Construction and calibration of solar radiometers: pyranometer and pyrheliometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Escobedo, J.F.; Passos, E.F.; Souza, M.F. de

1988-01-01

This paper reports the construction and development of solar radiometers and discusses some characteristic parameters such as linearity, sensitivity and time constant, using an Eppley black-and-white pyranometer as reference. (author) [pt

A Novel Non-Intrusive Method to Resolve the Thermal-Dome-Effect of Pyranometers: Radiometric Calibration and Implications

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Qiang; Tsay, Si-Chee; Lau, K. M.; Hansell, R. A.; Butler, J. J.; Cooper, J. W.

2011-01-01

Traditionally the calibration equation for pyranometers assumes that the measured solar irradiance is solely proportional to the thermopile's output voltage; therefore only a single calibration factor is derived. This causes additional measurement uncertainties because it does not capture sufficient information to correctly account for a pyranometer's thermal effect. In our updated calibration equation, temperatures from the pyranometer's dome and case are incorporated to describe the instrument's thermal behavior, and a new set of calibration constants are determined, thereby reducing measurement uncertainties. In this paper, we demonstrate why a pyranometer's uncertainty using the traditional calibration equation is always larger than a-few-percent, but with the new approach can become much less than 1% after the thermal issue is resolved. The highlighted calibration results are based on NIST-traceable light sources under controlled laboratory conditions. The significance of the new approach lends itself to not only avoiding the uncertainty caused by a pyranometer's thermal effect but also the opportunity to better isolate and characterize other instrumental artifacts, such as angular response and non-linearity of the thermopile, to further reduce additional uncertainties. We also discuss some of the implications, including an example of how the thermal issue can potentially impact climate studies by evaluating aerosol's direct-radiative effect using field measurements with and without considering the pyranometer's thermal effect. The results of radiative transfer model simulation show that a pyranometer's thermal effect on solar irradiance measurements at the surface can be translated into a significant alteration of the calculated distribution of solar energy inside the column atmosphere.

Development of simple band-spectral pyranometer and quantum meter using photovoltaic cells and bandpass filters

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bilguun, Amarsaikhan, E-mail: bilguun@pes.ee.tut.ac.jp; Nakaso, Tetsushi; Harigai, Toru; Suda, Yoshiyuki; Takikawa, Hirofumi, E-mail: takikawa@ee.tut.ac.jp [Toyohashi University of Technology, 1-1 Habarigaoka, Tempaku, Toyohashi 441-8580 (Japan); Tanoue, Hideto [Kitakyushu National College of Technology, 5-20-1, Kokuraminami, Kitakyushu, Fukuoka 802-0985 (Japan)

2016-02-01

In recent years, greenhouse automatic-control, based on the measurement of solar irradiance, has been attracting attention. This control is an effective method for improving crop production. In the agricultural field, it is necessary to measure Photon Flux Density (PFD), which is an important parameter in the promotion of plant growth. In particular, the PFD of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm) and Plant Biologically Active Radiation (PBAR, 300-800 nm) have been discussed in agricultural plant science. The commercial quantum meter (QM, PAR meter) can only measure Photosynthetically Photon Flux Density (PPFD) which is the integrated PFD quantity on the PAR wavelength. In this research, a band-spectral pyranometer or quantum meter using PVs with optical bandpass filters for dividing the PBAR wavelength into 100 nm bands (five independent channels) was developed. Before field testing, calibration of the instruments was carried out using a solar simulator. Next, a field test was conducted in three differing weather conditions such as clear, partly cloudy and cloudy skies. As a result, it was found that the response rate of the developed pyranometer was faster by four seconds compared with the response rate of the commercial pyranometer. Moreover, the outputs of each channel in the developed pyranometer were very similar to the integrated outputs of the commercial spectroradiometer. It was confirmed that the solar irradiance could be measured in each band separately using the developed band-spectral pyranometer. It was indicated that the developed band-spectral pyranometer could also be used as a PV band-spectral quantum meter which is obtained by converting the band irradiance into band PFD.

Development of simple band-spectral pyranometer and quantum meter using photovoltaic cells and bandpass filters

Science.gov (United States)

Bilguun, Amarsaikhan; Nakaso, Tetsushi; Harigai, Toru; Suda, Yoshiyuki; Takikawa, Hirofumi; Tanoue, Hideto

2016-02-01

In recent years, greenhouse automatic-control, based on the measurement of solar irradiance, has been attracting attention. This control is an effective method for improving crop production. In the agricultural field, it is necessary to measure Photon Flux Density (PFD), which is an important parameter in the promotion of plant growth. In particular, the PFD of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm) and Plant Biologically Active Radiation (PBAR, 300-800 nm) have been discussed in agricultural plant science. The commercial quantum meter (QM, PAR meter) can only measure Photosynthetically Photon Flux Density (PPFD) which is the integrated PFD quantity on the PAR wavelength. In this research, a band-spectral pyranometer or quantum meter using PVs with optical bandpass filters for dividing the PBAR wavelength into 100 nm bands (five independent channels) was developed. Before field testing, calibration of the instruments was carried out using a solar simulator. Next, a field test was conducted in three differing weather conditions such as clear, partly cloudy and cloudy skies. As a result, it was found that the response rate of the developed pyranometer was faster by four seconds compared with the response rate of the commercial pyranometer. Moreover, the outputs of each channel in the developed pyranometer were very similar to the integrated outputs of the commercial spectroradiometer. It was confirmed that the solar irradiance could be measured in each band separately using the developed band-spectral pyranometer. It was indicated that the developed band-spectral pyranometer could also be used as a PV band-spectral quantum meter which is obtained by converting the band irradiance into band PFD.

Development of simple band-spectral pyranometer and quantum meter using photovoltaic cells and bandpass filters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bilguun, Amarsaikhan; Nakaso, Tetsushi; Harigai, Toru; Suda, Yoshiyuki; Takikawa, Hirofumi; Tanoue, Hideto

2016-01-01

In recent years, greenhouse automatic-control, based on the measurement of solar irradiance, has been attracting attention. This control is an effective method for improving crop production. In the agricultural field, it is necessary to measure Photon Flux Density (PFD), which is an important parameter in the promotion of plant growth. In particular, the PFD of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm) and Plant Biologically Active Radiation (PBAR, 300-800 nm) have been discussed in agricultural plant science. The commercial quantum meter (QM, PAR meter) can only measure Photosynthetically Photon Flux Density (PPFD) which is the integrated PFD quantity on the PAR wavelength. In this research, a band-spectral pyranometer or quantum meter using PVs with optical bandpass filters for dividing the PBAR wavelength into 100 nm bands (five independent channels) was developed. Before field testing, calibration of the instruments was carried out using a solar simulator. Next, a field test was conducted in three differing weather conditions such as clear, partly cloudy and cloudy skies. As a result, it was found that the response rate of the developed pyranometer was faster by four seconds compared with the response rate of the commercial pyranometer. Moreover, the outputs of each channel in the developed pyranometer were very similar to the integrated outputs of the commercial spectroradiometer. It was confirmed that the solar irradiance could be measured in each band separately using the developed band-spectral pyranometer. It was indicated that the developed band-spectral pyranometer could also be used as a PV band-spectral quantum meter which is obtained by converting the band irradiance into band PFD

Thermal Characteristics of Pyranometers and Pyrgeometers in Atmosphere-Surface Energetic Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Tsay, Si-Chee; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

Since the introduction of thermopile, pyranometers (solar, e.g., 0.3 - 3.0 microns) and pyrgeometers (terrestrial, e.g., 4 - 50 microns) have become instruments commonly used for measuring the broadband hemispherical irradiances at the surface in a long-term, monitoring mode for decades. These commercially available radiometers have been manufactured in several countries such as from the United States, Asia, and Europe, and are generally reliable and economical. These worldwide distributions of surface measurements become even more important in the era of Earth remote sensing in studying climate change. However, recent studies from field campaigns have pointed out that erroneous factors (e.g., temperature gradients between the filter dome and detector, emissivity of the thermopile) are responsible for the unacceptable level of uncertainty (e.g., 20 W/sq m). It is best to utilize an energy balance equation to describe the thermal dome effect of pyranometers and pyrgeometers. Therefore, quality of pyranometer and pyrgeometer measurements can be improved largely by applying proper knowledge of the thermal parameters affecting the operation of the thermopile systems. Data correction procedure and algorithm will be presented and discussed.

Feasibility of using pyranometers for continuous estimation of ground cover fraction in table grape vineyards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Antonio Martinez-Cob

2014-06-01

Full Text Available This paper evaluates the feasibility of using pyranometers for continuous estimation of ground cover fraction (GCF at remote, unattended sites. Photographical techniques were used for measuring GCF (GCFref at a table grape vineyard grown under a net. Daily pyranometer-driven GCF estimates (GCFpyr were obtained from solar radiation measurements above and below the canopy. For GCFpyr computation, solar radiation was averaged for two hours around solar noon (midday periods and for daylight periods (8:00 to 18:00 Universal Time Coordinated. GCFpyr and GCFref (daylight periods showed a good agreement: mean estimation error, 0.000; root mean square error, 0.113; index of agreement, 0.967. The high GCF attained, the large measurement range for GCF and the presence of the net above the table grape were the likely reasons for the good performance of GCFpyr in this crop despite the short number of pyranometers used. Further research is required to develop more appropriate calibration equations of GCFpyr and for a more detailed evaluation of using a short number of pyranometers to estimate GCF.

Characterization of Thermal Parameters for Improving Pyranometer and Pyrgeometer Measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Tsay, Si-Chee; Jhabvala, Murzy D.; Ji, Qiang; Rapshun, David; Shu, Peter K.

2000-01-01

Since the introduction of thermopile, pyranometers (solar, e.g., 0.3-3.0 micrometers) and pyrgeometers (terrestrial, e.g., 4-50 micrometers) have become instruments commonly used for measuring the broadband hemispherical irradiances at the surface in a long-term, monitoring mode for decades. These commercially available radiometers have been manufactured in several countries such as from the United States, Asia, and Europe, and are generally reliable and economical. These worldwide distributions of surface measurements become even more important in the era of Earth remote sensing in studying climate change. However, recent studies from field campaigns have pointed out that erroneous factors (e.g., temperature gradients between the filter dome and detector, emissivity of the thermopile) are responsible for the unacceptable level of uncertainty (e.g., 20 W m(exp -2)). Using a newly developed instrument of Quantum Well Infrared Photodetector (QWTP), we have characterized the brightness temperature fields of pyranometers and pyrgeometers under various sky conditions. The QWIP is based on the superlattice (GaAs/AlGaAs) technology and has a noise equivalent temperature (NEAT) less than 0.1 K. The quality of pyranometer and pyrgeometer measure- ments can be improved largely by applying proper knowledge of the thermal parameters affecting the operation of the thermopile systems. Data correction procedure and algorithm will be presented and discussed.

Effective aerosol optical depth from pyranometer measurements of surface solar radiation (global radiation) at Thessaloniki, Greece

OpenAIRE

Lindfors, A. V.; Kouremeti, N.; Arola, A.; Kazadzis, S.; Bais, A. F.; Laaksonen, A.

2013-01-01

Pyranometer measurements of the solar surface radiation (SSR) are available at many locations worldwide, often as long time series covering several decades into the past. These data constitute a potential source of information on the atmospheric aerosol load. Here, we present a method for estimating the aerosol optical depth (AOD) using pyranometer measurements of the SSR together with total water vapor column information. The method, which is based on radiative transfer simulations, w...

Uncertainty of rotating shadowband irradiometers and Si-pyranometers including the spectral irradiance error

Science.gov (United States)

Wilbert, Stefan; Kleindiek, Stefan; Nouri, Bijan; Geuder, Norbert; Habte, Aron; Schwandt, Marko; Vignola, Frank

2016-05-01

Concentrating solar power projects require accurate direct normal irradiance (DNI) data including uncertainty specifications for plant layout and cost calculations. Ground measured data are necessary to obtain the required level of accuracy and are often obtained with Rotating Shadowband Irradiometers (RSI) that use photodiode pyranometers and correction functions to account for systematic effects. The uncertainty of Si-pyranometers has been investigated, but so far basically empirical studies were published or decisive uncertainty influences had to be estimated based on experience in analytical studies. One of the most crucial estimated influences is the spectral irradiance error because Si-photodiode-pyranometers only detect visible and color infrared radiation and have a spectral response that varies strongly within this wavelength interval. Furthermore, analytic studies did not discuss the role of correction functions and the uncertainty introduced by imperfect shading. In order to further improve the bankability of RSI and Si-pyranometer data, a detailed uncertainty analysis following the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (GUM) has been carried out. The study defines a method for the derivation of the spectral error and spectral uncertainties and presents quantitative values of the spectral and overall uncertainties. Data from the PSA station in southern Spain was selected for the analysis. Average standard uncertainties for corrected 10 min data of 2 % for global horizontal irradiance (GHI), and 2.9 % for DNI (for GHI and DNI over 300 W/m²) were found for the 2012 yearly dataset when separate GHI and DHI calibration constants were used. Also the uncertainty in 1 min resolution was analyzed. The effect of correction functions is significant. The uncertainties found in this study are consistent with results of previous empirical studies.

Design, building and use of a selective pyranometer for the definition and measurement of the lighting index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guicherd, Roger.

1976-03-01

The design, building, testing, calibration and operation of a selective pyranometer intended for the definition and measurement of the lighting index are described; with this original apparatus the energetic lighting at ground level is measured selectively and continuously. The measurement head has three transducers equipped with hollow hemispherical filters measuring energy in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared range respectively. In conclusion, a definition of the lighting index obtained with this thermally compensated, selective pyranometer P.S. is proposed [fr

Determination of the Thermal Offset of the Eppley Precision Spectral Pyranometer

Science.gov (United States)

Haeffelin, Martial; Kato, Seiji; Smith, Amie M.; Rutledge, C. Ken; Charlock, Thomas P.; Mahan, J. Robert

2001-01-01

Eppley's precision spectral pyranometer (PSP) is used in networks around the world to measure downwelling diffuse and global solar irradiance at the surface of the Earth. In recent years several studies have shown significant discrepancy between irradiances measured by pyranometers and those computed by atmospheric radiative transfer models. Pyranometer measurements have been questioned because observed diffuse irradiances sometimes are below theoretical minimum values for a pure molecular atmosphere, and at night the instruments often produce nonzero signals ranging between + 5 and - 10 W/sq m. We install thermistor sondes in the body of a PSP as well as on its inner dome to monitor the temperature gradients within the instrument, and we operate a pyrgeometer (PIR) instrument side by side with the PSP. We derive a relationship between the PSP output and thermal radiative exchange by the dome and the detector and a relationship between the PSP output and the PIR thermopile output (net-IR). We determine the true PSP offset by quickly capping the instrument at set time intervals. For a ventilated and shaded PSP, the thermal offset can reach - 15 W/sq m under clear skies, whereas it remains close to zero for low overcast clouds. We estimate the PSP thermal offset by two methods: (1) using the PSP temperatures and (2) using the PIR net-IR signal. The offset computed from the PSP temperatures yields a reliable estimate of the true offset (+/- 1 W/sq m). The offset computed from net-IR is consistent with the true offset at night and under overcast skies but predicts only part of the true range under clear skies.

A Solid State Pyranometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dumitrescu Anca Laura

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The construction of a solid state device-based pyranometer designated to broadband irradiance measurements is presented in this paper. The device is built on the physical basis that the temperature difference between two bodies of identical shape and external surface area, identically exposed to the incident radiation, but having different absorption and heat transfer coefficients (e.g. one body is painted white and the other is painted black, is proportional to the incident irradiance. This proportionality may be put in evidence if the two bodies consisting of identical arrays of correspondingly painted semiconductor diodes, due to the thermal behaviour of their p-n junction. It is theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed that the voltage drop across a diode passed through a constant forward current linearly decreases with the temperature of the junction. In other words, a signal proportional to the irradiance of the light source may be obtained via conventional analog electronics. The calibration of the apparatus, as performed by means of a professional device (LP PYRA 03, indicates a good linearity.

A Solid State Pyranometer

Science.gov (United States)

Dumitrescu, Anca Laura; Paulescu, Marius; Ercuta, Aurel

2015-12-01

The construction of a solid state device-based pyranometer designated to broadband irradiance measurements is presented in this paper. The device is built on the physical basis that the temperature difference between two bodies of identical shape and external surface area, identically exposed to the incident radiation, but having different absorption and heat transfer coefficients (e.g. one body is painted white and the other is painted black), is proportional to the incident irradiance. This proportionality may be put in evidence if the two bodies consisting of identical arrays of correspondingly painted semiconductor diodes, due to the thermal behaviour of their p-n junction. It is theoretically predicted and experimentally confirmed that the voltage drop across a diode passed through a constant forward current linearly decreases with the temperature of the junction. In other words, a signal proportional to the irradiance of the light source may be obtained via conventional analog electronics. The calibration of the apparatus, as performed by means of a professional device (LP PYRA 03), indicates a good linearity.

Estimating net short-wave radiation with the Bellani pyranometer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernier, Y.; Plamondon, A.P.

1983-01-01

Two methods were developed by which daily net short-wave radiation (K∗) can be evaluated from Bellani pyranometer readings. The first method involves a simple regression equation. The second method uses a physical approach taking into account the effect of the Bellani's geometry on its response to direct and diffuse radiation throughout the day. Both methods, when tested on experimental data, tended to underestimate the measured K∗, the regression approach exhibiting a higher variance of the error [fr

Effective aerosol optical depth from pyranometer measurements of surface solar radiation (global radiation at Thessaloniki, Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Lindfors

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Pyranometer measurements of the solar surface radiation (SSR are available at many locations worldwide, often as long time series covering several decades into the past. These data constitute a potential source of information on the atmospheric aerosol load. Here, we present a method for estimating the aerosol optical depth (AOD using pyranometer measurements of the SSR together with total water vapor column information. The method, which is based on radiative transfer simulations, was developed and tested using recent data from Thessaloniki, Greece. The effective AOD calculated using this method was found to agree well with co-located AERONET measurements, exhibiting a correlation coefficient of 0.9 with 2/3 of the data found within ±20% or ±0.05 of the AERONET AOD. This is similar to the performance of current satellite aerosol methods. Differences in the AOD as compared to AERONET can be explained by variations in the aerosol properties of the atmosphere that are not accounted for in the idealized settings used in the radiative transfer simulations, such as variations in the single scattering albedo and Ångström exponent. Furthermore, the method is sensitive to calibration offsets between the radiative transfer simulations and the pyranometer SSR. The method provides an opportunity of extending our knowledge of the atmospheric aerosol load to locations and times not covered by dedicated aerosol measurements.

