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Public Health and Environment

A major concern is the environmental impact of cities and industrialisation on the environment and on the population, particularly with respect to air quality. In the ‘developed’ world things are improving but in many emerging economies the situation is rapidly getting worse. Volcanic emissions and deforestation by fi re add to problems in the Asia-Pacifi c regions. Many factors eff ect bad urban air quality and ‘smog’ events, including; solar radiation, atmospheric aerosols and the temperature profi le. In order to give the public advance warning of hazardous air quality it is necessary to have accurate real-time information. Kipp & Zonen has innovative instruments using the latest optical, microwave and laser (Lidar) technologies. Another health concern is the amount of harmful UV radiation reaching the ground. To report the UV-Index accurately for public information requires quite sophisticated instruments. Only Kipp & Zonen produces both these and the software necessary to correct the data for atmospheric eff ects.‘Holes in the Ozone layer’ are areas of stratospheric Ozone depletion. These are indicators of the general health of the atmosphere and let through more harmful UV to the ground. They are not confi ned to the North and South Poles. The Kipp & Zonen ‘Brewer’ spectropho- tometer forms the basis of the global Ozone and UV database.