Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics www.atmos-chem-phys.net 1680-7316 1680-7324 8 13 2008 10.5194/acp-8-3583-2008 http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/3583/2008/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/3583/2008/acp-8-3583-2008.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/3583/2008/acp-8-3583-2008.pdf 3583 3591 2008-07-07 Modelling UV irradiances on arbitrarily oriented surfaces: effects of sky obstructions M. Hess P. Koepke peter.koepke@lmu.de Meteorological Institute of the L.-M. University, Munich, Germany A method is presented to calculate UV irradiances on inclined surfaces that additionally takes into account the influence of sky obstructions caused by obstacles such as mountains, houses, trees, or umbrellas. With this method it is thus possible to calculate the impact of UV radiation on biological systems, such as, for instance, the human skin or eye, in any natural or artificial environment. 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