Marine ARM GPCI Investigation of Clouds Sunshine Pyranometer (SPN1) Field Campaign Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reynolds, R. Michael [Remote Measurements & Research Company, Seattle, WA (United States); Long, Charles N. [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States). Earth System Research Lab.

2016-01-10

From the SPN1 manual, the SPN1 Sunshine Pyranometer is one sensor with three output channels: 1) total (global) solar radiation, 2) diffuse radiation, and 3) sunshine status. The SPN1 measures short-wave radiation between 400nm and 2700nm in W.m-2. The Direct beam component of solar radiation can be calculated from the Total minus the Diffuse component. The Sunshine status output indicates whether the energy in the direct beam exceeds the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) standard threshold value of 120 W.m-2, using an algorithm based on the Total radiation, and the ratio of Total to Diffuse radiation. The radiation outputs have a cosine-corrected response. The advantages of the SPN1 are 1) It matches the WMO ‘Good Quality’ pyranometer classification. 2) It requires no shadow band or solar tracker. 3) There are no moving parts. 4) It does not need to be adjusted or repositioned to track the sun—a distinct advantage over shade rings or mechanical trackers. 5) It does not need to be oriented towards north. It will work accurately in any orientation as long as it is mounted horizontally. 6) It does not require knowledge of the latitude or longitude, and can be used at any latitude or longitude. 7) It measures sunshine hours as well as Total and Diffuse radiation. 8) The built-in heater allows use in wet or icy conditions.

Estimation of radiative forcing and chore length of shallow convective clouds (SCC) based on broadband pyranometer measurement network

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, H.

2017-12-01

We presented a method to identify and calculate cloud radiative forcing (CRF) and horizontal chore length (L) of shallow convective clouds (SCC) using a network of 9 broadband pyranometers. The analyzing data was collected from the SCC campaign during two years summers (2015 2016) at Baiqi site over Inner Mongolia grassland. The network of pyranometers was operated across a spatial domain covering 42.16-42.30° N and 114.83-114.98° E. The SCC detection method was verified by observer reports and cameras, which showed that the detection method and human observations were in agreement about 75 %. The differences between the SCC detection method and human observations can be responsible for following factors: 1) small or dissipating clouds can be neglected for the value of 1 min of temporal resolution of pyranometer; 2) human observation recorded weather conditions four times every day; 3) SCC was indistinguishable from coexistence of SCC and Cirrus (Ci); 4) the SCC detection method is weighted toward clouds crossing the sun's path, while the human observer can view clouds over the entire sky. The deviation of L can be attributed to two factors: 1) the accuracy of wind speed at height of SCC and the ratio of horizontal and vertical length play a key role in determine values of L; 2) the effect of variance of solar zenith angle can be negligible. The downwelling shortwave CRF of SCC was -134.1 Wm-2. The average value of L of SCC was 1129 m. Besides, the distribution of normalized cloud chore length agreed well with power-law fit.

Trial manufacture of simple integrated tube-type pyranometer by phycoerythrin and measurements of transmittance of solar radiation in crop canopies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, H.; Honjo, H.; Kamota, F.; Suzuki, Y.; Hayakawa, S.

1998-01-01

We tried to construct a simple integrated tube-type pyranometer using phycoerythrin from seaweed pigment. The maximum sensitive wavehand of phycoerythrin was 550 nm - 560 nm, and this waveband was in the photosynthetically active radiation range. The acrylic tubes (outside diameter, 22 mm, length, 100 cm) were spread with white paints except for a strip 15 mm in width, and phycoerythrin was put into the acrylic tube. In the results from the outdoor measurements, the tube-type pyranometer showed a positive correlation between the transmittance of phycoerythrin (%) and the measured accumulated solar radiation (MJ n(-2)), but the slope of the linear equation was different in summer and winter. In an artificial climate room, the relationship between the transmissions of phycoerythrin and the accumulated solar radiation could be approximated by a quadratic equation at every temperature. In the measurements made outdoors, the accumulated solar radiation could be estimated using the transmittance of phycoerythrin and the mean air temperature during measurements

Uncertainty in stratiform cloud optical thickness inferred from pyranometer measurements at the sea surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Rozwadowska

2004-06-01

Full Text Available The relative "plane-parallel" error in a mean cloud optical thickness retrieved from ground-based pyranometer measurements is estimated. The plane-parallel error is defined as the bias introduced by the assumption in the radiative transfer model used in cloud optical thickness retrievals that the atmosphere, including clouds, is horizontally homogeneous on the scale of an individual retrieval. The error is estimated for the optical thickness averaged over the whole domain, which simulates the mean cloud optical thickness obtained from a time series of irradiance measurements. The study is based on 3D Monte Carlo radiative transfer simulations for non-absorbing, all-liquid, layer clouds. Liquid water path distributions in the clouds are simulated by a bounded cascade fractal model. The sensitivity of the error is studied with respect to the following factors: averaging time of irradiance used in an individual retrieval, mean cloud optical thickness, cloud variability, cloud base height and solar zenith angle. In the simulations presented in this paper, the relative bias in the domain averaged cloud optical thickness retrieved from pyranometer measurements varies from +1% for optically thin clouds to nearly -20%. The highest absolute value of the relative bias is expected for thick and variable clouds with high bases (e.g. 1 km and retrievals based on long-term mean irradiances (averaging time of the order of several tens of minutes or hours. The bias can be diminished by using short-term irradiance averages, e.g. of one minute, and by limiting retrievals to low-level clouds.

Multiresolution analysis of the spatiotemporal variability in global radiation observed by a dense network of 99 pyranometers

Science.gov (United States)

Lakshmi Madhavan, Bomidi; Deneke, Hartwig; Witthuhn, Jonas; Macke, Andreas

2017-03-01

The time series of global radiation observed by a dense network of 99 autonomous pyranometers during the HOPE campaign around Jülich, Germany, are investigated with a multiresolution analysis based on the maximum overlap discrete wavelet transform and the Haar wavelet. For different sky conditions, typical wavelet power spectra are calculated to quantify the timescale dependence of variability in global transmittance. Distinctly higher variability is observed at all frequencies in the power spectra of global transmittance under broken-cloud conditions compared to clear, cirrus, or overcast skies. The spatial autocorrelation function including its frequency dependence is determined to quantify the degree of similarity of two time series measurements as a function of their spatial separation. Distances ranging from 100 m to 10 km are considered, and a rapid decrease of the autocorrelation function is found with increasing frequency and distance. For frequencies above 1/3 min-1 and points separated by more than 1 km, variations in transmittance become completely uncorrelated. A method is introduced to estimate the deviation between a point measurement and a spatially averaged value for a surrounding domain, which takes into account domain size and averaging period, and is used to explore the representativeness of a single pyranometer observation for its surrounding region. Two distinct mechanisms are identified, which limit the representativeness; on the one hand, spatial averaging reduces variability and thus modifies the shape of the power spectrum. On the other hand, the correlation of variations of the spatially averaged field and a point measurement decreases rapidly with increasing temporal frequency. For a grid box of 10 km × 10 km and averaging periods of 1.5-3 h, the deviation of global transmittance between a point measurement and an area-averaged value depends on the prevailing sky conditions: 2.8 (clear), 1.8 (cirrus), 1.5 (overcast), and 4.2 % (broken

Comparative studies of measured and estimated values of global solar radiation using Eppley pyranometer and Hargreaves Samani-model at Nsukka under varying climatic conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anikpa, P.O.; Osuji, R.U.

2005-12-01

This study uses the Hargreaves and Samani (HS) modified model in estimating daily global solar radiation at Nsukka. The model equation was based on daily air temperature range and extraterrestrial solar radiation. The estimated results obtained for six months, staring from 25th August, 2003 to 20th February, 2004 were compared to measured values obtained with standard Eppley pyranometer. The measurements were taken manually within the same period. The comparison indicates that in the dry season months under consideration (December, 2003; January, 2004 and February, 2004) the model clearly gave higher insolation values of the daily global solar radiation. In the wet season months considered (i.e., part of August, 2003 through November, 2003) the model showed neither a clear pattern of higher nor a lower insolation. Further correlation analysis produced neither bias for the wet season nor dry season months. This indicates that on a monthly basis, the monthly average for estimated and measured values correlated well. (author)

Research on the method of establishing the total radiation meter calibration device

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Jianqiang; Xia, Ming; Xia, Junwen; Zhang, Dong

2015-10-01

Pyranometer is an instrument used to measure the solar radiation, according to pyranometer differs as installation state, can be respectively measured total solar radiation, reflected radiation, or with the help of shading device for measuring scattering radiation. Pyranometer uses the principle of thermoelectric effect, inductive element adopts winding plating type multi junction thermopile, its surface is coated with black coating with high absorption rate. Hot junction in the induction surface, while the cold junction is located in the body, the cold and hot junction produce thermoelectric potential. In the linear range, the output signal is proportional to the solar irradiance. Traceability to national meteorological station, as the unit of the national legal metrology organizations, the responsibility is to transfer value of the sun and the earth radiation value about the national meteorological industry. Using the method of comparison, with indoor calibration of solar simulator, at the same location, standard pyranometer and measured pyranometer were alternately measured radiation irradiance, depending on the irradiation sensitivity standard pyranometer were calculated the radiation sensitivity of measured pyranometer. This paper is mainly about the design and calibration method of the pyranometer indoor device. The uncertainty of the calibration result is also evaluated.

Guidelines for Evaluating the Thermal Environment of Enclosed Spaces

Science.gov (United States)

2009-09-01

probes Thermocouple and thermistor probes for air, soil, water, etc. Solar radiation LI-COR LI200 pyranometer Silicon diode – not for indoor use...Solar radiation Hukseflux LP02 pyranometer Thermopile sensor element – may be used indoors Black globe thermometer Commercial (original source...temperature (Tnwb) and RH. Exterior Solar Radiation Radiometers that measure solar radiation are called pyranometers . A pyranometer consists of a

Performance Characterization and Optimization of Microgrid-Based Energy Generation and Storage Technologies

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

3 m Apogee SP-110 Pyranometer (Horizontal Mount) CS300-L12 3 m Apogee SP-110 Pyranometer (Tilt Mount) CS300-L12 2 m Sentra 278 Barometer CS100 2 m...Table 1.3 below, with wind sensors installed at 50 ft, 10 m and 3 m to calculate wind shear. Tilt and horizontal pyranometers were installed to...Temperature Probe   107‐L8  3 m  Apogee SP‐110  Pyranometer  (Horizontal Mount)  CS300‐L12  3 m  Apogee SP‐110  Pyranometer  (Tilt Mount)  CS300‐L12  3 m

Calibrated Mid-wave Infrared (IR) (MidIR) and Long-wave IR (LWIR) Stokes and Degree-of-Liner Polarization (DOLP)

Science.gov (United States)

2008-09-01

radiance from natural surfaces, was recorded continuously using an Eppley long-wave pyranometer . The long-wave pyranometer is designed to measure radiance...meteorological parameters as well as the ambient radiant loading experienced during the test recorded by the Eppley long-wave pyranometer . Tables 1

Comparison and Analysis of Energy Performance of Baseline and Enhanced Temporary Army Shelters

Science.gov (United States)

2015-09-01

tracker. A Shade Disk Kit (SDK) is mounted on the SMT tracker to measure diffuse solar radiation using a Black & White pyranometer . Each sensor reading is...Eppley Black & White Pyranometer 8-48 Diffuse solar radiation Eppley Standard Precision Pyranometer SPP Global horizontal solar radiation Eppley

The Structural Insulated Panel SIP Hut: Preliminary Evaluation of Energy Efficiency and Indoor Air Quality

Science.gov (United States)

2015-08-19

Shade Disk Kit (SDK) is mounted on the SMT tracker to measure diffuse solar radiation using a Black & White pyranometer . Each sensor reading is...Pyrheliometer SNIP Direct beam solar radiation Eppley Black & White Pyranometer 8-48 Diffuse solar radiation Eppley Standard Precision Pyranometer SPP Global

Quality Control of Meteorological Data for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

Time constant 10 s — Solar radiation Eppley 8–48 pyranometer Resolution 10 W m22 10 W m22 Accuracy 65% 65% Time constant 5 s 5 s Spectral response 285...sensor above 90% RH. c 22 W m22 allows for the potential negative offset produced by radiative cooling of the dome of the pyranometer on clear nights...and the winds are light, which suggests that frost may be forming on the pyranometer dome during the night. (The pyranometers are not equipped with

Meteorological Sensor Array (MSA)-Phase I. Volume 3 (Pre-Field Campaign Sensor Calibration)

Science.gov (United States)

2015-07-01

Phase I thermodynamic sensors (barometers, thermometers, hygrometers, and pyranometers ). This report documents the results of a detailed calibration...barometer, thermometer, hydrometer, pyranometer 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT UU 18. NUMBER...60 (02 Mar); the logger associated with each non-standard RH sensor is demonstrated in the legend ...............21 Fig. 16 Pyranometers percent

Calibration procedure of Hukseflux SR25 to Establish the Diffuse Reference for the Outdoor Broadband Radiometer Calibration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reda, Ibrahim M. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Andreas, Afshin M. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-08-01

Accurate pyranometer calibrations, traceable to internationally recognized standards, are critical for solar irradiance measurements. One calibration method is the component summation method, where the pyranometers are calibrated outdoors under clear sky conditions, and the reference global solar irradiance is calculated as the sum of two reference components, the diffuse horizontal and subtended beam solar irradiances. The beam component is measured with pyrheliometers traceable to the World Radiometric Reference, while there is no internationally recognized reference for the diffuse component. In the absence of such a reference, we present a method to consistently calibrate pyranometers for measuring the diffuse component. The method is based on using a modified shade/unshade method and a pyranometer with less than 0.5 W/m2 thermal offset. The calibration result shows that the responsivity of Hukseflux SR25 pyranometer equals 10.98 uV/(W/m2) with +/-0.86 percent uncertainty.

Development of a Novel Hybrid Multi-Junction Architecture for Silicon Solar Cells

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-26

Section 2.2.2) were set and verified with a pyranometer and thermocouple probe prior to testing. Voltage and 52 current readings were then taken...without other parameters interfering. The values were recorded by placing the cells above a pyranometer that records intensity. Any ambient light was...Rapid thermal annealing Fabrication XPS-300 Solar Light Tester Measuring solar cell response Testing PMA2100 Pyranometer Measuring irradiance Testing

Physical Processes in Coastal Stratocumulus Clouds from Aircraft Measurements During UPPEF 2012

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-01

pressure, dew point, water vapor, absolute humidity, and carbon dioxide concentration. There were various upward and downward looking pyranometers ...Meteorological parameters IR Temperature -50 to +20 °C Up-looking modified Kipp & Zonen CM-22 pyranometer (CIRPAS/NRL) Meteorological parameters Down...welling Solar Irradiance 0-1400 W m -2 Down-looking modified Kipp & Zonen CM-22 pyranometer (CIRPAS/NRL) Meteorological parameters Up-welling Solar

Vertical Temperature Simulation of Pegasus Runway, McMurdo Station, Antarctica

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Polar Programs PSP Precision Spectral Pyranometer SPAWAR Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command ERDC/CRREL TR-15-2 ix Unit Conversion Factors...site was measured (M. Knuth*, pers. comm.) in 15-minute intervals from 29 October 2010 until 5 February 2011. Two broadband pyranometers (Eppley...Precision Spectral Pyranometer ) were mounted on a mast immediately adjacent to the runway. One measured downwelling radiation and the other upwelling

The Evaluation of HOMER as a Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Predeployment Tool

Science.gov (United States)

2010-09-01

comparing HOMER’s estimated solar irradiance and the actual pyranometer -measured data...........................................................102...http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/). The other method is to insert actual metered solar radiation data, measured by a pyranometer . b. Wind Resource...panel is 1.499 meters by 1.092 meters, for an area of 1.632 meters squared. c. Set Up Next to the solar panels, a pyranometer was set up to accurately

WHOI Hawaii Ocean Timeseries Station (WHOTS): WHOTS-6 2009 Mooring Turnaround Cruise Report

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

pyranometers . This report describes the set-up on the ship, the procedures adopted, and some preliminary, and necessarily incomplete, results from...discrepancy in the net energy budget. The collection of recently calibrated pyranometers on this cruise, from two manufacturers and different...the bow tower. To complete the PSD air-sea flux system, pyranometers and pyrgeometers (Eppley and Kipp&Zonen) were mounted on top of pole on the 03

Experimental Results of Ground Disturbance Detection Using Uncooled Infrared Imagers in Wideband and Multispectral Modes

Science.gov (United States)

2012-02-01

Pyranometer Heat exchange rate and apparent temperature contrast are governed by factors such as solar radiation and air temperatures, we must...condition resulting in a high apparent temperature contrast which favors detection. The solar radiation was measured by a CMP11 pyranometer manufactured...a stage about 150 inches from the ground where it pointed downward viewing the sand boxes and the two black bodies. The pyranometer was positioned

Meteorological Sensor Array (MSA) - Phase I Volume 1 (Proof of Concept Overview)

Science.gov (United States)

2014-09-01

Hygrometer Rotronics HC2S3 Celsius/ Percent Solar Radiation Pyranometer Kipp/Zonen CM3/CMP3 W/m2 Micrologger ALL Campbell Scientific CR23X . . . Wind...probe was mounted on the east end. A Kipp & Zonen CM3 pyranometer was mounted, with a custom made boom arm, on the south side of the tower and was...59 Turn Off Switched 12V ;**************************************************************************** ; SOLAR RADIATION (CM3 Pyranometer

The Evaluation of HOMER as a Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Pre-deployment Tool

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-21

Actual Pyranometer -Measured Data .................................................104  Figure 57.  Display of the LabView Program Used for the PV...Energy website (http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/). The other method is to insert actual metered solar radiation data, measured by a pyranometer . b...meters by 1.092 meters, for an area of 1.632 meters squared. c. Set Up Next to the solar panels, a pyranometer was set up to accurately measure

Integrated Sensor Systems for UAS

Science.gov (United States)

2008-04-01

2. Optical particle counter 0.27 5.4 3. Pyranometer 0.17 ɘ.2 4. Temp. & relative humidity 0.05 ɘ.1 5. Data acquisition system 0.15 ɘ.2 6...payload volume showing sensor instrument installation. The insert shows the Manta exterior with the cloud droplet probe and pyranometer mounted on...Instrumentation Above- 2.7 Aethalometer cloud 14 Optical particle counter Up and down pyranometers Condensation particle counter In- 3.7

Determining roof surfaces suitable for the installation of PV (photovoltaic) systems, based on LiDAR (Light Detection And Ranging) data, pyranometer measurements, and distribution network configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srećković, Nevena; Lukač, Niko; Žalik, Borut; Štumberger, Gorazd

2016-01-01

Proliferation of distributed generation units, integrated within the distribution network requires increased attention to their proper placements. In urban areas, buildings' rooftops are expected to have greater involvement in the deployment of PV (photovoltaic) systems. This paper proposes a novel procedure for determining roof surfaces suitable for their installation. The PV potential of roof surfaces is assessed based on Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data and pyranometer measurements. Then, the time-dependent PV generation profiles, electricity distribution network configuration, and time-dependent loading profiles are used together over time-steps for selecting those roof surfaces with the highest PV potential, which would lead to the highest reduction of network losses per year. The presented procedure was implemented within a real urban area distribution network. The results obtained confirmed that PV potential assessment could be an insufficient criterion when selecting those roof surfaces suitable for the installation of PV systems. In order to obtain relevant results, network configuration and time-dependent loading and generation profiles must be considered as well. - Highlights: • Roof surfaces, suitable for installation of PV systems are evaluated and ranked. • Improved PV potential based procedure is proposed for their selection in urban areas. • Time-dependent network loading and PV generation profiles are considered. • Losses in a real electricity network are minimized in the optimization procedure. • Final selection of ranked roof surfaces is based on results of optimization.

