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The WHO-standard ultraviolet index is a widely publicized measurement of total strength of UV wavelengths that cause sunburn on human skin, by weighting UV exposure for action spectrum effects at a given time and location. This standard shows that most sunburn happens due to UV at wavelengths near the boundary of the UVA and UVB bands.
Sunburn effect (as measured by the UV index) is the product of the sunlight power spectrum (radiation intensity) and the erythemal action spectrum (skin sensitivity) across the range of UV wavelengths. [9] [10] The UV index is a number linearly related to the intensity of sunburn-producing UV radiation at a given point on the Earth's surface.
The Sun emits its peak power in the visible region, although integrating the entire emission power spectrum through all wavelengths shows that the Sun emits slightly more infrared than visible light. [15] By definition, visible light is the part of the EM spectrum the human eye is the most sensitive to. Visible light (and near-infrared light ...
Extreme UV and X-rays are produced (left of wavelength range) but comprise very small amounts of the Sun's total output power (area under the curve). Although the solar corona is a source of extreme ultraviolet and X-ray radiation, these rays make up only a very small amount of the power output of the Sun (see spectrum at right).
All UV frequencies have been classed as Group 1 carcinogens by the World Health Organization. Ultraviolet radiation from sun exposure is the primary cause of skin cancer. [65] [66] Thus, at UV frequencies and higher, electromagnetic radiation does more damage to biological systems than simple heating predicts.
A good example is ultraviolet spectrum energy which begins at about 3.1 eV (400 nm) at close to the same energy level which can cause sunburn to unprotected skin, as a result of photoreactions in collagen and (in the UV-B range) also damage in DNA (for example, pyrimidine dimers). Thus, the mid and lower ultraviolet electromagnetic spectrum is ...
Electronic instruments called spectrum analyzers are used to observe and measure the power spectra of signals. The spectrum analyzer measures the magnitude of the short-time Fourier transform (STFT) of an input signal. If the signal being analyzed can be considered a stationary process, the STFT is a good smoothed estimate of its power spectral ...
The optical spectrum is sometimes considered to be the same as the visible spectrum, but some authors define the term more broadly, to include the ultraviolet and infrared parts of the electromagnetic spectrum as well, known collectively as optical radiation.