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Introduction

Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) has a profound impact on erythema, skin cancer, and plant damage. Over the northern parts of Australia, incidences of skin cancer rank amongst the highest in the world. The maximum UVR at solar noon, often expressed as UV Index (UVI, ICNIRP-1/95, 1995), is useful as an indicator of the maximum potential UVR hazard. The Australian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) has run a network of broadband UV instruments since the middle of the 1980's. The network initially employed International Light (IL) actinic detectors. Since 1992/1993 Solar Light 501 UVBiometers have been in use in all major capitals taking measurements routinely every 10 mins. Here, we will present the ambient UVR in selected cities of Australia from SL501 biometers and compare those to surface UVR derived from TOMS both for local noon and total daily exposures. We will show that the TOMS data are very useful for validating surface data. The surface data on the other hand provide a higher temporal resolution.