Sweat Rate Prediction Equations for Outdoor Exercise with Transient Solar Radiation

Science.gov (United States)

2012-01-01

AD] 15 Interchangeable variables gSL W/m2 Global solar load Direct weather station data; pyranometer values 25 Direct measurement from weather station... pyranometer (to measure short-wave radiation fluxes) and pyrgeometer (to measure long-wave radiation fluxes). Normally, the value of the solar load...as described below. During field operations, Rsol (W/m2) can be calculated from 0.835 ·ERF. If Rsol (in W/m2) is known by direct pyranometer mea

Established joint calibration facility for pyrheliometers at PSA to be operated as ACCESS facility

OpenAIRE

Nouri, B.; Wilbert, S.; García, G.; Ramírez, L.; Zarzalejo, L.; Valenzuela, R.; Ferrera,, F.

2015-01-01

This report summarizes the main characteristics of the developed facility. The calibration test bench for pyrheliometer and pyranometer has been set up at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA), and includes: A heliostat engine which is used as solar tracker. On this tracker a mounting plate for the reference and field pyrheliometers has been installed. A Kipp&Zonen 2AP tracker with shading structures for the DHI reference pyranometer. A mounting table for pyranometers, temperatu...

Solar-Powered, Liquid-Desiccant Air Conditioner for Low-Electricity Humidity Control

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-01

reading Current transformer Regen and conditioner Continental Controls CTS-0750-30 1 % of reading Pyranometer Horizontal Campbell...indoor comfort conditions. A pyranometer was used to quantify the efficiency of the solar collector array. Two measurements of electric energy were

Local-Rapid Evaluation of Atmospheric Conditions (L-REAC (trademark)) System, Design and Development. Volume 3. (Operational L-REAC (trademark))

Science.gov (United States)

2011-09-01

Meter/Second, and Degrees Solar Radiation Pyranometer Kipp/Zonen CM3 Watts/Meter 2 Micrologger ALL Campbell Scientific CR23X Weather-Resistant...calibration instrument. Wind Monitor Relative Humidity Pyranometer ** [ ] [] Micro- Logger Barometer Temperature Temperature 11 Figure 6. RM Young

Spectral and Polarimetric Imagery Collection Experiment

Science.gov (United States)

2011-12-01

meter Visibility Smoke, fog, haze Pyranometer Sun and sky radiation Pryheliometer Solar radiation direction Required tracking mount Distrometer(s... Pyranometers measure total sun and sky radiation. If the direction of the solar radiation is an important factor, then use of a normal incidence

UAV Data Exchange Test Bed for At-Sea and Ashore Information Systems

Science.gov (United States)

2014-12-02

Up and Down-Looking Pyranometer , which when coupled with a GPS measurement provides point-based measurements, These points are usually further...Measure by an Up and Down-Looking Pyranometer , which when coupled with a GPS measurement provides point-based measurements, These points are

Deployed Base Solar Power (BRIEFING SLIDES)

Science.gov (United States)

2009-09-01

various time intervals. Data Acquisitions and Components:  FieldPoint  Current, Voltage, and Power Transducers  POA Pyranometers  Solar...Tracking Pyranometer  Weather Station  kWh Meter Parameters being monitored:  Solar Module Temperatures  Ambient Temperature  Wind Speed  Wind

Comparison of USARIEM Heat Strain Decision Aid to Mobile Decision Aid and Standard Army Guidelines for Warm Weather Training

Science.gov (United States)

2008-06-01

black globe mounted 1.5 m above ground Twb Metrosonics HS371 not measured Radiation pyranometers and Fritschen net radiometers Campbell Scientific...LI200X pyranometer mounted 1.5 m above ground and unshaded by weather instruments or surrounding vegetation WS R.M. Young 03001-5 three cup

Atmospheric Effects on Radio Frequency (RF) Wave Propagation in a Humid, Near-Surface Environment

Science.gov (United States)

2010-03-01

additional IR temperature and Campbell water temperature probes, as well as a 3-D sonic anemometer, pyranometer , and LI-COR open path gas analyzer for...Zonen CNR-1 pyranometer . Lastly, the Campbell sonic anemometer (CSAT3) and LI- COR (CS7500) were extended 2.5 meters over the water from an

Urban-Small Building Complex Environment: W07US Stability Analysis and Inter-Study Comparison, Volume AS-2

Science.gov (United States)

2008-05-01

pyranometer (Kipp/Zonen-CM3). A Campbell CR23X micro-logger recorded the standard meteorological parameters in 1-min averages. 3 Figure 2... Pyranometer Kipp/Zonen CM3 Watts/meter2 Net solar radiation Net radiometer Kipp/Zonen NR-LITE Watts/meter2 Table 4. W07US tower configuration. Tower Number

Whole Sky Imager Characterization of Sky Obscuration by Clouds for the Starfire Optical Range

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-11

to the definition of nominal thin clouds, the pyranometer threshold, and the definition of opaque clouds. The last comes from a casual remark that...Comment 1 .794 .23 2 .631 .46 3 .501 .69 .13 – 1.3 .97 - .74 .03 - 0 .3 Nominal thin cirrus 2 – 4 .63 - .40 .46 - .92 Nominal Pyranometer threshold

Power Generation Potential and Cost of a Roof Top Solar PV System in Kathmandu, Nepal

Science.gov (United States)

Sanjel, N.; Zhand, A.

2017-12-01

The paper presents a comparative study of the 3 most used solar PV module technologies in Nepal, which are Si-mono-crystalline, Si-poly-crystalline and Si-amorphous. The aim of the paper is to present and discuss the recorded Global Solar Radiation, received in the Kathmandu valley by three different, Si-mono-crystalline, Si-poly-crystalline and Si-amorphous calibrated solar cell pyranometers and to propose the best-suited solar PV module technology for roof top solar PV systems inside the Kathmandu valley. Data recorded over the course of seven months, thus covering most of the seasonal meteorological conditions determining Kathmandu valley's global solar radiation reception are presented. The results indicate that the Si-amorphous pyranometer captured 1.56% more global solar radiation than the Si-mono-crystalline and 18.4% more than Si-poly-crystalline pyranometer over the course of seven months. Among the three pyranometer technologies the maximum and minimum cell temperature was measured by the Si-mono-crystalline pyranometer. Following the technical data and discussion, an economical analysis, using the versatile software tool PVSYST V5.01is used to calculate the life cycle costs of a 1kW roof top solar PV RAPS system, with battery storage, and a 1kW roof top solar PV grid connected system with no energy storage facility, through simulations, using average recorded global solar radiation data for the KTM valley and investigated market values for each solar PV module and peripheral equipment costs.

Comparison of hourly surface downwelling solar radiation estimated from MSG-SEVIRI and forecast by the RAMS model with pyranometers over Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Federico, Stefano; Torcasio, Rosa Claudia; Sanò, Paolo; Casella, Daniele; Campanelli, Monica; Fokke Meirink, Jan; Wang, Ping; Vergari, Stefania; Diémoz, Henri; Dietrich, Stefano

2017-06-01

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of two global horizontal solar irradiance (GHI) estimates, one derived from Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) and another from the 1-day forecast of the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) mesoscale model. The horizontal resolution of the MSG-GHI is 3 × 5 km2 over Italy, which is the focus area of this study. For this paper, RAMS has the horizontal resolution of 4 km.The performances of the MSG-GHI estimate and RAMS-GHI 1-day forecast are evaluated for 1 year (1 June 2013-31 May 2014) against data of 12 ground-based pyranometers over Italy spanning a range of climatic conditions, i.e. from maritime Mediterranean to Alpine climate.Statistics for hourly GHI and daily integrated GHI are presented for the four seasons and the whole year for all the measurement sites. Different sky conditions are considered in the analysisResults for hourly data show an evident dependence on the sky conditions, with the root mean square error (RMSE) increasing from clear to cloudy conditions. The RMSE is substantially higher for Alpine stations in all the seasons, mainly because of the increase of the cloud coverage for these stations, which is not well represented at the satellite and model resolutions. Considering the yearly statistics computed from hourly data for the RAMS model, the RMSE ranges from 152 W m-2 (31 %) obtained for Cozzo Spadaro, a maritime station, to 287 W m-2 (82 %) for Aosta, an Alpine site. Considering the yearly statistics computed from hourly data for MSG-GHI, the minimum RMSE is for Cozzo Spadaro (71 W m-2, 14 %), while the maximum is for Aosta (181 W m-2, 51 %). The mean bias error (MBE) shows the tendency of RAMS to over-forecast the GHI, while no specific behaviour is found for MSG-GHI.Results for daily integrated GHI show a lower RMSE compared to hourly GHI evaluation for both RAMS-GHI 1-day forecast and MSG-GHI estimate. Considering the yearly evaluation, the RMSE of daily integrated GHI is at least 9

Evaluation of uncertainty sources and propagation from irradiance sensors to PV yield

OpenAIRE

Mariottini, Francesco; Gottschalg, Ralph; Betts, Tom; Zhu, Jiang

2018-01-01

This work quantifies the uncertainties of a pyranometer. Sensitivity to errors is analysed regarding the effects generated by adopting different time resolutions. Estimation of irradiance measurand and error is extended throughout an annual data set. This study represents an attempt to provide a more exhaustive overview of both systematic (i.e. physical) and random uncertainties in the evaluation of pyranometer measurements. Starting from expanded uncertainty in a monitored ...

Compatibility of different measurement techniques. Long-term global solar radiation observations at Izaña Observatory [Discussion paper

OpenAIRE

García Cabrera, Rosa Delia; Cuevas Agulló, Emilio; García Rodríguez, Omaira Elena; Ramos López, Ramón; Romero Campos, Pedro Miguel; Ory Ajamil, Fernando de; Cachorro, Victoria E.; Frutos, Ángel M. de

2016-01-01

A 1-year intercomparison of classical and modern radiation and sunshine duration instruments has been performed at Izaña Atmospheric Observatory. We compare global solar radiation (GSR) records measured with a Kipp & Zonen CM-21 pyranometer, taken in the framework of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network, with those measured with a multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer and a bimetallic pyranometer, and with GSR estimated from sunshine duration performed with a CS sunshine recorder.

Evaluation of long term performance measurements of PV modules with different technologies

OpenAIRE

Degner, T.; Ries, M.

2004-01-01

PV modules of six different technologies (m-Si, mc-Si, EFG, CIS, CdTe, a-Si) have been monitored concerning the performance under external conditions for a period of more than 2 years. In addition to the standard solar radiation measurements with pyranometer solar sensors with corresponding cell technology have been used to supplement the measurements. This allows in principle to consider spectral effects. The solar radiation measured with the sensor and the pyranometer is analysed on monthly...

Evaluation of various procedures transposing global tilted irradiance to horizontal surface irradiance

Science.gov (United States)

Housmans, Caroline; Bertrand, Cédric

2017-02-01

Many transposition models have been proposed in the literature to convert solar irradiance on the horizontal plane to that on a tilted plane. The inverse process, i.e. the conversion from tilted to horizontal is investigated here based upon seven months of in-plane global solar irradiance measurements recorded on the roof of the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium's radiation tower in Uccle (Longitude 4.35° E, Latitude 50.79° N). Up to three pyranometers mounted on inclined planes of different tilts and orientations were involved in the inverse transposition process. Our results indicate that (1) the tilt to horizontal irradiance conversion is improved when measurements from more than one tilted pyranometer are considered (i.e. by using a multi-pyranometer approach) and (2) the improvement from using an isotropic model to anisotropic models in the inverse transposition problem is not significant.

Improved Correction of IR Loss in Diffuse Shortwave Measurements: An ARM Value-Added Product

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Younkin, K; Long, CN

2003-11-01

Simple single black detector pyranometers, such as the Eppley Precision Spectral Pyranometer (PSP) used by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program, are known to lose energy via infrared (IR) emission to the sky. This is especially a problem when making clear-sky diffuse shortwave (SW) measurements, which are inherently of low magnitude and suffer the greatest IR loss. Dutton et al. (2001) proposed a technique using information from collocated pyrgeometers to help compensate for this IR loss. The technique uses an empirically derived relationship between the pyrgeometer detector data (and alternatively the detector data plus the difference between the pyrgeometer case and dome temperatures) and the nighttime pyranometer IR loss data. This relationship is then used to apply a correction to the diffuse SW data during daylight hours. We developed an ARM value-added product (VAP) called the SW DIFF CORR 1DUTT VAP to apply the Dutton et al. correction technique to ARM PSP diffuse SW measurements.

An intercomparison of satellite-based daily evapotranspiration estimates under different eco-climatic regions in South Africa

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Majozi, Nobuhle P

2017-03-01

Full Text Available ), while windspeed and direction were measured at 2.5 m height using an RM Young wind sentry (Mod l 03001—Campbell Scientific Ltd., Logan, UT, USA), a d solar irradiance was monitored using a pyranometer (Apogee Instru ents, Lo an, UT, USA). R infall... a CS500 probe (Vaisala, Helsinki, Finland), while windspeed and direction were measured at 2.5 m height using an RM Young wind sentry (Model 03001—Campbell Scientific Ltd., Logan, UT, USA), and solar irradiance was monitored using a pyranometer...

Field measurement of albedo for limited extent test surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sailor, David J. [Portland State University, Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, P.O. Box 751-ME, Portland, OR 97207 (United States); Resh, Kyle; Segura, Del [Tulane University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, 400 Lindy Boggs Center, New Orleans, LA 70118 (United States)

2006-05-15

A new method is introduced for field measurement of surface albedo. This method consists of the use of a cylindrical shade ring made of opaque fabric with a known (low) albedo placed over a test surface. The albedo measurement is accomplished using two small pyranometers situated so that the downward-facing pyranometer receives radiation only from the test surface and the shade ring. The upward-facing pyranometer simultaneously records the incoming solar radiation. The radiation received by the downward-facing pyramometer is a combination of reflected radiation from shaded and unshaded portions of these two surfaces, requiring detailed accounting of the resulting view factor geometries. The method presented here improves upon past approaches by allowing for smaller sample sizes, minimizing errors associated with reflective properties of the surroundings, and allowing for accurate measurements even under partially cloudy skies. In addition to these methodological improvements we introduce an approach for estimating the uncertainty in the resulting albedo measurements. Results from field measurements are presented to validate the measurement protocol, and to compare its accuracy with the accuracy of a published standard. (author)

CORRECTION OF GLOBAL AND REFLEX RADIATION VALUES MEASURED ABOVE THE LAKE BALATON

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laszlo Menyhart

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Albedo measurements have been carried out since 2007 above the Lake Balaton near Keszthely and Siofok. It turned out that a systematic offset error was superposed to both the global and the reflex radiation. The value of this systematic error was approximately constant per pyranometer within a year but on the other hand it varied from year to year and from pyranometer to pyranometer. In this paper the values of this systematic errors were determined with two different methods. The difference between the values measured at night-time and the intrinsic thermal offset error of pyranometers were examined with both methods. The base of the first method is the empirical observation, that the values measured at night-time by a global radiometer are typically negative whereas by a reflex radiometer are typically positive. The substance of the second method is utilizing the air temperature measured within 1 as well as 5 hours before the radiation measuring to +select the fully overcast nights, when the thermal offset error of the global radiometer is zero. In addition, the cases where the thermal offset error of the reflex radiometer is zero were selected on the basis of the difference between water and air temperature. When the thermal offset error is zero the measured value is equal to the systematic error. Comparing the results of the two methods showed that the systematic error of the global radiometer were determined with uncertainty of 1 Wm–2, whereas that of the reflex radiometer with uncertainty of 2 Wm–2. The calibration constants were recalculated from the values being in the calibration reports taking the systematic errors into account.

