UV-B can cause melanoma and other skin cancers, cataracts, and immune deficiencies if stratospheric ozone does not absorb it. UV-B radiation, however, is also helpful. It assists in the production of vitamin D from cholesterol, which helps build strong bones and prevent rickets, many types of cancers, and multiple sclerosis. Aerosols also affect the atmosphere in different ways. They can scatter sunlight into space, which cools the Earth, and also change the size of cloud particles, which affects when and how often it rains.
Aerosols also have an important relationship to ozone.
In the stratosphere, they can become sites for chemical reactions that convert chlorine from an inactive form to an active form that destroys ozone. Scientists also use aerosol distributions to trace atmospheric pollution. They can, for example, follow urban and industrial pollution or biomass burn plumes over oceans for thousands of miles away from their continental sources. Airborne UV DIAL capabilities are also beneficial to other investigations aboard the aircraft. Scientists can gain a much broader understanding of the chemistry, composition, and nature of the atmosphere if they use UV DIAL to aid other instruments rather than if they used each instrument separately.