| Solar Ultraviolet Data |
| The ultraviolet (UV) part of the electromagnetic spectrum ranges between 5 and 400
nanometers (nm). As the SORCE (Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment satellite) mission
states, far UV irradiance from the Sun varies by as much as 10 percent during the
Sun’s 27-day rotation, while the bright 121.6 nm hydrogen Lyman-alpha emission may
vary by as much as a factor of 2 during an 11-year solar cycle, dramatically affecting
the energy input into the Earth’s atmosphere. Water vapor and ozone are especially
sensitive to changes in the solar UV radiation. Different wavelengths of solar radiation
are absorbed at different altitudes in the Earth’s atmosphere, affecting different
physical processes. As Dr. Jack Eddy notes, we utterly depend on solar radiation.
Long term monitoring of its variations over all wavelengths is critical to our understanding
of the impacts on our environment.
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