Evaluation of Radiometers Deployed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Solar Radiation Research Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Habte, Aron; Wilcox, Stephen; Stoffel, Thomas

2015-12-23

This study analyzes the performance of various commercially available radiometers used for measuring global horizontal irradiances and direct normal irradiances. These include pyranometers, pyrheliometers, rotating shadowband radiometers, and a pyranometer with fixed internal shading and are all deployed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Solar Radiation Research Laboratory. Data from 32 global horizontal irradiance and 19 direct normal irradiance radiometers are presented. The radiometers in this study were deployed for one year (from April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012) and compared to measurements from radiometers with the lowest values of estimated measurement uncertainties for producing reference global horizontal irradiances and direct normal irradiances.

Measuring solar reflectance - Part II: Review of practical methods

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levinson, Ronnen; Akbari, Hashem; Berdahl, Paul [Heat Island Group, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2010-09-15

A companion article explored how solar reflectance varies with surface orientation and solar position, and found that clear sky air mass 1 global horizontal (AM1GH) solar reflectance is a preferred quantity for estimating solar heat gain. In this study we show that AM1GH solar reflectance R{sub g,0} can be accurately measured with a pyranometer, a solar spectrophotometer, or an updated edition of the Solar Spectrum Reflectometer (version 6). Of primary concern are errors that result from variations in the spectral and angular distributions of incident sunlight. Neglecting shadow, background and instrument errors, the conventional pyranometer technique can measure R{sub g,0} to within 0.01 for surface slopes up to 5:12 [23 ], and to within 0.02 for surface slopes up to 12:12 [45 ]. An alternative pyranometer method minimizes shadow errors and can be used to measure R{sub g,0} of a surface as small as 1 m in diameter. The accuracy with which it can measure R{sub g,0} is otherwise comparable to that of the conventional pyranometer technique. A solar spectrophotometer can be used to determine R{sub g,0}{sup *}, a solar reflectance computed by averaging solar spectral reflectance weighted with AM1GH solar spectral irradiance. Neglecting instrument errors, R{sub g,0}{sup *} matches R{sub g,0} to within 0.006. The air mass 1.5 solar reflectance measured with version 5 of the Solar Spectrum Reflectometer can differ from R{sub g,0}{sup *} by as much as 0.08, but the AM1GH output of version 6 of this instrument matches R{sub g,0}{sup *} to within about 0.01. (author)

Design and construction of a low cost solar simulator

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Supranto; Daud, W.R.W.; Sopian, K.; Othman, M.Y.; Yatim, B.

2000-01-01

A solar simulator has been designed and constructed for indoor testing for solar collectors. The simulator consists of 45 halogen lamps. Each lamp has a rated power of a 300 watts. The lamps in ten rows where each row consists of 4 to 5 lamps. The lamps occupied area 6 m 2 . Dimmers are used to control the amount of lamp intensities. The spacing between the lamps and the collector is about 150 cm. The intensities of the lamps are measured using a pyranometer. The intensity contours or mappings for minimum and maximum average pyranometer readings about 280 to 640 W/m 2 are produced, with errors are about of 3.16 % to 4.5 %. (Author)

Shortwave surface radiation network for observing small-scale cloud inhomogeneity fields

Science.gov (United States)

Lakshmi Madhavan, Bomidi; Kalisch, John; Macke, Andreas

2016-03-01

As part of the High Definition Clouds and Precipitation for advancing Climate Prediction Observational Prototype Experiment (HOPE), a high-density network of 99 silicon photodiode pyranometers was set up around Jülich (10 km × 12 km area) from April to July 2013 to capture the small-scale variability of cloud-induced radiation fields at the surface. In this paper, we provide the details of this unique setup of the pyranometer network, data processing, quality control, and uncertainty assessment under variable conditions. Some exemplary days with clear, broken cloudy, and overcast skies were explored to assess the spatiotemporal observations from the network along with other collocated radiation and sky imager measurements available during the HOPE period.

Comparison and Analysis of Instruments Measuring Plane-of-Array Irradiance for One-Axis Tracking Systems: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dooraghi, Michael R [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sengupta, Manajit [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Vignola, Frank [University of Oregon; Chiu, Chun-Yun [University of Oregon; Peterson, Josh [University of Oregon

2018-04-12

A variety of sensors are studied on a one-axis tracking surface and a horizontal surface in Golden, Colorado, and Eugene, Oregon. This is the first year of a long-term study that will look at not only a comparison between the instruments but also the longer-term degradation in calibration and/or performance. Initially, results from each location will be analyzed, and then results will be compared and contrasted between the two locations. A quick comparison at Eugene indicates that reference solar cells seem to compare better against a secondary standard pyranometer on a one-axis tracker than photodiode-based pyranometers. More study is needed to characterize and confirm this finding.

Evaluating Solar Resource Data Obtained from Multiple Radiometers Deployed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Habte, A.; Sengupta, M.; Andreas, A.; Wilcox, S.; Stoffel, T.

2014-09-01

Solar radiation resource measurements from radiometers are used to predict and evaluate the performance of photovoltaic and concentrating solar power systems, validate satellite-based models for estimating solar resources, and advance research in solar forecasting and climate change. This study analyzes the performance of various commercially available radiometers used for measuring global horizontal irradiances (GHI) and direct normal irradiances (DNI). These include pyranometers, pyrheliometers, rotating shadowband irradiometers, and a pyranometer with a shading ring deployed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Solar Radiation Research Laboratory (SRRL). The radiometers in this study were deployed for one year (from April 1, 2011, through March 31, 2012) and compared to measurements from radiometers with the lowest values of estimated measurement uncertainties for producing reference GHI and DNI.

Solar Load Inputs for USARIEM Thermal Strain Models and the Solar Radiation-Sensitive Components of the WBGT Index

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Matthew, William

2001-01-01

This report describes processes we have implemented to use global pyranometer-based estimates of mean radiant temperature as the common solar load input for the Scenario model, the USARIEM heat strain...

Comparison of Modelled and Measured Tilted Solar Irradiance for Photovoltaic Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Riyad Mubarak

2017-10-01

Full Text Available This work assesses the performance of five transposition models that estimate the global and diffuse solar irradiance on tilted planes based on the global horizontal irradiance. The modelled tilted irradiance values are compared to measured one-minute values from pyranometers and silicon sensors tilted at different angles at Hannover (Germany and NREL (Golden, CO, USA. It can be recognized that the deviations of the model of Liu and Jordan, Klucher and Perez from the measurements increases as the tilt angle increases and as the sensors are oriented away from the south direction, where they receive lower direct radiation than south-oriented surfaces. Accordingly, the vertical E, W and N planes show the highest deviation. Best results are found by the models from Hay and Davies and Reindl, when horizontal pyranometer measurements and a constant albedo value of 0.2 are used. The relative root mean squared difference (rRMSD of the anisotropic models does not exceed 11% for south orientation and low inclination angles (β = 10–60°, but reaches up to 28.9% at vertical planes. For sunny locations such as Golden, the Perez model provides the best estimates of global tilted irradiance for south-facing surfaces. The relative mean absolute difference (rMAD of the Perez model at NREL ranges from 4.2% for 40° tilt to 8.7% for 90° tilt angle, when horizontal pyranometer measurements and a measured albedo value are used; the use of measured albedo values instead of a constant value of 0.2 leads to a reduction of the deviation to 3.9% and 6.0%, respectively. The use of higher albedo values leads to a significant increase of rMAD. We also investigated the uncertainty resulting from using horizontal pyranometer measurements, in combination with constant albedo values, to estimate the incident irradiance on tilted photovoltaic (PV modules. We found that these uncertainties are small or negligible.

Estimation of global daily irradiation in complex topography zones using digital elevation models and meteosat images: Comparison of the results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martinez-Durban, M.; Zarzalejo, L.F.; Bosch, J.L.; Rosiek, S.; Polo, J.; Batlles, F.J.

2009-01-01

The knowledge of the solar irradiation in a certain place is fundamental for the suitable location of solar systems, both thermal and photovoltaic. On the local scale, the topography is the most important modulating factor of the solar irradiation on the surface. In this work the global daily irradiation is estimated concerning various sky conditions, in zones of complex topography. In order to estimate the global daily irradiation we use a methodology based on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), on one hand making use of pyranometer measurements and on the other hand utilizing satellite images. We underline that DTM application employing pyranometer measurements produces better results than estimation using satellite images, though accuracy of the same order is obtained in both cases for Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Bias Error (MBE).

Estimation of global daily irradiation in complex topography zones using digital elevation models and meteosat images: Comparison of the results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez-Durban, M. [Dpto. de Lenguajes y Computacion, Universidad de Almeria, 04120 Almeria (Spain); Zarzalejo, L.F.; Polo, J. [Dpto. de Energia, CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Bosch, J.L.; Rosiek, S.; Batlles, F.J. [Dpto. Fisica Aplicada, Universidad de Almeria, 04120 Almeria (Spain)

2009-09-15

The knowledge of the solar irradiation in a certain place is fundamental for the suitable location of solar systems, both thermal and photovoltaic. On the local scale, the topography is the most important modulating factor of the solar irradiation on the surface. In this work the global daily irradiation is estimated concerning various sky conditions, in zones of complex topography. In order to estimate the global daily irradiation we use a methodology based on a Digital Terrain Model (DTM), on one hand making use of pyranometer measurements and on the other hand utilizing satellite images. We underline that DTM application employing pyranometer measurements produces better results than estimation using satellite images, though accuracy of the same order is obtained in both cases for Root Mean Square Error (RMSE) and Mean Bias Error (MBE). (author)

Construction of a reliable model pyranometer for irradiance ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

2010-03-22

Mar 22, 2010 ... hour, latitude and cloud cover are the most widely or commonly used ... models in the Nigerian environment include that of Burari and Sambo .... influence the stability of the assembly (reducing its phase ... earth's surface.

Procedure for measuring the solar reflectance of flat or curved roofing assemblies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akbari, Hashem; Levinson, Ronnen [Heat Island Group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States); Stern, Stephanie [Cool Roof Rating Council, Oakland, CA 94612 (United States)

2008-07-15

The widely used methods to measure the solar reflectance of roofing materials include ASTM standards E903 (spectrometer), C1549 (reflectometer), and E1918 (pyranometer). Standard E903 uses a spectrometer with an integrating sphere to measure the solar spectral reflectance of an area approximately 0.1 cm{sup 2}. The solar spectral reflectance is then weighted with a solar spectral irradiance to calculate the solar reflectance. Standard C1549 uses a reflectometer to measure the solar reflectance of an area approximately 5 cm{sup 2}. Both E903 and C1549 are best suited to measurement of the solar reflectance of flat, homogeneous surfaces. Standard E1918 uses a pyranometer to measure the solar reflectance of an area approximately 10 m{sup 2}, and is best applied to large surfaces that may also be rough and/or non-uniform. We describe a technique that uses a pyranometer to measure the solar reflectance of a uniform or variegated sample with diffusely reflective surface of an area of approximately 1 m{sup 2}, and use this technique (referred to as E1918A) to measure the solar reflectances of low- and high-profile tile assemblies. For 10 large (10 m{sup 2}) tile assemblies whose E1918 solar reflectances ranged from 0.10 to 0.50, the magnitude of the difference between the E1918A and E1918 measurements did not exceed 0.02 for unicolor assemblies, and did not exceed 0.03 for multicolor assemblies. (author)

Insolation measurements with a portable CuS-CdS radiometer

Science.gov (United States)

Windawi, H. M.

1976-01-01

Solar radiation measurements were carried out with a portable Cu2S-Cds radiometer. The measurements were found to be accurate to better than 5% (better than 3% when sophisticated metering is employed). Calibration to an Eppley precision pyranometer is discussed.

Solar radiation at Parsons, West Virginia

Science.gov (United States)

James H. Patric; Stanley Caruso

1978-01-01

Twelve years of solar radiation data, measured with a Kipp-Zonen pyranometer, were recorded near Parsons, West Virginia. The data agree well with calculated values of potential and average radiation for the vicinity and are applicable to the central Appalachian region.

Journal of Earth System Science | Indian Academy of Sciences

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Abstract. Empirical formulae for estimation of hourly incoming shortwave radiation over the Indian Ocean under different cloud amounts have been developed by using the pyranometer measurements of the incoming solar radiation and the cloud observations during BOBMEX Pilot (October - November 1998) cruise.

Detecting drift bias and exposure errors in solar and photosynthetically active radiation data

Science.gov (United States)

All-black thermopile pyranometers are commonly used to measure solar radiation. Ensuring that the sensors are stable and free of drift is critical to accurately measure small variations in global solar irradiance (K'), which is a potential driver of changes in surface temperature. We demonstrate tha...

Analýza a vývoj difuzoru slunečního záření

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Pintr, Pavel; Rail, Zdeněk; Macner, David

2017-01-01

Roč. 62, č. 5 (2017), s. 159-162 ISSN 0447-6441 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) LO1206 Institutional support: RVO:61389021 Keywords : pyranometer * solar sensor * optical simulation Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers OBOR OECD: Optics (including laser optics and quantum optics)

Large scale solar district heating. Evaluation, modelling and designing - Appendices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heller, A.

2000-07-01

The appendices present the following: A) Cad-drawing of the Marstal CSHP design. B) Key values - large-scale solar heating in Denmark. C) Monitoring - a system description. D) WMO-classification of pyranometers (solarimeters). E) The computer simulation model in TRNSYS. F) Selected papers from the author. (EHS)

Comparison of Hourly Solar Radiation from a Ground–Based Station, Remote Sensing and Weather Forecast Models at a Coastal Site of South Italy (Lamezia Terme)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Feudo, Teresa Lo; Avolio, Elenio; Gullì, Daniel

2015-01-01

The solar radiation is a critical input parameter when working with solar energy and radiation dependent surface processes. In this study, we present preliminary results from an inter-comparison between hourly values from a pyranometer, MSG-SEVIRI sensor and two meso-scale models, WRF and RAMS, i...

How robust are in situ observations for validating satellite-derived albedo over the dark zone of the Greenland Ice Sheet?

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, J.; Hubbard, A., II; Irvine-Fynn, T. D.; Doyle, S. H.; Cook, J.; Stibal, M.; Smith, L. C.; Box, J. E.

2017-12-01

Calibration and validation of satellite-derived ice sheet albedo data require high-quality, in situ measurements commonly acquired by up and down facing pyranometers mounted on automated weather stations (AWS). However, direct comparison between ground and satellite-derived albedo can only be justified when the measured surface is homogeneous at the length-scale of both satellite pixel and in situ footprint. We used digital imagery acquired by an unmanned aerial vehicle to evaluate point-to-pixel albedo comparisons across the western, ablating margin of the Greenland Ice Sheet. Our results reveal that in situ measurements overestimate albedo by up to 0.10 at the end of the melt season because the ground footprints of AWS-mounted pyranometers are insufficient to capture the spatial heterogeneity of the ice surface as it progressively ablates and darkens. Statistical analysis of 21 AWS across the entire Greenland Ice Sheet reveals that almost half suffer from this bias, including some AWS located within the wet snow zone.

Solar irradiance measurements from the Danish Galathea 3 expedition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bason, Frank [SolData Instruments, Silkeborg (Denmark)

2008-07-01

The Danish Galathea 3 Expedition completed an eight month journey of exploration and discovery on April 25th, 2007, having set sail from Copenhagen on August 11th, 2006. SolData Instruments was privileged to be selected to contribute an ''optics table'' with pyranometers, ultraviolet, lux, sky luminance, PAR and other optical radiation detectors. These instruments recorded data continuously during the 100.000 kilometer voyage of the Royal Danish Navy vessel Vaedderen. The voyage provided global solar irradiance and other data as far north as the Arctic Circle near Greenland and as far south as Antarctica. The data collected was analyzed to validate a solar irradiance model described in this paper. A unique opportunity was also provided to check the performance of SolData photovoltaic pyranometers against data from a Kipp-Zonen CMll instrument. In addition to optical radiation, ionizing radiation and atmospheric pressure were also measured, and some interesting aspects of these measurements will also be mentioned. (orig.)

Low-energy house in Sisimiut - Measurement equipment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Philip Hvidthøft Delff; Rode, Carsten; Madsen, Henrik

on the power generated by the solar thermal system. A weather station equipped with thermometer, pyranometer and anemometer is installed on the building as well. Finally, it is described how to retrieve data from an SQL server which is configured to take monthly backups. R functions have been implemented...

Advancing Solar Irradiance Measurement for Climate-Related Studies: Accurate Constraint on Direct Aerosol Radiative Effect (DARE)

Science.gov (United States)

Tsay, Si-Chee; Ji, Q. Jack

2011-01-01

Earth's climate is driven primarily by solar radiation. As summarized in various IPCC reports, the global average of radiative forcing for different agents and mechanisms, such as aerosols or CO2 doubling, is in the range of a few W/sq m. However, when solar irradiance is measured by broadband radiometers, such as the fleet of Eppley Precision Solar Pyranometers (PSP) and equivalent instrumentation employed worldwide, the measurement uncertainty is larger than 2% (e.g., WMO specification of pyranometer, 2008). Thus, out of the approx. 184 W/sq m (approx.263 W/sq m if cloud-free) surface solar insolation (Trenberth et al. 2009), the measurement uncertainty is greater than +/-3.6 W/sq m, overwhelming the climate change signals. To discern these signals, less than a 1 % measurement uncertainty is required and is currently achievable only by means of a newly developed methodology employing a modified PSP-like pyranometer and an updated calibration equation to account for its thermal effects (li and Tsay, 2010). In this talk, we will show that some auxiliary measurements, such as those from a collocated pyrgeometer or air temperature sensors, can help correct historical datasets. Additionally, we will also demonstrate that a pyrheliometer is not free of the thermal effect; therefore, comparing to a high cost yet still not thermal-effect-free "direct + diffuse" approach in measuring surface solar irradiance, our new method is more economical, and more likely to be suitable for correcting a wide variety of historical datasets. Modeling simulations will be presented that a corrected solar irradiance measurement has a significant impact on aerosol forcing, and thus plays an important role in climate studies.

