ARPANSA publishes current ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels for Australian capital cities on its website. This data is also available to application developers, for use in, for example, mobile device applications. The data represents instantaneous recorded UV levels for capital cities in Australia, adjusted for daylight saving if applicable. The data is collected continuously by detectors that respond to UVR in a manner similar to human skin. This type of UVR is known as erythemal UVR because it causes reddening of the skin, and is implicated as a cause of skin cancer.
Disclaimer
This data is presented by ARPANSA for the purpose of disseminating information about solar ultraviolet radiation levels, free of charge, for the benefit of the public. Nothing contained on this website, or the data presented, is intended to be used as a substitute for a health professional's advice. ARPANSA does not accept any liability for any injury, loss, damage or costs incurred, or any consequences resulting directly or indirectly by use of or reliance on the information.
ARPANSA updates the information regularly and makes every effort to ensure the quality of the information available on this website subject to scientific and technical uncertainties. Before relying on the information presented on this website, however, users should carefully evaluate its accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance for their purposes, and should obtain any appropriate professional advice relevant to their particular circumstances. ARPANSA can not guarantee and assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, currency or completeness of the information.
Conditions of use of the data provided
The data is provided as an xml format file that is updated approximately once every minute with the most recent UVR levels.
- While it is ARPANSA's current intention to continue to provide this information it cannot be guaranteed that this service will always be provided and it should be noted that cities/locations may be added or removed.
- The numerical data provided is equivalent to a UV-Index value, a standard, unitless measure of ultraviolet radiation levels developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Further information about presentation of UVR levels can be found in the WHO document
- ARPANSA should be acknowledged as the source of the UVR data. A statement such as "UV observations courtesy of ARPANSA" is sufficient.
- The UVR data or references to ARPANSA should not be associated with the promotion of any goods or services, or associated with commercial advertising, without prior written authorisation by ARPANSA.
- Developers should notify ARPANSA that the data is being used in their application and provide a URL for the application if applicable.
- A qualification about reliance on the data provided, or a link to the above disclaimer, should be provided in the application or the application loader.
- The format of the xml file provided may be extended with the addition of new elements.
- The data file is available at uvdata.arpansa.gov.au/xml/uvvalues.xml.
ARPANSA welcomes feedback from application developers regarding number of people making use of applications containing this data.
Copyright Notice
This material is © Commonwealth of Australia as represented by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), referred to in this notice as “the Commonwealth”.
Copyright (and any other intellectual property rights, if any) in the material is owned by the Commonwealth.
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, any ARPANSA logos and any content that is marked as being third party material, this material is licensed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution- ShareAlike3.0 Australia licence (CC BY-SA 3.0) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/au/. It is a further condition of the licence that the numerical UVR data as published by ARPANSA may not be changed.
You must attribute this material (and any material sourced from it). The Commonwealth’s preference is that you use the following wording: “UV observations courtesy of ARPANSA”.
Specifics of the xml file
Data from all cities or "locations" in the file form a set of "stations".
The xml file contains the following information for each location.
- name - a three letter abbreviation for the location.
- index - the current uv level for the location.
- time - the time the latest measurement was recorded. Note this is local time at each location, adjusted for daylight saving if applicable.
- date - the date the latest measurement was recorded.
- status - indicates if the data feed from the detector is currently available ("OK") or unavailable ("NA").
If you have any specific questions about use of the ARPANSA UVR data please contact uv.index@arpansa.gov.au.
