Finding the best proxies for the solar UV irradiance

Thierry Dudok de Wit (1) , Matthieu Kretzschmar (1) , Jean Lilensten (2) , T. Woods (3)

1 LPCE - Laboratoire de physique et chimie de l'environnement
2 LPG - Laboratoire de Planétologie de Grenoble
3 UCCS - University of Colorado [Colorado Springs]

Solar UV emission has a profound impact on the upper terrestrial atmosphere. Because of instrumental constraints, however, solar proxies often need to be used as substitutes for the solar spectral variability. Finding proxies that properly reproduce specific spectral bands or lines is an ongoing problem. Using daily observations from 2003 to 2008 and a multiscale statistical approach, we test the performance of 9 proxies for the UV solar flux. Their relevance is evaluated at different time-scales and a novel representation allows all quantities to be compared simultaneously. This representation reveals which proxies are most appropriate for different spectral bands and for different time scales.

Domains: Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]

Thierry Dudok de Wit, Matthieu Kretzschmar, Jean Lilensten, T. Woods. Finding the best proxies for the solar UV irradiance. Geophysical Research Letters, 2009, 36 (10), pp.L10107. ⟨10.1029/2009GL037825⟩. ⟨insu-02770673⟩