The assessment of four different correction models applied to the diffuse radiation measured with a shadow ring using global and normal beam radiation measurements for Beer Sheva, Israel

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kudish, Avraham I.; Evseev, Efim G. [Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, E D Bergmann Campus, Beer Sheva 84105 (Israel)

2008-02-15

The measurement of the diffuse radiation incident on a horizontal surface, a priori a straightforward task, is fraught with difficulties. It is possible to measure the diffuse radiation by three different techniques: two of which measure it directly and the third indirectly. The most accurate is the indirect one, which is based upon the concurrent measurements of the horizontal global and the normal incidence beam radiation. The disadvantage of this being the relatively expensive tracking system required for measuring the latter. The diffuse radiation can be measured directly with a pyranometer outfitted with either an occulting disk or shadow ring, which prevent the beam radiation from impinging on the pyranometer sensor. The occulting disk can provide accurate measurements of the diffuse radiation but it requires a relatively expensive sun tracking system in the east-west axis. The shadow ring is a stationary device with regard to the east-west axis and blocks the beam radiation component by creating a permanent shadow on the pyranometer sensor. The major disadvantage of the shadow ring is that it also blocks that portion of the diffuse radiation obscured by the shadow ring. This introduces a measurement error that must be corrected to account for that portion of the sky obscured by the shadow band. In addition to this geometric correction factor there is a need to correct for anisotropic sky conditions. Four correction models have been applied to the data for Beer Sheva, Israel and the results have been evaluated both graphically and statistically. An attempt has been made to score the relative performance of the models under different sky conditions. (author)

Performance characteristics of a perforated shadow band under clear sky conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brooks, Michael J. [School of Mechanical Engineering, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban (South Africa)

2010-12-15

A perforated, non-rotating shadow band is described for separating global solar irradiance into its diffuse and direct normal components using a single pyranometer. Whereas shadow bands are normally solid so as to occult the sensor of a pyranometer throughout the day, the proposed band has apertures cut from its circumference to intermittently expose the instrument sensor at preset intervals. Under clear sky conditions the device produces a saw tooth waveform of irradiance data from which it is possible to reconstruct separate global and diffuse curves. The direct normal irradiance may then be calculated giving a complete breakdown of the irradiance curves without need of a second instrument or rotating shadow band. This paper describes the principle of operation of the band and gives a mathematical model of its shading mask based on the results of an optical ray tracing study. An algorithm for processing the data from the perforated band system is described and evaluated. In an extended trial conducted at NREL's Solar Radiation Research Laboratory, the band coupled with a thermally corrected Eppley PSP produced independent curves for diffuse, global and direct normal irradiance with low mean bias errors of 5.6 W/m{sup 2}, 0.3 W/m{sup 2} and -2.6 W/m{sup 2} respectively, relative to collocated reference instruments. Random uncertainties were 9.7 W/m{sup 2} (diffuse), 17.3 W/m{sup 2} (global) and 19.0 W/m{sup 2} (direct). When the data processing algorithm was modified to include the ray trace model of sensor exposure, uncertainties increased only marginally, confirming the effectiveness of the model. Deployment of the perforated band system can potentially increase the accuracy of data from ground stations in predominantly sunny areas where instrumentation is limited to a single pyranometer. (author)

Extensive validation of CM SAF surface radiation products over Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Urraca, Ruben; Gracia-Amillo, Ana M; Koubli, Elena; Huld, Thomas; Trentmann, Jörg; Riihelä, Aku; Lindfors, Anders V; Palmer, Diane; Gottschalg, Ralph; Antonanzas-Torres, Fernando

2017-09-15

This work presents a validation of three satellite-based radiation products over an extensive network of 313 pyranometers across Europe, from 2005 to 2015. The products used have been developed by the Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) and are one geostationary climate dataset (SARAH-JRC), one polar-orbiting climate dataset (CLARA-A2) and one geostationary operational product. Further, the ERA-Interim reanalysis is also included in the comparison. The main objective is to determine the quality level of the daily means of CM SAF datasets, identifying their limitations, as well as analyzing the different factors that can interfere in the adequate validation of the products. The quality of the pyranometer was the most critical source of uncertainty identified. In this respect, the use of records from Second Class pyranometers and silicon-based photodiodes increased the absolute error and the bias, as well as the dispersion of both metrics, preventing an adequate validation of the daily means. The best spatial estimates for the three datasets were obtained in Central Europe with a Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) within 8-13 W/m 2 , whereas the MAD always increased at high-latitudes, snow-covered surfaces, high mountain ranges and coastal areas. Overall, the SARAH-JRC's accuracy was demonstrated over a dense network of stations making it the most consistent dataset for climate monitoring applications. The operational dataset was comparable to SARAH-JRC in Central Europe, but lacked of the temporal stability of climate datasets, while CLARA-A2 did not achieve the same level of accuracy despite predictions obtained showed high uniformity with a small negative bias. The ERA-Interim reanalysis shows the by-far largest deviations from the surface reference measurements.

The Impact of Indoor and Outdoor Radiometer Calibration on Solar Measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Habte, Aron; Sengupta, Manajit; Andreas, Afshin; Reda, Ibrahim; Robinson, Justin

2016-06-02

This study addresses the effect of calibration methodologies on calibration responsivities and the resulting impact on radiometric measurements. The calibration responsivities used in this study are provided by NREL's broadband outdoor radiometer calibration (BORCAL) and a few prominent manufacturers. The BORCAL method provides outdoor calibration responsivity of pyranometers and pyrheliometers at a 45 degree solar zenith angle and responsivity as a function of solar zenith angle determined by clear-sky comparisons to reference irradiance. The BORCAL method also employs a thermal offset correction to the calibration responsivity of single-black thermopile detectors used in pyranometers. Indoor calibrations of radiometers by their manufacturers are performed using a stable artificial light source in a side-by-side comparison of the test radiometer under calibration to a reference radiometer of the same type. These different methods of calibration demonstrated 1percent to 2 percent differences in solar irradiance measurement. Analyzing these values will ultimately enable a reduction in radiometric measurement uncertainties and assist in developing consensus on a standard for calibration.

Experimental Investigation on an Energy Efficient Solar Tunnel Dryer

OpenAIRE

M. R. Seshan Ram

2012-01-01

The research determines the effectiveness of the solar tunnel dryer developed and the product dried in the device is superior in quality and also it is compatible with branded products available in the market. The study also determines Acetamide as Phase Key words: Solar Tunnel Dryer, Acetamide as Phase Change Materials, Conversion into Thermal Energy, Thermocouple, and Pyranometer

Solar energy R + D programme, 1979-1983. Project F: solar radiation data

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1981-01-01

Individual presentations report work in the following areas: production of test reference years for model simulation of solar systems and components; global radiation atlas for horizontal surfaces; radiation data on inclined surfaces; intensity thresholds and cumulative frequency curves; useful energy output from solar collectors; network comparison of pyranometers; measurements of turbidity, spectral radiation, etc.; satellite data. (LEW)

Differential turbidity measurements at Hanford

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laulainen, N.S.; Bates, J.A.; Kleckner, E.W.; Michalsky, J.J.; Schrotke, P.M.; Thorp, J.M.

1978-01-01

An experiment to exmine differential turbidity effects on measured insolation between the Rattlesnake Observatory and the Hanford Meteorological Station was conducted during summer 1977. Several types of solar radiation instruments were used, including pyranometers, multiwavelength sunphotometers, and an active cavity radiometer. Preliminary results show dramatic temporal variability of aerosol loading at HMS and significant insolation and turbidity differences between the Observatory and HMS

Ambient temperature effects on broadband UV-B measurements using fluorescent phosphor (MgWO4)-based detectors

Science.gov (United States)

Dichter, Bronislaw K.; Beaubien, David J.; Beaubien, Arthur F.

1994-01-01

Results of field tests on a group of broadband UV-B pyranometers are presented. A brief description of the instrument is given. The effects of ambient temperature on thermally unregulated fluorescent phosphor (Robertson type) meters are presented and compared with the performance of thermally stabilized instruments. Means for correcting data from thermally unregulated instruments, where the prevailing ambient temperatures are known, are outlined.

Deployment and early results from the CanSIM (Canadian Solar Spectral Irradiance Meter) network

Science.gov (United States)

Tatsiankou, Viktar; Hinzer, Karin; Schriemer, Henry; McVey-White, Patrick; Beal, Richard

2017-09-01

Three of seven stations have been deployed as part of the Canadian Solar Spectral Irradiance (CanSIM) network situated in Ottawa, Varennes and Egbert to measure long term spectral variation of the direct normal (DNI) and global horizontal irradiances (GHI) across the country. Every station is equipped with a solar tracker, SolarSIM-D2+, SolarSIM-G+, and SR20 pyranometer, reporting the spectral DNI, GHI, diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI) and aerosol optical depth in the 280-4000 nm range, broadband DNI, GHI, and DHI, atmospheric total column ozone and water vapour amounts. The spectral GHI as measured by the SolarSIM-G+ was within 5% as compared to EKO MS-700 spectroradiometer in 350-1050 nm range on 17 March 2017. The difference in the GHI as reported by SolarSIM-G+ and SR20 pyranometer from all stations was within 2% on 14 April 2017. Furthermore, on this day, the daily GHI sum for the Ottawa, Varennes, and Egbert stations was 7.01, 6.95, and 7.11 kWh/m2, respectively, while the daily DNI sum was 10.65, 10.86, 10.04 kWh/m2, respectively.

Irradiance sensors for solar systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Storch, A.; Schindl, J. [Oesterreichisches Forschungs- und Pruefzentrum Arsenal GesmbH, Vienna (Austria). Business Unit Renewable Energy

2004-07-01

The presented project surveyed the quality of irradiance sensors used for applications in solar systems. By analysing an outdoor measurement, the accuracies of ten commercially available irradiance sensors were evaluated, comparing their results to those of a calibrated Kipp and Zonen pyranometer CM21. Furthermore, as a simple method for improving the quality of the results, for each sensor an irradiance-calibration was carried out and examined for its effectiveness. (orig.)

Dew Point Evaporative Comfort Cooling

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-01

Multiple DASs were installed at Fort Carson, and the data from all the sensors were stored and partially processed on Campbell Scientific Data Loggers. The...evaporative cooling technologies would be expected to easily overcome utility- scale water withdrawal rates. As an example, an evaluation of an...Ambient pressure Outdoor Setra 276 1% of full scale Pyranometer Horizontal Campbell Scientific CS300 5% of daily total The OAT measurement has an

A Power Case Study for Monocrystalline and Polycrystalline Solar Panels in Bursa City, Turkey

OpenAIRE

Taşçıoğlu, Ayşegül; Taşkın, Onur; Vardar, Ali

2016-01-01

It was intended to reveal the time dependent power generation under different loads for two different solar panels under the conditions of Bursa province in between August 19 and 25, 2014. The testing sets include solar panels, inverter, multimeter, accumulator, regulator, pyranometer, pyrheliometer, temperature sensor, and datalogger. The efficiency of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels was calculated depending on the climatic data’s measurements. As the result of the study, th...

Rating of roofs’ surfaces regarding their solar potential and suitability for PV systems, based on LiDAR data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lukač, Niko; Žlaus, Danijel; Seme, Sebastijan; Žalik, Borut; Štumberger, Gorazd

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► A new method for estimating and rating buildings roofs’ solar potential is presented. ► Considering LiDAR geospatial data together with pyranometer measurements. ► Use of multi-resolution shadowing model with new heuristic vegetation shadowing. ► High correlation between estimated solar potential and onsite measurements. -- Abstract: The roof surfaces within urban areas are constantly attracting interest regarding the installation of photovoltaic systems. These systems can improve self-sufficiency of electricity supply, and can help to decrease the emissions of greenhouse gases throughout urban areas. Unfortunately, some roof surfaces are unsuitable for installing photovoltaic systems. This presented work deals with the rating of roof surfaces within urban areas regarding their solar potential and suitability for the installation of photovoltaic systems. The solar potential of a roof’s surface is determined by a new method that combines extracted urban topography from LiDAR data with the pyranometer measurements of global and diffuse solar irradiances. Heuristic annual vegetation shadowing and a multi-resolution shadowing model, complete the proposed method. The significance of different influential factors (e.g. shadowing) was analysed extensively. A comparison between the results obtained by the proposed method and measurements performed on an actual PV power plant showed a correlation agreement of 97.4%.

A calibrated, high-resolution goes satellite solar insolation product for a climatology of Florida evapotranspiration

Science.gov (United States)

Paech, S.J.; Mecikalski, J.R.; Sumner, D.M.; Pathak, C.S.; Wu, Q.; Islam, S.; Sangoyomi, T.

2009-01-01

Estimates of incoming solar radiation (insolation) from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite observations have been produced for the state of Florida over a 10-year period (1995-2004). These insolation estimates were developed into well-calibrated half-hourly and daily integrated solar insolation fields over the state at 2 km resolution, in addition to a 2-week running minimum surface albedo product. Model results of the daily integrated insolation were compared with ground-based pyranometers, and as a result, the entire dataset was calibrated. This calibration was accomplished through a three-step process: (1) comparison with ground-based pyranometer measurements on clear (noncloudy) reference days, (2) correcting for a bias related to cloudiness, and (3) deriving a monthly bias correction factor. Precalibration results indicated good model performance, with a station-averaged model error of 2.2 MJ m-2/day (13%). Calibration reduced errors to 1.7 MJ m -2/day (10%), and also removed temporal-related, seasonal-related, and satellite sensor-related biases. The calibrated insolation dataset will subsequently be used by state of Florida Water Management Districts to produce statewide, 2-km resolution maps of estimated daily reference and potential evapotranspiration for water management-related activities. ?? 2009 American Water Resources Association.

Inconing solar radiation estimates at terrestrial surface using meteorological satellite

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arai, N.; Almeida, F.C. de.

1982-11-01

By using the digital images of the visible channel of the GOES-5 meteorological satellite, and a simple radiative transfer model of the earth's atmosphere, the incoming solar radiation reaching ground is estimated. A model incorporating the effects of Rayleigh scattering and water vapor absorption, the latter parameterized using the surface dew point temperature value, is used. Comparisons with pyranometer observations, and parameterization versus radiosonde water vapor absorption calculation are presented. (Author) [pt

Sera Fan-Pad Soğutma Sisteminin Performans Analizi: Yatay Sıcaklık ve Bağıl Nem Değişimleri

OpenAIRE

DAYIOĞLU, Mehmet Ali; SİLLELİ, Hasan Hüseyin

2014-01-01

An experimental study was conducted to determine the performance parameters of system, as well as gradients of temperature and humidity along greenhouse when opening fan-ped cooling system. Measurements related with greenhouse environment were carried out by using seven sensors for different locations, as well as portable instruments. For this purpose, the five digital temperature and humidity sensors and two pyranometers were used during experiments. Among them, two were located outside gree...

Derivation of High Spatial Resolution Albedo from UAV Digital Imagery: Application over the Greenland Ice Sheet

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jonathan C. Ryan

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Measurements of albedo are a prerequisite for modeling surface melt across the Earth's cryosphere, yet available satellite products are limited in spatial and/or temporal resolution. Here, we present a practical methodology to obtain centimeter resolution albedo products with accuracies of ±5% using consumer-grade digital camera and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV technologies. Our method comprises a workflow for processing, correcting and calibrating raw digital images using a white reference target, and upward and downward shortwave radiation measurements from broadband silicon pyranometers. We demonstrate the method with a set of UAV sorties over the western, K-sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The resulting albedo product, UAV10A1, covers 280 km2, at a resolution of 20 cm per pixel and has a root-mean-square difference of 3.7% compared to MOD10A1 and 4.9% compared to ground-based broadband pyranometer measurements. By continuously measuring downward solar irradiance, the technique overcomes previous limitations due to variable illumination conditions during and between surveys over glaciated terrain. The current miniaturization of multispectral sensors and incorporation of upward facing radiation sensors on UAV packages means that this technique could become increasingly common in field studies and used for a wide range of applications. These include the mapping of debris, dust, cryoconite and bioalbedo, and directly constraining surface energy balance models.

Optimization Controller for Mechatronic Sun Tracking System to Improve Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mustafa Engin

2013-01-01

Full Text Available An embedded system that contains hardware and software was developed for two-axis solar tracking system to improve photovoltaic panel utilization. The hardware section of the embedded system consists of a 32-bit ARM core microcontroller, motor driver circuits, a motion control unit, pyranometer, GPS receiver, and an anemometer. The real-time control algorithm enables the solar tracker to operate automatically without external control as a stand-alone system, combining the advantages of the open-loop and the closed-loop control methods. The pyranometer is employed to continuously send radiation data to the controller if the measured radiation is above the lower radiation limit the photovoltaic panel can generate power, guaranteeing the solar tracking process to be highly efficient. The anemometer is utilized in the system to ensure that the solar tracking procedure halts under high wind speed conditions to protect the entire system. Latitude, longitude, altitude, date, and real-time clock data are provided by GPS receiver. The algorithm calculates solar time using astronomical equations with GPS data and converts it to pulse-width modulated motor control signal. The overall objective of this study is to develop a control algorithm that improves performance and reliability of the two-axis solar tracker, focusing on optimization of the controller board, drive hardware, and software.

