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Thuillier et al. (Solar Phys. 290, 1581, 2015) article compares ATLAS-3 reference composite solar spectral irradiance (SSI) with more recent spatial measurements, as well as ground-based ones, including IRSPERAD. With respect to the IRSPERAD spectrum of Bolsee et al. (Solar Phys. 289, 2433, 2014), Thuillier et al. (2015) presents an analysis based on a set of meteorological parameters retrieved at the moment of the respective ground-based campaign. This comment is intended to give a new insight to the said analysis which is based upon revised values of the meteorological parameters incorrectly used in Thuillier et al. (2015).

We describe an instrument dedicated to measuring the top of atmosphere (TOA) solar spectral irradiance (SSI) in the near-infrared (NIR) between 600 nm and 2300 nm at a resolution of 10 nm. Ground-based measurements are performed through atmospheric NIR windows and the TOA SSI values are extrapolated using the Bouguer–Langley technique. The interest in this spectral range arises because it plays a main role in the Earth’s radiative budget and also because it is employed to validate models used in solar physics. Moreover, some differences were observed between recent ground-based and space-based instruments that take measurements in the NIR and the reference SOLSPEC(ATLAS3) spectrum. In the 1.6 μm region, the deviations vary from 6 % to 10 %. Our measuring system named IRSPERAD has been designed by Bentham (UK) and has been radiometrically characterized and absolutely calibrated against a blackbody at the Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy and at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (Germany), respectively. A four-month measurement campaign was carried out at the Izana Atmospheric Observatory (Canary Islands, 2367 m a.s.l.). A set of top-quality solar measurements was processed to obtain the TOA SSI in the NIR windows. We obtained an average standard uncertainty of 1 % for 0.8 μm

The surname of author Cathy Quantin-Nataf was misspelled ‘Quantin-Nata’ , authors Ehouarn Millour and Roland Young were missing from the ACS Science Team list, and minor changes have been made to the author and affiliation lists; see accompanying Amendment. These errors have been corrected online.

We present a new method to reconstruct the solar spectrum irradiance in the Ly α – 400 nm region, and its variability, based on the Mg ii index and neutron-monitor measurements. Measurements of the solar spectral irradiance available in the literature have been made with different instruments at different times and different spectral ranges. However, climate studies require harmonised data sets. This new approach has the advantage of being independent of the absolute calibration and aging of the instruments. First, the Mg ii index is derived using solar spectra from Ly α (121 nm) to 410 nm measured from 1978 to 2010 by several space missions. The variability of the spectra with respect to a chosen reference spectrum as a function of time and wavelength is scaled to the derived Mg ii index. The set of coefficients expressing the spectral variability can be applied to the chosen reference spectrum to reconstruct the solar spectra within a given time frame or Mg ii index values. The accuracy of this method is estimated using two approaches: direct comparison with particular cases where solar spectra are available from independent measurements, and calculating the standard deviation between the measured spectra and their reconstruction. From direct comparisons with measurements we obtain an accuracy of about 1 to 2%, which degrades towards Ly α. In a further step, we extend our solar spectral-irradiance reconstruction back to the Maunder Minimum introducing the relationship between the Mg ii index and the neutron-monitor data. Consistent measurements of the Mg ii index are not available prior to 1978. However, we remark that over the last three solar cycles, the Mg ii index shows strong correlation with the modulation potential determined from the neutron-monitor data. Assuming that this correlation can be applied to the past, we reconstruct the Mg ii index from the modulation potential back to the Maunder Minimum, and obtain the corresponding solar spectral-irradiance reconstruction back to that period. As there is no direct measurement of the spectral irradiance for this period we discuss this methodology in light of the other proposed approaches available in the literature. The use of the cosmogenic-isotope data provides a major advantage: it provides information about solar activity over several thousands years. Using technology of today, we can calibrate the solar irradiance against activity and thus reconstruct it for the times when cosmogenic-isotope data are available. This calibration can be re-assessed at any time, if necessary.

Biological monitoring of solar UV radiation using spore dosimeters has been undertaken since the year 1999 at more than 20 sites in Asia, Europe and South America. The monthly-cumulative data to the end of the year 2004 have been presented before. In this paper, successive data to the end of the year 2007 are compiled and the trends and correlation analyses with yearly and monthly average amounts of columnar ozone are presented. Mean yearly doses at 10 northern and 6 southern hemisphere sites exhibited exponential latitudinal gradients with similar slopes indicating a doubling of the dose with the decline of about 14 degrees. Among 12 sites where continual data for more than 6 years were available, increasing trends in yearly UV doses were observed at 11 sites. At one European (Brussels), two tropical Asian (Padang and Denpasar), and two South American (São Martinho and Punta Arenas) sites, decreasing trends of ozone amounts were noted, whereas at the remaining 6 sites (five sites in Japan and Thessaloniki), increasing trends of the UV doses were observed without notable changes, or with an increase at one site (Kiyotake), of the average ozone amounts. At one site (Taipei), the UV doses and the ozone amounts stayed constant. In the monsoon areas, climatic variations and changes, particularly in the extent of cloudiness and frequency of rainfall in summer months, might have been largely responsible for the trends of the UV doses. However, even at these sites, the decreases in the ozone amounts in summer months were frequently observed and might have contributed to the increasing trends of the UV doses. Since each region and locality is unique in climatic and atmospheric conditions, it is not easy to generalize the global trends. However, at many sites involved in this monitoring project, the increases in the biological UV doses during this period seemed to be linked to the decreases in the ozone amounts.