Universidad de Panamá
Universidad de Panamá
The Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics of the University of Panama has been monitoring UV-B radiation as well as other meteorological variables since 1998. UV-B radiation is measured by means of broadband radiometers, 501 UVBiometer, installed at the monitoring sites of the meteorological and radiometric network managed by the University of Panama. Solar global radiation is measured by means of Eppley Pyranometers. Meteorological variables are measured by means of Campbell automatic weather stations. It has been established that, at the Republic of Panama, the incidence of skin cancers (basal, squamous and melanoma) has increased during the last decade. Due to this situation, in order to assess the UV-B dose distribution for all the country and for every month, maps of isolines of UV-B dose are extremely important. As a first step to develop the maps of isolines mentioned before, a correlation between UV-B dose and solar global irradiation was established. This was accomplished by means of measuring both parameters, simultaneously, in a day with clear sky conditions, at the monitoring site located at David City. The model used to fit the correlation was a sigmoidal function. Once the correlation was established, it was applied to solar global irradiation data captured by six (6) stations managed by the Department of Hydrometeorology of the Electric
Transmission Enterprise S.A. (ETESA) as well as six (6) stations managed by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). In this way, daily UV-B dose was obtained for all the sites where these stations are located. The data of UV-B dose captured by the radiometers managed by the University of Panama were used as a reference. The maps mentioned before were constructed by means of Kriging interpolation method.
According to those maps, highest levels of UV-B dose are observed at the Pacific seaboard during the dry season. Lesser levels of UV-B dose are observed at the Caribbean seaboard all over the year. These significant differences between the levels of UV-B dose at both seaboards are linked to cloud cover. A discussion of the results of the UV-B dose isolines maps will be presented.