Continuous dosimetry of the biologically harmful UV-radiation in Antarctica with the biofilm technique
✍ Scribed by L.E. Quintern; M. Puskeppeleit; P. Rainer; S. Weber; S.El Naggar; U. Eschweiler; G. Horneck
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1994
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 891 KB
- Volume
- 22
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 1011-1344
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✦ Synopsis
For the first time, a continuous biological dosimetry experiment for cytotoxic solar W-radiation has been performed in Antarctica.
The biologically harmful UV-radiation on the ground was measured at the German Antarctic Georg von Neumayer Station (70"37' S, 80"22' W) from December 1990 to March 1992 using the biof?lm technique. The W-sensitive targets were dried spores of Bacillus subtilis which were immobilized on the film surface. The UV-induced inhibition of biological activity, determined photometrically from the protein synthesized after incubation and staining, was taken as a measure for the absorbed UV-dose. Films were exposed in horizontal position for time intervals ranging from 4 days during summer up to 51 and 41 days before and after the polar night respectively.
The use of different cut-off filters allowed the calculation of the biologically effective UVA, UVB and the complete UV-radiation (UVA+ B). The data were compared with the global radiation and the ozone column thickness indicating an increase of biologically harmful UVB radiation during austral spring at reduced ozone concentrations yielding a radiation amplification factor (RAF) of 1.4, whereas for the total UV(A+B) range the RAF amounted to 0.3.