OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF MERIDIONAL VARIATION OF UV-B RADIATION DURING VOYAGES TO THE ARCTIC AND ANTARCTIC REGIONS*

Based on 1999-2000 observations made by the first Arctic and sixteenth Antactic scientific voyages,a study is undertaken about the meridional surface UV-B (B band ultraviolet rays) variations in 75°N-70°S.It is mitigated as a function of latitudes and marked by lower radiation averaged over the Northern Hemisphere (NH) than over the Southern Hemisphere (SH),with its daily course basically similar to that of total radiation.Around polar summer noon hours (localtime) and where ice albedo is maximum,the strongest UV-B irradiance on the surface perpendicular to sun's beams as found at equatorial latitudes is measured sometimes.In the areas near Zhongshan Station the increase of surface UV-B radiation shows a close relation to the decrease of ozone in the higher atmosphere but it has a less intimate relation with its concentration at ground.