Developing long-term monitoring of ozone in Estonia: the mandate of the Montreal Protocol

Abstract

This article introduces the Estonian experience and lessons learnt in ozone climatology, solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation levels, the effects of UV radiation on human health, plant growth and corrosion of materials, as well as ground-level ozone quantities in Estonia. The concentrations of ground-level ozone remain within the European Union (EU) limit values except in remote areas. Direct sun total ozone measurements have been performed since 1993, those of the erythemal UV irradiance since 1998 and recording of UV spectra was started in 2004. The aerosol optical properties have been used for modelling the surface UV irradiances. A reconstruction of the erythemal daily doses has been carried out using the daily sums of broadband direct and global irradiance and total ozone data. Estonia is striving to meet not only the phase-out targets of the Montreal Protocol, adopted fully from 1999, but also the more stringent requirements contained in the EU regulations. As a result of the measures taken, the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) decreased from 199 t in 1997 to 0 t in 2002.

Acknowledgements

This survey was supported by the EC research grant EVK2–2002–00521, Estonian Target Funding Projects SF0180052s07 and SF0180104s08, and grants ETF3609, ETF5348, ETF7137 and ETF7459 of the Estonian Science Foundation. This work has been closely related to the COST 726 action, and was also supported by the Estonian Ministry of the Environment