Imaging the environmental ultraviolet

Abstract

A technique has been developed to visually represent measured environmental ultraviolet radiation using a digital photograph and measurements of the UV and visible light intensity. The method involves the use of a personal pocket UV meter, an optional lux meter and a simple image processing technique to present visual images that are weighted to the ambient ultraviolet, providing images that highlight regions of high ultraviolet intensity that can be compared with a visible photograph. The technique described, provides a method students can follow to better develop an understanding of the potentially harmful ultraviolet irradiance with respect to visible daylight, indicating that the ambient ultraviolet and visible environment are not directly related, with ultraviolet intensity being dependent on many different factors and not the visual brightness of the location alone.