Aerosol optical thickness from Brewer spectrophotometers and an investigation into the stray-light effect

The Langley method has been applied to the measurements of direct solar radiation made by Brewer spectrophotometers to obtain the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) of the atmosphere in the ultraviolet-B range. In several cases the AOT increased with wavelength, which raises suspicion about the stray-light effect. To investigate the quality of the AOT measurements and the possibility of stray light, we conducted a campaign by using single- and double-monochromator Brewers. The campaign's results have shown that both Brewers' AOT values are in good agreement and that stray light is not an important effect for AOT at wavelengths above 306 nm.