Derivation of high spatial resolution albedo from UAV digital imagery: application over the Greenland Ice Sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Ryan, Jonathan C.; Hubbard, Alun; Box, Jason E.; Brough, Stephen; Cameron, Karen; Cook, Joseph M.; Cooper, Matthew; Doyle, Samuel H.; Edwards, Arwyn; Holt, Tom; Irvine-Fynn, Tristram; Jones, Christine; Pitcher, Lincoln H.; Rennermalm, Asa K.; Smith, Laurence C.; Stibal, Marek; Snooke, Neal

2017-05-01

Measurements of albedo are a prerequisite for modelling surface melt across the Earth's cryosphere, yet available satellite products are limited in spatial and/or temporal resolution. Here, we present a practical methodology to obtain centimetre resolution albedo products with accuracies of 5% using consumer-grade digital camera and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies. Our method comprises a workflow for processing, correcting and calibrating raw digital images using a white reference target, and upward and downward shortwave radiation measurements from broadband silicon pyranometers. We demonstrate the method with a set of UAV sorties over the western, K-sector of the Greenland Ice Sheet. The resulting albedo product, UAV10A1, covers 280 km2, at a resolution of 20 cm per pixel and has a root-mean-square difference of 3.7% compared to MOD10A1 and 4.9% compared to ground-based broadband pyranometer measurements. By continuously measuring downward solar irradiance, the technique overcomes previous limitations due to variable illumination conditions during and between surveys over glaciated terrain. The current miniaturization of multispectral sensors and incorporation of upward facing radiation sensors on UAV packages means that this technique will likely become increasingly attractive in field studies and used in a wide range of applications for high temporal and spatial resolution surface mapping of debris, dust, cryoconite and bioalbedo and for directly constraining surface energy balance models.

Calibration of GOES-derived solar radiation data using a distributed network of surface measurements in Florida, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Sumner, David M.; Pathak, Chandra S.; Mecikalski, John R.; Paech, Simon J.; Wu, Qinglong; Sangoyomi, Taiye; Babcock, Roger W.; Walton, Raymond

2008-01-01

Solar radiation data are critically important for the estimation of evapotranspiration. Analysis of visible-channel data derived from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) using radiative transfer modeling has been used to produce spatially- and temporally-distributed datasets of solar radiation. An extensive network of (pyranometer) surface measurements of solar radiation in the State of Florida has allowed refined calibration of a GOES-derived daily integrated radiation data product. This refinement of radiation data allowed for corrections of satellite sensor drift, satellite generational change, and consideration of the highly-variable cloudy conditions that are typical of Florida. To aid in calibration of a GOES-derived radiation product, solar radiation data for the period 1995–2004 from 58 field stations that are located throughout the State were compiled. The GOES radiation product was calibrated by way of a three-step process: 1) comparison with ground-based pyranometer measurements on clear reference days, 2) correcting for a bias related to cloud cover, and 3) deriving month-by-month bias correction factors. Pre-calibration results indicated good model performance, with a station-averaged model error of 2.2 MJ m–2 day–1 (13 percent). Calibration reduced errors to 1.7 MJ m–2 day–1 (10 percent) and also removed time- and cloudiness-related biases. The final dataset has been used to produce Statewide evapotranspiration estimates.

About Solar Radiation Intensity Measurements and Data Processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MICH-VANCEA Claudiu

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Measuring the intensity of solar radiation is one of the directions of investigation necessary for the implementation of photovoltaic systems in a particular geographical area. This can be done by using specific measuring equipment (pyranometer sensors based onthermal or photovoltaic principle. In this paper it is presented a method for measuring solar radiation (which has two main components - direct radiation and diffuse radiation with sensors based on photovoltaic principle. Such data are processed for positioning solarpanels, in order their efficiency to be maximized.

The use of 2N3055 transistor as photosensory in solarymeter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bintoro; Sastroamidjojo, M.S.A.

1981-01-01

The characteristics of 2N3055 type transistor used for solarymeters sensor. It can be seen that transistor sensor has more response time. The response to against arrival solar intensity is linear. It can be used for solarymeter sensor after calibrated with pyranometer reference, but not so sensitive for 500 nanometer wavelength. It can be concluded that 2N3055 transistor made by Motrola than the made by R.C.A. because the 2N3055 transistor is more wide and more accurate than the R.C.A. transistor. (author tr.)

A new framework to increase the efficiency of large-scale solar power plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Alimohammadi, Shahrouz; Kleissl, Jan P.

2015-11-01

A new framework to estimate the spatio-temporal behavior of solar power is introduced, which predicts the statistical behavior of power output at utility scale Photo-Voltaic (PV) power plants. The framework is based on spatio-temporal Gaussian Processes Regression (Kriging) models, which incorporates satellite data with the UCSD version of the Weather and Research Forecasting model. This framework is designed to improve the efficiency of the large-scale solar power plants. The results are also validated from measurements of the local pyranometer sensors, and some improvements in different scenarios are observed. Solar energy.

Use of Pyranometers to Estimate PV Module Degradation Rates in the Field: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vignola, Frank; Peterson, Josh; Kessler, Rich; Mavromatakis, Fotis; Dooraghi, Mike; Sengupta, Manajit

2016-08-01

This paper describes a methodology that uses relative measurements to estimate the degradation rates of PV modules in the field. The importance of calibration and cleaning is illustrated. The number of years of field measurements needed to measure degradation rates with data from the field is cut in half using relative comparisons.

Evaluating the spatio-temporal performance of sky-imager-based solar irradiance analysis and forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Thomas; Kalisch, John; Lorenz, Elke; Heinemann, Detlev

2016-03-01

Clouds are the dominant source of small-scale variability in surface solar radiation and uncertainty in its prediction. However, the increasing share of solar energy in the worldwide electric power supply increases the need for accurate solar radiation forecasts. In this work, we present results of a very short term global horizontal irradiance (GHI) forecast experiment based on hemispheric sky images. A 2-month data set with images from one sky imager and high-resolution GHI measurements from 99 pyranometers distributed over 10 km by 12 km is used for validation. We developed a multi-step model and processed GHI forecasts up to 25 min with an update interval of 15 s. A cloud type classification is used to separate the time series into different cloud scenarios. Overall, the sky-imager-based forecasts do not outperform the reference persistence forecasts. Nevertheless, we find that analysis and forecast performance depends strongly on the predominant cloud conditions. Especially convective type clouds lead to high temporal and spatial GHI variability. For cumulus cloud conditions, the analysis error is found to be lower than that introduced by a single pyranometer if it is used representatively for the whole area in distances from the camera larger than 1-2 km. Moreover, forecast skill is much higher for these conditions compared to overcast or clear sky situations causing low GHI variability, which is easier to predict by persistence. In order to generalize the cloud-induced forecast error, we identify a variability threshold indicating conditions with positive forecast skill.

Building global and diffuse solar radiation series and assessing decadal trends in Girona (NE Iberian Peninsula)

Science.gov (United States)

Calbó, Josep; González, Josep-Abel; Sanchez-Lorenzo, Arturo

2017-08-01

Measurement of solar radiation was initiated in Girona, northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in the late 1980s. Initially, two pyranometers were installed, one of them equipped with a shadowband for measuring the diffuse component. Two other pyranometers currently exist, both ventilated and one of them shadowed, with a sphere, and a pyrheliometer for measuring direct radiation. Additional instruments for other shortwave and longwave components, clouds, and atmospheric aerosols have been installed in recent years. The station is subject to daily inspection, data are saved at high temporal resolution, and instruments are periodically calibrated, all in accordance with the directions of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network. The present paper describes how the entire series of global solar radiation (1987-2014) and diffuse radiation (1994-2014) were built, including the quality control process. Appropriate corrections to the diffuse component were made when a shadowband was employed to make measurements. Analysis of the series reveals that annual mean global irradiance presents a statistically significant increase of 2.5 W m-2 (1.4 %) decade-1 (1988-2014 period), mainly due to what occurs in summer (5.6 W m-2 decade-1). These results constitute the first assessment of solar radiation trends for the northeastern region of the Iberian Peninsula and are consistent with trends observed in the regional surroundings and also by satellite platforms, in agreement with the global brightening phenomenon. Diffuse radiation has decreased at -1.3 W m-2 (-2 %) decade-1 (1994-2014 period), which is a further indication of the reduced cloudiness and/or aerosol load causing the changes.

Evaluating the spatio-temporal performance of sky-imager-based solar irradiance analysis and forecasts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Schmidt

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Clouds are the dominant source of small-scale variability in surface solar radiation and uncertainty in its prediction. However, the increasing share of solar energy in the worldwide electric power supply increases the need for accurate solar radiation forecasts. In this work, we present results of a very short term global horizontal irradiance (GHI forecast experiment based on hemispheric sky images. A 2-month data set with images from one sky imager and high-resolution GHI measurements from 99 pyranometers distributed over 10 km by 12 km is used for validation. We developed a multi-step model and processed GHI forecasts up to 25 min with an update interval of 15 s. A cloud type classification is used to separate the time series into different cloud scenarios. Overall, the sky-imager-based forecasts do not outperform the reference persistence forecasts. Nevertheless, we find that analysis and forecast performance depends strongly on the predominant cloud conditions. Especially convective type clouds lead to high temporal and spatial GHI variability. For cumulus cloud conditions, the analysis error is found to be lower than that introduced by a single pyranometer if it is used representatively for the whole area in distances from the camera larger than 1–2 km. Moreover, forecast skill is much higher for these conditions compared to overcast or clear sky situations causing low GHI variability, which is easier to predict by persistence. In order to generalize the cloud-induced forecast error, we identify a variability threshold indicating conditions with positive forecast skill.

Evaluating the spatio-temporal performance of sky imager based solar irradiance analysis and forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, T.; Kalisch, J.; Lorenz, E.; Heinemann, D.

2015-10-01

Clouds are the dominant source of variability in surface solar radiation and uncertainty in its prediction. However, the increasing share of solar energy in the world-wide electric power supply increases the need for accurate solar radiation forecasts. In this work, we present results of a shortest-term global horizontal irradiance (GHI) forecast experiment based on hemispheric sky images. A two month dataset with images from one sky imager and high resolutive GHI measurements from 99 pyranometers distributed over 10 km by 12 km is used for validation. We developed a multi-step model and processed GHI forecasts up to 25 min with an update interval of 15 s. A cloud type classification is used to separate the time series in different cloud scenarios. Overall, the sky imager based forecasts do not outperform the reference persistence forecasts. Nevertheless, we find that analysis and forecast performance depend strongly on the predominant cloud conditions. Especially convective type clouds lead to high temporal and spatial GHI variability. For cumulus cloud conditions, the analysis error is found to be lower than that introduced by a single pyranometer if it is used representatively for the whole area in distances from the camera larger than 1-2 km. Moreover, forecast skill is much higher for these conditions compared to overcast or clear sky situations causing low GHI variability which is easier to predict by persistence. In order to generalize the cloud-induced forecast error, we identify a variability threshold indicating conditions with positive forecast skill.

Solar radiation estimation based on the insolation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Assis, F.N. de; Steinmetz, S.; Martins, S.R.; Mendez, M.E.G.

1998-01-01

A series of daily global solar radiation data measured by an Eppley pyranometer was used to test PEREIRA and VILLA NOVA’s (1997) model to estimate the potential of radiation based on the instantaneous values measured at solar noon. The model also allows to estimate the parameters of PRESCOTT’s equation (1940) assuming a = 0,29 cosj. The results demonstrated the model’s validity for the studied conditions. Simultaneously, the hypothesis of generalizing the use of the radiation estimative formulas based on insolation, and using K = Ko (0,29 cosj + 0,50 n/N), was analysed and confirmed [pt

High-resolution global irradiance monitoring from photovoltaic systems

Science.gov (United States)

Buchmann, Tina; Pfeilsticker, Klaus; Siegmund, Alexander; Meilinger, Stefanie; Mayer, Bernhard; Pinitz, Sven; Steinbrecht, Wolfgang

2016-04-01

Reliable and regional differentiated power forecasts are required to guarantee an efficient and economic energy transition towards renewable energies. Amongst other renewable energy technologies, e.g. wind mills, photovoltaic systems are an essential component of this transition being cost-efficient and simply to install. Reliable power forecasts are however required for a grid integration of photovoltaic systems, which among other data requires high-resolution spatio-temporal global irradiance data. Hence the generation of robust reviewed global irradiance data is an essential contribution for the energy transition. To achieve this goal our studies introduce a novel method which makes use of photovoltaic power generation in order to infer global irradiance. The method allows to determine high-resolution temporal global irradiance data (one data point every 15 minutes at each location) from power data of operated photovoltaic systems. Due to the multitude of installed photovoltaic systems (in Germany) the detailed spatial coverage is much better than for example only using global irradiance data from conventional pyranometer networks (e.g. from the German Weather Service). Our designated method is composed of two components: a forward component, i.e. to conclude from predicted global irradiance to photovoltaic (PV) power, and a backward component, i.e. from PV power with suitable calibration to global irradiance. The forward process is modelled by using the radiation transport model libRadtran (B. Mayer and A. Kylling (1)) for clear skies to obtain the characteristics (orientation, size, temperature dependence, …) of individual PV systems. For PV systems in the vicinity of a meteorological station, these data are validated against calibrated pyranometer readings. The forward-modelled global irradiance is used to determine the power efficiency for each photovoltaic system using non-linear optimisation techniques. The backward component uses the power efficiency

Cloud cover detection combining high dynamic range sky images and ceilometer measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Román, R.; Cazorla, A.; Toledano, C.; Olmo, F. J.; Cachorro, V. E.; de Frutos, A.; Alados-Arboledas, L.

2017-11-01

This paper presents a new algorithm for cloud detection based on high dynamic range images from a sky camera and ceilometer measurements. The algorithm is also able to detect the obstruction of the sun. This algorithm, called CPC (Camera Plus Ceilometer), is based on the assumption that under cloud-free conditions the sky field must show symmetry. The symmetry criteria are applied depending on ceilometer measurements of the cloud base height. CPC algorithm is applied in two Spanish locations (Granada and Valladolid). The performance of CPC retrieving the sun conditions (obstructed or unobstructed) is analyzed in detail using as reference pyranometer measurements at Granada. CPC retrievals are in agreement with those derived from the reference pyranometer in 85% of the cases (it seems that this agreement does not depend on aerosol size or optical depth). The agreement percentage goes down to only 48% when another algorithm, based on Red-Blue Ratio (RBR), is applied to the sky camera images. The retrieved cloud cover at Granada and Valladolid is compared with that registered by trained meteorological observers. CPC cloud cover is in agreement with the reference showing a slight overestimation and a mean absolute error around 1 okta. A major advantage of the CPC algorithm with respect to the RBR method is that the determined cloud cover is independent of aerosol properties. The RBR algorithm overestimates cloud cover for coarse aerosols and high loads. Cloud cover obtained only from ceilometer shows similar results than CPC algorithm; but the horizontal distribution cannot be obtained. In addition, it has been observed that under quick and strong changes on cloud cover ceilometers retrieve a cloud cover fitting worse with the real cloud cover.

Rugged, Low Cost, Environmental Sensors for a Turbulent World

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, B.; Sandell, C. T.; Wickert, A. D.

2017-12-01

Ongoing scientific research and resource management require a diverse range of high-quality and low-cost sensors to maximize the number and type of measurements that can be obtained. To accomplish this, we have developed a series of diversified sensors for common environmental applications. The TP-DownHole is an ultra-compact temperature and pressure sensor designed for use in CMT (Continuous Multi-channel Tubing) multi-level wells. Its 1 mm water depth resolution, 30 cm altitude resolution, and rugged design make it ideal for both water level measurements and monitoring barometric pressure and associated temperature changes. The TP-DownHole sensor has also been incorporated into a self-contained, fully independent data recorder for extreme and remote environments. This device (the TP-Solo) is based around the TP-DownHole design, but has self-contained power and data storage and is designed to collect data independently for up to 6 months (logging at once an hour), creating a specialized tool for extreme environment data collection. To gather spectral information, we have also developed a very low cost photodiode-based Lux sensor to measure spectral irradiance; while this does not measure the entire solar radiation spectrum, simple modeling to rescale the remainder of the solar spectrum makes this a cost-effective alternative to a thermopile pyranometer. Lastly, we have developed an instrumentation amplifier which is designed to interface a wide range of sensitive instruments to common data logging systems, such as thermopile pyranometers, thermocouples, and many other analog output sensors. These three instruments are the first in a diverse family aimed to give researchers a set of powerful and low-cost tools for environmental instrumentation.

Measurement and modeling of shortwave irradiance components in cloud-free atmospheres

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Halthore, R.N.

1999-08-04

Atmosphere scatters and absorbs incident solar radiation modifying its spectral content and decreasing its intensity at the surface. It is very useful to classify the earth-atmospheric solar radiation into several components--direct solar surface irradiance (E{sub direct}), diffuse-sky downward surface irradiance (E{sub diffuse}), total surface irradiance, and upwelling flux at the surface and at the top-of-the atmosphere. E{sub direct} depends only on the extinction properties of the atmosphere without regard to details of extinction, namely scattering or absorption; furthermore it can be accurately measured to high accuracy (0.3%) with the aid of an active cavity radiometer (ACR). E{sub diffuse} has relatively larger uncertainties both in its measurement using shaded pyranometers and in model estimates, owing to the difficulty in accurately characterizing pyranometers and in measuring model inputs such as surface reflectance, aerosol single scattering albedo, and phase function. Radiative transfer model simulations of the above surface radiation components in cloud-free skies using measured atmospheric properties show that while E{sub direct} estimates are closer to measurements, E{sub diffuse} is overestimated by an amount larger than the combined uncertainties in model inputs and measurements, illustrating a fundamental gap in the understanding of the magnitude of atmospheric absorption in cloud-free skies. The excess continuum type absorption required to reduce the E{sub diffuse} model overestimate ({approximately}3--8% absorptance) would significantly impact climate prediction and remote sensing. It is not clear at present what the source for this continuum absorption is. Here issues related to measurements and modeling of the surface irradiance components are discussed.

Standard Test Method for Solar Transmittance (Terrestrial) of Sheet Materials Using Sunlight

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

1986-01-01

1.1 This test method covers the measurement of solar transmittance (terrestrial) of materials in sheet form by using a pyranometer, an enclosure, and the sun as the energy source. 1.2 This test method also allows measurement of solar transmittance at angles other than normal incidence. 1.3 This test method is applicable to sheet materials that are transparent, translucent, textured, or patterned. 1.4 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

Assessment of four shadow band correction models using beam normal irradiance data from the United Kingdom and Israel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lopez, G.; Muneer, T.; Claywell, R.

