Analysis of erythemal UVB and UVA irradiance at Beer Sheva, Israel from 1994 through 2012

The erythemal UVB and UVA irradiance monitored at Beer Sheva, Israel from June 1994 through March 2012 has been analyzed. A statistical analysis was applied to the daily values for each month and average, median, standard deviation, coefficient of variation (%), maximum and minimum values are reported. The maximum and minimum monthly average daily values for both erythemal UVB and UVA occur in June and December, respectively. They are 1.658 Wm−2(ER) and 0.346 Wm−2(ER) for the case of erythemal UVB and the corresponding values for UVA are 300.78 Wm−2 and 135.52 Wm−2. A similar statistical analysis was performed on the monthly average daily values throughout the time interval of this study. In addition, the monthly average daily values were analyzed to determine if there existed any trends for the individual months. A linear regression analysis was applied to the monthly average daily erythemal UVB and UVA irradiance as a function of year. No statistically significant trends were observed, based upon the corresponding p-values; a possible exception being the UVA irradiance during February, which may have a slight negative trend. Typical erythemal UVB and UVA irradiance meteorological years were developed for Beer Sheva and its environs.