Atmospheric transmission at Davos,Switzerland 1909–1979

Pyrheliometric measurements at Davos, Switzerland from 1909 to 1979 are used to reconstruct the time history of atmospheric transmission. Measurements were numerous enough to allow yearly and seasonal values of atmospheric transmission to be determined. Other than the eruptions of Katmai in 1912 and Agung in 1963, there are no significant long-term changes in atmospheric transmission observed at this central European site. The implications of this result upon those theories of climatic change which depend upon changes in atmospheric transmission are briefly considered.