Oral Presentation Skin Cancer 2024

UV albedo and reflectance: is it possible to predict erythemal reflectance from solar visible reflectance with respect to the type of material? (#14)

Joanna Turner 1 , Alfio V Parisi 1 , Abdurazaq Amar 1 , Nathan Downs 1
  1. University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia

Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a known contributor to the development of skin cancers in humans, in addition to causing other detrimental issues. When managed properly, it can serve as a strategy to increase Vitamin D levels in people, enhancing their health and addressing related health concerns. The ability to balance beneficial versus detrimental factors due to UV exposures relies on understanding the physical parameters that control UV exposure, including environmental, (clouds, ozone depth, natural and built structures) chronological (season, solar zenith and azimuth angles), and behavioural (occupational, recreational) factors. One environmental factor that is still not particularly well understood is UV albedo or UV reflectance, particularly knowing how much it contributes to ambient UV exposure and subsequent individual UV exposure. Most research in this area has focused on natural surface reflectance, while understanding reflectance from man-made structures is still limited.  Previous work1 has shown that there are some man-made construction materials that produce high UV albedo. In some cases, UV reflectance can be correlated with visible solar radiation reflectance2. Recent work has explored the possibility of predicting erythemal weighted UV reflectance from the photopic weighted visible reflectance. Initial findings indicate that the relationship between erythemal and photopic weighed radiation is directly proportional and, therefore, could be used to improve UV exposure prediction models. An initial assessment of this relationship with respect to certain types of materials will be presented and reviewed.

  1. Turner, J & Parisi, AV 2009, 'Measuring the influence of UV reflection from vertical metal surfaces on humans', Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 62-9.
  2. Turner, J & Parisi, AV 2018, 'Investigation of correlation of broadband UVA reflection to broadband visible reflection for a variety of surfaces in the built environment', Building and Environment, vol. 136, pp. 259-68.