Comparison of satellite-derived UV irradiances with ground-based measurements at four European stations

[ 1] Satellite-derived ultraviolet (UV) irradiances may form the basis for establishing a global UV climatology, provided that their accuracy is confirmed against ground-based measurements of known quality. In this study, quality-checked spectral UV irradiance measurements from four European stations (Sodankyla, Finland; Bilthoven, Netherlands; Ispra, Italy; and Thessaloniki, Greece) are compared with those derived from TOMS, based on the ( version 8) data set. The aim of this study is to validate the TOMS UV irradiances and to investigate the origin of disagreements with ground-based data. Comparisons showed that TOMS overestimates summertime noon CIE-weighted irradiances from 6.6% at the high-latitude site of Sodankyla up to 19% for the three other sites. The influence of clouds and aerosols on the observed differences was investigated. For the other three sites ( Bilthoven, Ispra, and Thessaloniki), TOMS overestimates the irradiance at 324 nm by almost 15% even under conditions with cloud optical depth of less than 5. For cloud-free days at Ispra and Thessaloniki, differences ranging between 3% and 20% are well correlated with aerosol optical depth.