The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), steward of agriculture for the nation, has long been concerned with the impacts of environmental change on U.S. agricultural production, forest resources, and rural economies. One particular area of interest is the effect of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the Sun on agriculture. High levels of UV radiation, particularly UV-B radiation, are known to cause cell damage and other health effects in plants and animals that can impact agricultural productivity. Further, as environmental change, including stratospheric ozone layer depletion and recovery, may lead to unanticipated variations in the UV radiation reaching Earth’s surface, future impacts of UV radiation on agriculture remain uncertain. Recognizing the need to better understand the role of UV radiation upon agricultural and ecological systems, the USDA initiated the UV-B Monitoring and Research Program (UVMRP) in 1992 through legislative authority available to the National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The UVMRP is guided by NIFA’s mission, to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and extension to solve environmental and societal challenges.

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Monitoring Network

Monitoring Network

Our climatologic network is designed to provide an adequate density of measurement locations to establish the spatial and temporal characteristics of UV-B irradiance. The network follows a grid-based design that divides the country into 26 regions of approximately equal area.

About UVMRP Data

About UVMRP Data

The UV-B Monitoring and Research Program operates a network of solar irradiance monitoring stations, throughout the United States. For more detail about our instrumentation, and locations please select Network. The data is divided into primary data, derived data products, UV

Modeling

Modeling

The agricultural community and decision-makers need tools to reliably predict crop yields and assess optimal management practices and economic impacts under changing environmental conditions at the regional scale. To fulfill this need, UVMRP is currently developing the Climate-Agroecosystem-UV Interactions and

Effects

Effects

UV-B radiation affects agriculture and ecosystems in complex interactions with environmental change. Increasing UV-B radiation is known to harm crops, causing damage in 66% of plant cultivars tested. It can harm crops directly, through heritable mutations in DNA, changes to

Monitoring, Modeling, and Assessing the Environmental Effects of Changes in Solar UV Radiation and Climate

The USDA UV-B Monitoring and Research Program and the United Nations Environment Programme--Environmental Effects Assessment Panel will be hosting the “Monitoring, Modeling, and Assessing the Environmental Effects of Changes in Solar UV Radiation and Climate” Workshop on Monday, September 18, 2023, starting at 9:00 am in the Horsetooth Rock Conference Room 345, Michael Smith Natural Resources Building.

The UV-B Monitoring and Research Program is Hiring!

The USDA UV-B Monitoring and Research Program (UVMRP) at the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University seeks a full-time Research Scientist I. The successful candidate must have earned a PhD in Atmospheric Science or a related discipline with expertise in the transfer of solar radiation in the atmosphere and/or the remote sensing of atmospheric parameters influencing the amount of solar radiation reaching the Earth’s surface. For more information and to apply please click on the Jobs Posting button.

Jobs Posting