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Bigsalty Posts > Weather & forecasting > UV index forecast

UV index forecast

We are pleased to announce the addition of an important UV Index forecast to our forecasting service offering.

Sunny beach with bikini

UV Index provides with a measure of the time we can safely expose ourselves to the suns rays.

Consideration of the sun's UV radiation is a must when planning time outdoors due to the known harmful effects of too much sun exposure. This is especially relevant for people who spend the vast majority of their time outdoors - outdoor enthusiasts and water sports enthusiasts.

And thanks to the guys at NOAA who generate the datasets, we've now managed to provide you with a Bigsalty Weather UV Index forecast. 

Model timing and characteristics

The model runs once per day and uses the output fields of the 12 UTC run of the GFS forecast of the previous day as input. Therefore, expect our UV forecasts to be updated only once per day around midday UTC. Note that in comparison the GFS forecast (the UV input) along with NWW3 Wave forecasts are updated 4 times per day.

UV Numerical model vs radar readings

The comparison of the accuracy of the forecast against actual radar readings has been classed as very good by the team at the US National Weather service and the model is only likely to improve with time. 

And finally something techincal and interesting...

The UV Index forecast itself is derived from the predictions of the following variables:

  • sun-earth distance
  • solar zenith angle
  • total ozone amount
  • tropospheric aerosol optical depth
  • elevation
  • snow/ice reflectivity
  • cloud transmission

To view the new UV Index forecast nearest to you, search a location on the Bigsalty Website and click on the UV Index forecast sub menu.

This is what it looks like:

Enjoy the sun.

Weather & forecasting

Posted: Thu 21 Jul, 2016
by admin

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