UV dose
The UV index is a measure of the radiation intensity at a specific moment. However, the effects of UV radiation depend on the total amount of UV that the body is exposed to. This actually means that we need a measure to be able to specify how high the amount of UV is that has accumulated over a certain period of time. This is where the UV dose comes into play. This is a measure of the total amount of radiation and is therefore suitable for assessing effects on the human body. For example, a UV dose can be specified at which a person is burned or at which he has received enough radiation for vitamin D production. However, these doses are highly individual and difficult to determine precisely.
In science, UV doses are usually given in mJ / cm². However, since this is a complicated unit of measurement, the unit of measurement UV index minutes is often used for communication with consumers.
UV index minutes
UV index minutes (UVIm for short) is a simpler measure of the UV radiation dose that one was exposed to. This means that there is a lot of UV radiation that has accumulated over a period of time. This allows you to specify, for example, how much total solar radiation you have been exposed to over a day. The calculation of the dose is not very difficult: you simply multiply the UV index by the number of minutes you have been exposed to this index and you get the dose in UV index minutes. But with a constantly changing UV index, the exact calculation becomes more laborious. If you also switch back and forth between sun and shade, it becomes complicated. Here, personal UV sensors can be of assistance, as they measure the UV radiation intensity and automatically calculate the UV dose on an ongoing basis.
In sun-a-wear we use UVIm to indicate the radiation dose or to set a limit for the personal dose. The sun-a-wear app automatically calculates your UV dose in the background, so that you can always see how much you have already received on the current day.
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