2004-01-01

Diffuse irradiance is a fundamental factor for all solar resource considerations. Diffuse irradiance is accurately determined by calculation from global and beam normal (direct) measurements. However, beam solar measurements and related support can be very expensive, and therefore, shadow bands are often used, along with pyranometers, to block the solar disk. The errors that result from the use of shadow bands are well known and have been studied by many authors. The thrust of this article is to examine four recognized techniques for correcting shadow band based, diffuse irradiance and statistically evaluate their individual performance using data culled from two contrasting sites within the United Kingdom and Israel

Parameterization models for solar radiation and solar technology applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Khalil, Samy A. [National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Solar and Space Department, Marsed Street, Helwan, 11421 Cairo (Egypt)

2008-08-15

Solar radiation is very important for the evaluation and wide use of solar renewable energy systems. The development of calibration procedures for broadband solar radiation photometric instrumentation and the improvement of broadband solar radiation measurement accuracy have been done. An improved diffuse sky reference and photometric calibration and characterization software for outdoor pyranometer calibrations are outlined. Parameterizations for direct beam, total hemispherical and diffuse sky radiation and solar radiation technology are briefly reviewed. The uncertainties for various broadband solar radiations of solar energy and atmospheric effects are discussed. The varying responsivities of solar radiation with meteorological, statistical and climatological parameters and possibility atmospheric conditions was examined. (author)

Solar nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tlalka, R.

1977-01-01

Brief characteristics are given of solar radiation and of its spectral range. The relation is derived for the gas pressure in the centre of the Sun and the mechanism is described of particle interactions in the Sun. Using the Eddington model the basic nuclear reactions in the Sun are described, namely the proton-proton chain and the C-N cycle. The energy transfer is discussed from the Sun to the boundaries of the Earth atmosphere and inside the atmosphere. The measurement of solar energy is conducted with actinometers, i.e., pyrheliometers, pyranometers and combinations thereof. The results of solar radiation measurement in different weather conditions are graphically represented. (J.B.)

Parameterization models for solar radiation and solar technology applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalil, Samy A.

2008-01-01

Solar radiation is very important for the evaluation and wide use of solar renewable energy systems. The development of calibration procedures for broadband solar radiation photometric instrumentation and the improvement of broadband solar radiation measurement accuracy have been done. An improved diffuse sky reference and photometric calibration and characterization software for outdoor pyranometer calibrations are outlined. Parameterizations for direct beam, total hemispherical and diffuse sky radiation and solar radiation technology are briefly reviewed. The uncertainties for various broadband solar radiations of solar energy and atmospheric effects are discussed. The varying responsivities of solar radiation with meteorological, statistical and climatological parameters and possibility atmospheric conditions was examined

Measurement tolerance analysis of solar radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cimo, J.; Maderkova, L.; Horak, J.; Igaz, D.; Pasztorova, S. [Department of Biomereorlogy and Hydrology, Slovak Agriculture University, Nitra (Slovakia)

2012-07-01

Solar radiant energy is bane and almost the only one source of heat for Earth 's surface and for atmosphere, and almost the only one source of energy for physical processes. Solar energy is one of the most available and the most ecological energy source. Currently the firm Kipp and Zonen belongs to prominent producer of sensors for measuring of global radiation. These sensors are the most used in our country and also in network of meteorological measurements of WMO. Therefore the two types of measuring sensors for global radiation (pyranometer PMP6, CMP 11) in comparison with calculation method Savin-Angstrom are analysed. (author)

Evaluation of the Delta-T SPN1 radiometer for the measurement of solar irradiance components

Science.gov (United States)

Estelles, Victor; Serrano, David; Segura, Sara; Wood, John; Webb, Nick; Utrillas, Maria Pilar

2016-04-01

In this study we analyse the performance of an SPN1 radiometer built by Delta-T Devices Ltd. to retrieve global solar irradiance at ground and its components (diffuse, direct) in comparison with measurements from two Kipp&Zonen CMP21 radiometers and a Kipp&Zonen CHP1 pirheliometer, mounted on an active Solys-2 suntracker at the Burjassot site (Valencia, Spain) using data acquired every minute during years 2013 - 2015. The measurement site is close to sea level (60 m a.s.l.), near the Mediterranean coast (10 km) and within the metropolitan area of Valencia City (over 1.500.000 inhabitants). The SPN1 is an inexpensive and versatile instrument for the measurement of the three components of the solar radiation without any mobile part and without any need to azimuthally align the instrument to track the sun (http://www.delta-t.co.uk). The three components of the solar radiation are estimated from a combination of measurements performed by 7 different miniature thermopiles. The SPN1 pyranometer measures the irradiance between 400 and 2700 nm, and the nominal uncertainty for the individual readings is about 8% ± 10 W/m2 (5% for the daily averages). The pyranometer Kipp&Zonen CMP21 model is a secondary standard for the measurement of broadband solar global irradiance in horizontal planes. Two ventilated CMP21 are used for the measurement of the global and diffuse irradiances. The expected total daily uncertainty of the radiometer is estimated to be 2%. The pirheliometer Kipp&Zonen CHP1 is designed for the measurement of the direct irradiance. The principles are similar to the CMP21 pyranometer. The results of the comparison show that the global irradiance from the SPN1 compares very well with the CMP21, with absolute RMSD and MBD differences below the combined uncertainties (15 W/m2 and -5.4 W/m2, respectively; relative RMSD of 3.1%). Both datasets are very well correlated, with a correlation coefficient higher than 0.997 and a slope and intercept very close to 1 and 0

Energy rating procedure for PV-modules; Energy rating procedure voor PV-modules

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Van der Borg, N.J.C.M.; Jansen, M.J. [ECN Zon, Petten (Netherlands)

2005-10-15

The performance of PV-modules is usually characterized by the nominal power at standard test conditions. However more relevant for the end-user is the energy production. To arrive at a so-called energy rating procedure the P(G{sub i},T{sub m}) matrix is defined, which makes it possible to calculate the expected annual energy production of a PV-module at any given location with known frequency distribution of horizontal irradiation and ambient temperature. In order to make the de P(G{sub i},T{sub m}) independent of the time and location of the tests the effective irradiation (G{sub i}) is measured with a device with the same characteristics as the module under test. Such a device can be a suitable reference cell or, even better, the module under test itself. The latter, however, is only possible in case the module under test is stable in time. Measurements were performed to test the applicability of the so-called self-reference for a-Si modules. Furthermore the difference between the effective irradiance and the real irradiance (measured with a pyranometer) was quantified for the test location Petten, the Netherlands. The conclusions are: Self-reference is not applicable for a-Si modules because of the time instability, even after 1 full year of degradation; Self-reference signals (the short circuit current of the module under test) can be calibrated outdoor by comparison with a pyranometer at irradiance levels above 800 W/m{sup 2}. The uncertainty of such a calibration is within 3%; The difference between the effective irradiance and the real irradiance on annual basis at Petten is virtually zero for x-Si modules and about 1% for a-Si modules. [Dutch] Het is gebruikelijk om de prestatie van PV-modules te karakteriseren met het nominale vermogen onder standaard testcondities (STC). Echter dit nominaal vermogen geeft geen directe indicatie voor de energieopbrengst. Om tot een karakteristiek voor de energie-opbrengst (energy rating) te komen wordt de prestatie van de

Long-term variability and impact on human health of biologically active UV radiation in Moscow

Science.gov (United States)

Zhdanova, Ekaterina; Chubarova, Natalia

2014-05-01

Measurements of erythemally weighted UV irradiance (Qer) have been performed at the Meteorological Observatory of Moscow State University since 1999 with the UVB-1 YES pyranometers. These types of devices are broadband with a spectral sensitivity curve close to the action spectrum of erythema. Main uncertainties of UVB-1 YES measurements include the difference in spectral curves of the instrument and the action spectrum of erythema, as well as the deviation from the cosine law. These uncertainties were taken into account in the database of Qer measurements (Chubarova, 2008. Additional corrections of UVB-1 measurements at low ambient temperatures have been made. We analyze interannual, seasonal and diurnal Qer changes over the time period 1999-2012. In addition, the comparisons with the results of UV reconstruction model (Chubarova, 2008) are made. This model allows us to evaluate relative changes in Qer due to variations in total ozone, effective cloud amount transmission, aerosol and cloud optical thickness since 1968. It is important to note that the main reason for UV irradiance monitoring development is the strong influence of UV irradiance on the biosphere and especially on human health mainly on human skin (CIE, 1993, CIE, 2006) and eyes (Oriowo, M. et al., 2001). Based on the detailed studies we have shown the possibility of utilizing UVB-1 pyranometers for measuring the eye-damage UV radiation. Parallel measurements by the Bentham DTM-300 spectrometer and the UVB-1 YES pyranometer at the Innsbruck Medical University (Austria) have provided us the calibration factor in eye-damage units for this broadband instrument. Influence of main geophysical factors on different types of UV irradiance is estimated by means the RAF ideology (Booth, Madronich, 1994). We discuss the responses of different types of biologically active UV radiation to the impact of various atmospheric factors. The UV conditions (deficiency, optimum, excess for human) are analyzed according to

Applying spaceborne reflectivity measurements for calculation of the solar ultraviolet radiation at ground level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. N. den Outer

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Long-term analysis of cloud effects on ultraviolet (UV radiation on the ground using spaceborne observations requires the use of instruments that have operated consecutively. The longest data record can be built from the reflectivity measurements produced by the instruments Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometers (TOMS flown on Nimbus 7 from 1979 to 1992, TOMS on Earth Probe from 1996 to 2005, and the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI flown on EOS Aura since 2004. The reflectivity data produced by TOMS on Earth Probe is only included until 2002. A comparison is made with cloud effects inferred from ground-based pyranometer measurements at over 83 World Radiation Data Centre stations. Modelled UV irradiances utilizing the standard reflectivity are compared with measurements of UV irradiances at eight European low-elevation stations. The reflectivity data of the two TOMS instruments shows a consistent agreement, and the required corrections are of low percentage, i.e. 2–3%. In contrast, the reflectivity product of OMI requires correction of 7–10%, and a solar angle dependency therein is more pronounced. These corrections were inferred from a comparison with pyranometer data, and tested using the UV measurements. The average reduction of UV radiation due to clouds for all sites together indicates a small trend: a diminishing cloudiness, in line with ground-based UV observations. Uncorrected implementation of the reflectivity data would have indicated the opposite.

An optimal area was established for reflectivity data for the calculation of daily sums of UV radiation. It measures approximately 1.25° in latitudinal direction for square-shaped areas overhead the ground-based UV stations. Such an area can be traversed within 5 to 7 h at the average wind speeds found for the West European continent.

Spatio-temporal representativeness of ground-based downward solar radiation measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarz, Matthias; Wild, Martin; Folini, Doris

2017-04-01

Surface solar radiation (SSR) is most directly observed with ground based pyranometer measurements. Besides measurement uncertainties, which arise from the pyranometer instrument itself, also errors attributed to the limited spatial representativeness of observations from single sites for their large-scale surrounding have to be taken into account when using such measurements for energy balance studies. In this study the spatial representativeness of 157 homogeneous European downward surface solar radiation time series from the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA) and the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) were examined for the period 1983-2015 by using the high resolution (0.05°) surface solar radiation data set from the Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM-SAF SARAH) as a proxy for the spatiotemporal variability of SSR. By correlating deseasonalized monthly SSR time series form surface observations against single collocated satellite derived SSR time series, a mean spatial correlation pattern was calculated and validated against purely observational based patterns. Generally decreasing correlations with increasing distance from station, with high correlations (R2 = 0.7) in proximity to the observational sites (±0.5°), was found. When correlating surface observations against time series from spatially averaged satellite derived SSR data (and thereby simulating coarser and coarser grids), very high correspondence between sites and the collocated pixels has been found for pixel sizes up to several degrees. Moreover, special focus was put on the quantification of errors which arise in conjunction to spatial sampling when estimating the temporal variability and trends for a larger region from a single surface observation site. For 15-year trends on a 1° grid, errors due to spatial sampling in the order of half of the measurement uncertainty for monthly mean values were found.

Measuring Broadband IR Irradiance in the Direct Solar Beam and Recent Developments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reda, Ibrahim; Andreas, Afshin; Dooraghi, Mike; Habte, Aron; Sengupta, Manajit; Kutchenreiter, Mark

2016-12-14

Solar and atmospheric science radiometers such as pyranometers, pyrheliometers, and photovoltaic cells are calibrated with traceability to a consensus reference which is maintained by Absolute Cavity Radiometers (ACRs). An ACR is an open cavity with no window, developed to measure the extended broadband spectrum of the terrestrial direct solar beam irradiance that extends beyond the ultraviolet and infrared bands; i.e. below 0.2 um and above 50 um, respectively. On the other hand, the pyranometers and pyrheliometers were developed to measure broadband shortwave irradiance from approximately 0.3 um to 3 um, while the present photovoltaic cells are limited to the spectral range of approximately 0.3 um to 1 um. The broadband mismatch of ACR versus such radiometers causes discrepancy in radiometers' calibration methods that has not been discussed or addressed in the solar and atmospheric science literature. Pyrgeometers, which measure the atmospheric longwave irradiance, are also used for solar and atmospheric science applications and calibrated with traceability to a consensus reference, yet they are calibrated during nighttime only, because no consensus reference has been established for the daytime longwave irradiance. This poster describes a method to measure the broadband longwave irradiance in the terrestrial direct solar beam from 3 um to 50 um, as a first step that might be used to help develop calibration methods to address the mismatch between broadband ACR and shortwave radiometers, and the lack of a daytime reference for pyrgeometers. The described method is used to measure the irradiance from sunrise to sunset; the irradiance varied from approximately 1 Wm-2 to 16 Wm-2 with an estimated uncertainty of 1.5 Wm-2, for a solar zenith angle range from 80 degrees to 16 degrees, respectively. Recent development shows that there is greater than 1.1 percent bias in measuring shortwave solar irradiance.

Comparison of surface energy fluxes with satellite-derived surface energy flux estimates from a shrub-steppe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirkham, R.R.

1993-12-01

This thesis relates the components of the surface energy balance (i.e., net radiation, sensible and latent heat flux densities, soil heat flow) to remotely sensed data for native vegetation in a semi-arid environment. Thematic mapper data from Landsat 4 and 5 were used to estimate net radiation, sensible heat flux (H), and vegetation amount. Several sources of ground truth were employed. They included soil water balance using the neutron thermalization method and weighing lysimeters, and the measurement of energy fluxes with the Bowen ratio energy balance (BREB) technique. Sensible and latent heat flux were measured at four sites on the U.S. Department of Energy's Hanford Site using a weighing lysimeter and/or BREB stations. The objective was to calibrate an aerodynamic transport equation that related H to radiant surface temperature. The transport equation was then used with Landsat thermal data to generate estimates of H and compare these estimates against H values obtained with BREB/lysimeters at the time of overflight. Landsat and surface meteorologic data were used to estimate the radiation budget terms at the surface. Landsat estimates of short-wave radiation reflected from the surface correlate well with reflected radiation measured using inverted Eppley pyranometers. Correlation of net radiation estimates determined from satellite data, pyranometer, air temperature, and vapor pressure compared to net radiometer values obtained at time of overflight were excellent for a single image, but decrease for multiple images. Soil heat flux, G T , is a major component of the energy balance in arid systems and G T generally decreases as vegetation cover increases. Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values generated from Landsat thermatic mapper data were representative of field observations of the presence of green vegetation, but it was not possible to determine a single relationship between NDVI and G T for all sites

Correlations during the day of diffuse solar radiation to the global solar radiation in Vigo (Spain); Correlaciones minutarias, horarias y diarias de la radiacion solar difusa a la radiacion solar global en Vigo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vazquez, M.; Santos, J.

2004-07-01

In the Solar Energy Lab of the University of Vigo a weather station has been in operation since October 2001. Two Kipp and Zonen pyranometers, one of them with a shade ring, have been measuring global and diffuse solar radiation. From these data of the years 2002 and 2003, the diffuse-to-global minute, hourly and daily correlations are obtained and shown in graphs. These correlations are also plotted together with other correlations referred in the literature for comparison. The graphs show the effect of the clear-cloudy behaviour of the solar radiation for short periods of time, effect that is not seen for larger periods of time as daily periods. (Author)

Share of erythema dose of solar radiation in high mountains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Blumthaler, M.; Ambach, W.

1987-01-01

The erythema dose was measured using a Robertson-Berger Sunburn Meter. The spectral sensitivity of the detector is adapted to an erythema action spectrum with the optical center at about 300 nm. The erythema dose is expressed in the biologically relevant Sunburn Units (SU). The Robertson-Berger Sunburn Meter has been recommended by the WMO for global monitoring of solar UV-B erythema dose. UV-A radiation was measured with a UV-radiometer. The spectral sensitivity of the detector has a flat maximum at 345 nm and a half band width of +- 25 nm. Global radiation was measured using a pyranometer. All detectors were placed horizontally and calibrated several times. Readings were taken in intervals of one minute

CIE, Vitamin D and DNA Damage: A Synergetic Study in Thessaloniki, Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Zempila, Melina Maria; Taylor, Michael; Fountoulakis, Ilias; Koukouli, Maria Elissavet; Bais, Alkiviadis; Arola, Antii; van Geffen, Jos; van Weele, Michiel; van der A, Ronald; Kouremeti, Natalia; Kazadzis, Stelios; Meleti, Chariklia; Balis, Dimitrios

2016-08-01

The present study aims to validate different approaches for the estimation of three photobiological effective doses: the erythemal UV, the vitamin D and that for DNA damage, using high temporal resolution surface- based measurements of solar UV from 2005-2015. Data from a UV spectrophotometer, a multi-filter radiometer, and a UV radiation pyranometer that are located in Thessaloniki, Greece are used together with empirical relations, algorithms and models in order to calculate the desired quantities. In addition to the surface-based dose retrievals, OMI/Aura and the combined SCIAMACHY/Envisat and GOME/MetopA satellite products are also used in order to assess the accuracy of each method for deriving the photobiological doses.

