A Parametric Model for Clear-Sky Solar UV Irradiance: Validation Using BSRN Measurements

Surface solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation represents an essential component of shortwave solar radiation, with important implications for atmospheric chemistry and climate studies. Reliable, high-quality records of surface solar UV radiation are essential for UV-related research and applications; however, ground-based UV observations remain sparse worldwide. This study presents a novel broadband parametric model, based on physical principles, for estimating solar UV irradiance (0.280–0.400 μm) under clear-sky conditions. The model is computationally efficient and suitable for practical applications. The proposed approach is based on the SMARTS2 spectral radiative transfer model and employs an interdependent integration scheme to derive broadband UV irradiance from spectrally resolved shortwave radiation. The model performance is evaluated against high-quality measurements from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) and compared with an established parameterization. The proposed model demonstrates improved performance at both validation sites, reducing the mean nRMSE from 8.88% to 7.64% at Izaña and from 60.69% to 29.24% at Payerne, while also substantially decreasing the bias under more challenging atmospheric conditions, although the nRMSE at Payerne remains relatively high. These results highlight the potential of the proposed approach as an efficient and physically consistent tool for clear-sky UV irradiance estimation.