology and human exposure assessment at altitude en_ZA
dc.type Article en_ZA


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