The global stratospheric ozone layer depletion results in an increase in biologically harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation reaching the surface and penetrating to ecologically significant depths in natural waters. Such an increase can be estimated on a global scale by combining satellite estimates of UV irradiance at the ocean surface from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) satellite instrument with the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS) satellite ocean color measurements in the visible spectral region. In this paper we propose a model of seawater optical properties in the UV spectral region based on the case 1 water model in the visible range. The inputs to the model are standard monthly SeaWiFS products: chlorophyll concentration and the diffuse attenuation coefficient at 490 nm. Penetration of solar UV radiation to different depths in open ocean waters is calculated using the radiative transfer quasi-single scattering approximation (QSSA). The accuracy of the QSSA approximation in the water is tested using more accurate codes. Sensitivity studies of underwater UV irradiance to atmospheric and oceanic optical properties have shown that the main environmental parameters controlling absolute levels of UVB (280--320 nm) and DNA-weighted irradiance underwater are solar zenith angle, cloud transmittance, water optical properties, and total ozone. Monthly maps of underwater UV irradiance and DNA-weighted exposure are calculated using monthly mean SeaWiFS chlorophyll and diffuse attenuation coefficient, daily SeaWiFS cloud fraction data, and the TOMS-derived surface UV irradiance daily maps. The results include global maps of monthly average UVB irradiance and DNA-weighted daily exposures at 3 and 10 m and depths where the UVB irradiance and DNA-weighted dose rate at local noon are equal to 10% of their surface values. ¿ 2001 American Geophysical Union