Diagnostic technology and an expert system for photovoltaic systems using the learning method

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yagi, Yasuhiro; Kishi, Hitoshi; Hagihara, Ryuzou; Tanaka, Toshiya; Kozuma, Shinichi; Ishida, Takeo; Waki, Masahiro; Tanaka, Makoto; Kiyama, Seiichi [SANYO Electric Co. Ltd., New Materials Research Center, Moriguchi City, Osaka (Japan)

2003-02-01

Diagnostic technology for photovoltaic (PV) systems was developed, using the learning method to take each site's conditions into account. This technology employs diagnostic criteria databases to analyze data acquired from the PV systems. These criteria are updated monthly for each site using analyzed data. To check the shadows on the PV modules and pyranometer, the sophisticated verification method was also applied to this technology. After the diagnosis, a basket method provides maintenance advice for the PV systems. Based on the results of precise diagnoses, this expert system offers quick and proper maintenance advice within a few minutes. This technology is highly useful, because it greatly simplifies the servicing and maintenance of PV systems. (Author)

Final Technical Report: Low-Cost Solar Variability Sensors for Ubiquitous Deployment.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lave, Matthew Samuel [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)

2016-01-01

In this project, an integrated solution to measuring and collecting solar variability data called the solar variability datalogger (SVD) was developed, tested, and the value of its data to distribution grid integration studies was demonstrated. This work addressed the problem that high-frequency solar variability is rarely measured – due to the high cost and complex installation of existing solar irradiance measuring pyranometers – but is critical to the accurate determination of the impact of photovoltaics to electric grid operation. For example, up to a 300% difference in distribution grid voltage regulator tap change operations (a measure of the impact of PV) [1] has been observed due solely to different solar variability profiles.

A sensor element for direct radiation measurement

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bajons, P.; Wernhart, U.; Zeiler, H. [University of Vienna (Austria). Institut of Material Physics

1998-08-01

A combination of a photodiode with a nonimaging light concentrator is developed to perform measurements of the direct solar radiation component. A prototype composed of low price elements is taken as a starting point to discuss the problems which must be faced when calibrating such sensors. By this the influence of the angle of incidence and spectral distribution (caused by different air mass or varying degree of clearness) of the incident radiation on the behavior of the system is studied. The readings are compared to the calculated (global minus diffuse) readings obtained from two standard star pyranometers. Finally the possibilities for increasing the accuracy of the sensor element and for applying the device are discussed. (author)

The radiation budget of stratocumulus clouds measured by tethered balloon instrumentation: Variability of flux measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Duda, David P.; Stephens, Graeme L.; Cox, Stephen K.

1990-01-01

Measurements of longwave and shortwave radiation were made using an instrument package on the NASA tethered balloon during the FIRE Marine Stratocumulus experiment. Radiation data from two pairs of pyranometers were used to obtain vertical profiles of the near-infrared and total solar fluxes through the boundary layer, while a pair of pyrgeometers supplied measurements of the longwave fluxes in the cloud layer. The radiation observations were analyzed to determine heating rates and to measure the radiative energy budget inside the stratocumulus clouds during several tethered balloon flights. The radiation fields in the cloud layer were also simulated by a two-stream radiative transfer model, which used cloud optical properties derived from microphysical measurements and Mie scattering theory.

Solar Radiation Measurement Using Raspberry Pi and Its Modelling Using Artificial Neural Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Priya Selvanathan Shanmuga

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The advent of solar energy as the best alternative to traditional energy sources has led to an extensive study on the measurement and prediction of solar radiation. Devices such as pyranometer, pyrrheliometer, global UV radiometer are used for the measurement of solar radiation. The solar radiation measuring instruments available at Innovation Center, MIT Manipal were integrated with a Raspberry Pi to allow remote access to the data through the university Local Area Network. The connections of the data loggers and the Raspberry Pi were enclosed in a plastic box to prevent damage from the rainfall and humidity in Manipal. The solar radiation data was used to validate an Artificial Neural Network model which was developed using various meterological data from 2011-2015.

Compatibility of different measurement techniques of global solar radiation and application for long-term observations at Izaña Observatory

Science.gov (United States)

Delia García, Rosa; Cuevas, Emilio; García, Omaira Elena; Ramos, Ramón; Romero-Campos, Pedro Miguel; de Ory, Fernado; Cachorro, Victoria Eugenia; de Frutos, Angel

2017-03-01

A 1-year inter-comparison of classical and modern radiation and sunshine duration (SD) instruments has been performed at Izaña Atmospheric Observatory (IZO) located in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) starting on 17 July 2014. We compare daily global solar radiation (GSRH) records measured with a Kipp & Zonen CM-21 pyranometer, taken in the framework of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network, with those measured with a multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR), a bimetallic pyranometer (PYR) and GSRH estimated from sunshine duration performed by a Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder (CS) and a Kipp & Zonen sunshine duration sensor (CSD). Given that the BSRN GSRH records passed strict quality controls (based on principles of physical limits and comparison with the LibRadtran model), they have been used as reference in the inter-comparison study. We obtain an overall root mean square error (RMSE) of ˜ 0.9 MJm-2 (4 %) for PYR and MFRSR GSRH, 1.9 (7 %) and 1.2 MJm-2 (5 %) for CS and CSD GSRH, respectively. Factors such as temperature, relative humidity (RH) and the solar zenith angle (SZA) have been shown to moderately affect the GSRH observations. As an application of the methodology developed in this work, we have re-evaluated the GSRH data time series obtained at IZO with two PYRs between 1977 and 1991. Their high consistency and temporal stability have been proved by comparing with GSRH estimates obtained from SD observations. These results demonstrate that (1) the continuous-basis inter-comparison of different GSRH techniques offers important diagnostics for identifying inconsistencies between GSRH data records, and (2) the GSRH measurements performed with classical and more simple instruments are consistent with more modern techniques and, thus, valid to recover GSRH data time series and complete worldwide distributed GSRH data. The inter-comparison and quality assessment of these different techniques have allowed us to obtain a complete and consistent

Estimation of hourly ultraviolet solar irradiance in the semi-arid northeast region of Brasil

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Andrade, Ricardo C. de; Tiba, Chigueru [Dept. de Energia Nuclear da Univ. Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco (Brazil)

2008-07-01

Two computational codes, SPCTRAL2 and SMARTS2, were used for estimating ultraviolet solar irradiance in a locality of the semi-arid region of the Northeast of Brazil. The softwares presented simplicity of use, precision and relative ease in obtaining the input variables: zenith angle, atmospheric pressure in relation to sea level, relative humidity of the air, amount of precipitable water, total ozone and the aerosol optic depths (AOD). All these variables are measured in conventional meteorological stations, except for the aerosol optic depth. The AOD was measured with an apparatus that was constructed with a narrow band LED sensor, centered in 555nm which measures the monochromatic radiation transmission through the terrestrial atmosphere, which can be described by Beer's law. The measurements for obtaining the AOD were carried out during the months of December, 2006 and January, 2007 for Pesqueira-PE (Longitude -36.77 and Latitude 8.4 ) semi-arid region of Pernambuco, at intervals of 10 and 10 minutes, simultaneously. The ultraviolet solar irradiation was measured with a TURV (Total Ultraviolet Radiometer) Eppley Pyranometer on a minute scale. The computational simulations with SPCTRAL2 and SMARTS2 were made considering the following cases: (a) obtention of daily AOD, or be it, coming from the linear extrapolation of all the data along the day (b) obtention of hourly AOD, or be it the linearization by parts (piecewise). In the first case, the results of the simulations of ultraviolet solar irradiance and ultraviolet radiation index show an error of 4% and 13% for solar midday, and 78% at end of afternoon, when compared with the values measured with the TURV pyranometer. These results were significantly improved when using the AOD obtained on hourly bases: an error of 6.7 % for solar midday, a maximum error of 10% between 11 and 13 h, a maximum error of 20% between 10 and 14h and finally a maximum error of 30% between 9 and 15h. (orig.)

Performance analysis of a heat pipe solar collector having different pitch distance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sivaraman, B.; Mohan, N.K. [Annamalai Univ., Tamil Nadu (India). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

2006-07-01

Heat pipe solar collectors are more efficient than conventional solar collectors. This paper provided details of experimental analyses conducted to examine the effect of pitch distance on the heat pipe's performance. Two solar collectors with pitch distances of 7.5 cm and 8.5 cm were used in the study. Copper tubing was used as the container material, and methanol was selected as a working fluid for the experiments, which were conducted during the summer at a collector tilt angle of 11 degrees. Experiments were conducted and the impacts of various parameters were measured. Solar intensity was measured using a pyranometer. Water exit and inlet temperatures were measured using mercury thermometers. Results showed that the heat pipe performed optimally when the pitch distance was 0.085 m. 8 refs., 1 tab., 9 figs.

Atmospheric effect on the ground-based measurements of broadband surface albedo

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. Manninen

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Ground-based pyranometer measurements of the (clear-sky broadband surface albedo are affected by the atmospheric conditions (mainly by aerosol particles, water vapour and ozone. A new semi-empirical method for estimating the magnitude of the effect of atmospheric conditions on surface albedo measurements in clear-sky conditions is presented. Global and reflected radiation and/or aerosol optical depth (AOD at two wavelengths are needed to apply the method. Depending on the aerosol optical depth and the solar zenith angle values, the effect can be as large as 20%. For the cases we tested using data from the Cabauw atmospheric test site in the Netherlands, the atmosphere caused typically up to 5% overestimation of surface albedo with respect to corresponding black-sky surface albedo values.

Aspects of the quality of data from the Southern Great Plains (SGP) cloud and radiation testbed (CART) site broadband radiation sensors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Splitt, M.E. [Univ. of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (United States); Wesely, M.L. [Argonne National Lab., IL (United States)

1996-04-01

A systmatic evaluation of the performance of broadband radiometers at the Radiation Testbed (CART) site is needed to estimate the uncertainties of the irradiance observations. Here, net radiation observed with the net radiometer in the enrgy balance Bowen ratio station at the Central facility is compared with the net radiation computed as the sum of component irradiances recorded by nearby pyranameters and pyrgeometers. In addition, data obtained from the central facility pyranometers, pyrgeometers, and pyrheliometers are examined for April 1994, when intensive operations periods were being carried out. The data used in this study are from central facility radiometers in a solar and infrared observation station, and EBBR station, the so-called `BSRN` set of upward pointing radiometers, and a set of radiometers pointed down at the 25-m level of a 60-m tower.

Use of the Nebraska Mesonet to Engage the Public in the 2017 Eclipse Event

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, S. R.; Richter-Ryerson, S.; Shulski, M.; Roebke, G.

2017-12-01

The 21 August 2017 Solar Eclipse promises to be the best observable solar eclipse for the Great Plains of the United States in recent history. The Nebraska State Climate Office has embarked upon a campaign of combining real-time Nebraska Mesonet observations, specifically shortwave downward radiation, with GOES-16 multispectral imagery, and social media solicited citizen images of the event to provide a multiple faceted record of the event. Providing a real-time view of the eclipse via satellite imagery and pyranometer output for web users will act as a hook to solicit images and testimonial from observers in the Great Plains to help enhance the record. The desired result is to provide excitement in the science of what is happening, along with promotion of the Nebraska State Climate Office and the services it provides.

Long range heliostat target using array of normal incidence pyranometers to evaluate a beam of solar radiation

Science.gov (United States)

Ghanbari, Cheryl M; Ho, Clifford K; Kolb, Gregory J

2014-03-04

Various technologies described herein pertain to evaluating a beam reflected by a heliostat. A portable target that has an array of sensors mounted thereupon is configured to capture the beam reflected by the heliostat. The sensors in the array output measured values indicative of a characteristic of the beam reflected by the heliostat. Moreover, a computing device can generate and output data corresponding to the beam reflected by the heliostat based on the measured values indicative of the characteristic of the beam received from the sensors in the array.

Applicability of Daily Solar Radiation Estimated by Mountain Microclimate Simulation Model (MT-CLIM) in Korea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shim, K.M.; Kim, Y.S.; Lee, D.B.; Kang, K.K.; So, K.H.

2012-01-01

Accuracy of daily solar radiation estimated from a Mountain Microclimate Simulation Model (MT-CLIM) was assessed for seven observation sites with complex topography in Uiseong County. The coefficient of determination () between the observed and the estimated daily solar radiation was 0.52 for 7 sites for the study period from 1 August to 30 September 2009. Overall, the MT-CLIM overestimated the solar radiation with root mean square error (RMSE) of which is about 25% of the mean daily solar radiation () for the study period. Considering that the pyranometer's tolerance is of standard sensor, the RMSE of MT-CLIM was too large to accept for a direct application for agricultural sector. The reliability of solar radiation estimated by MT-CLIM must be improved by considering additional ways such as using a topography correction coefficient

Spectral and Broad Band Ultraviolet Measurements in Valencia (Spain): A Preliminary Comparison

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tena, F.; Marin, M.J.; Martinez-Lozano, J.A.; Utrillas, M.P.; Gomez, J.L.

2000-01-01

The Solar Radiation Group of the University of Valencia, in collaboration with the National Institute of Meteorology (INM), recently began a database of erythemal UV irradiance measurements. Such measurements are obtained by a YES UVB-1 pyranometer (280-330 nm) that measures continuously, integrates the values and stores them in a database. The measured values are being compared with those obtained by the integration of the data registered by an Optronic OL 754 spectroradiometer (250-800 nm) considering clear days and different solar zenith angles. For the present study only the data corresponding to the summer (1999) are being considered because these are the days of the year with the higher erythemal values and also the season when people enjoy sunbathing. The results are used to deduce the ultraviolet index (UVI) related to the erythemal doses and the sunburn time. (author)

Calibration of erythemally weighted broadband instruments: A comparison between PMOD/WRC and MSL

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swift, Neil; Nield, Kathryn; Hamlin, John; Hülsen, Gregor; Gröbner, Julian

2013-01-01

A Yankee Environmental Systems (YES) UVB-1 ultraviolet pyranometer, designed to measure erythemally weighted total solar irradiance, was calibrated by the Measurement Standards Laboratory (MSL) in Lower Hutt, New Zealand during August 2010. The calibration was then repeated during July and August 2011 by the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Obervatorium Davos, World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) located in Davos, Switzerland. Calibration results show that measurements of the relative spectral and angular response functions at the two institutes are in excellent agreement, thus providing a good degree of confidence in these measurement facilities. However, measurements to convert the relative spectral response into an absolute calibration disagree significantly depending on whether an FEL lamp or solar spectra are used to perform this scaling. This is the first serious comparison of these scaling methods to formally explore the potential systematic errors which could explain the discrepancy.

Diurnal dynamics of the CO2 concentration in water of the coastal zone of lake Baikal in the ice period (testing of the DIEL - CO2 method for assessment of lake metabolic rate)

Science.gov (United States)

Panchenko, M. V.; Domysheva, V. M.; Pestunov, D. A.; Sakirko, M. V.; Ivanov, V. G.; Shamrin, A. M.

2017-11-01

Results of three long cycles of 24-hour measurements of the carbon dioxide content in the surface and bottom water in the ice period of 2014-2016 in the Baikal coastal zone are analyzed. The diurnal dynamics of the CO2 concentration in the subglacial water, in which photosynthesis plays the leading role, is described. It is found that, in comparison with the surface subglacial water (that is, directly adjacent to the ice bottom), the more pronounced diurnal rhythm of CO2 is observed in the bottom layer in all realizations. This rhythm is well correlated with pyranometer readings. The data on the diurnal dynamics of CO2 are used to estimate the gross primary production in the bottom water with the DIEL method based on the analysis of temporal variability of the carbon dioxide concentration in water in situ.

SOLAR RADIATION ESTIMATION ON BUILDING ROOFS AND WEB-BASED SOLAR CADASTRE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Agugiaro

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is the estimation of solar irradiance on building roofs in complex Alpine landscapes. Very high resolution geometric models of the building roofs are generated by means of advanced automated image matching methods. Models are combined with raster and vector data sources to estimate the incoming solar radiation hitting the roofs. The methodology takes into account for atmospheric effects, site latitude and elevation, slope and aspect of the terrain as well as the effects of shadows cast by surrounding buildings, chimneys, dormers, vegetation and terrain topography. An open source software solution has been developed and applied to a study area located in a mountainous site and containing some 1250 residential, commercial and industrial buildings. The method has been validated by data collected with a pyranometer and results made available through a prototype WebGIS platform.

Ground-based spectral measurements of solar radiation, (2)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Murai, Keizo; Kobayashi, Masaharu; Goto, Ryozo; Yamauchi, Toyotaro

1979-01-01

A newly designed spectro-pyranometer was used for the measurement of the global (direct + diffuse) and the diffuse sky radiation reaching the ground. By the subtraction of the diffuse component from the global radiation, we got the direct radiation component which leads to the spectral distribution of the optical thickness (extinction coefficient) of the turbid atmosphere. The measurement of the diffuse sky radiation reveals the scattering effect of aerosols and that of the global radiation allows the estimation of total attenuation caused by scattering and absorption of aerosols. The effects of the aerosols are represented by the deviation of the real atmosphere measured from the Rayleigh atmosphere. By the combination of the measured values with those obtained by theoretical calculation for the model atmosphere, we estimated the amount of absorption by the aerosols. Very strong absorption in the ultraviolet region was recognized. (author)

Analysis of satellite-derived solar irradiance over the Netherlands

Science.gov (United States)

Dirksen, Marieke; Fokke Meirink, Jan; Sluiter, Raymond

2017-04-01

Measurements from geostationary satellites allow the retrieval of surface solar irradiance homogeneously over large areas, thereby providing essential information for the solar energy sector. In this paper, the SICCS solar irradiance data record derived from 12 years of Meteosat Second Generation satellite measurements is analysed with a focus on the Netherlands, where the spatial resolution is about 6 by 3 km2. Extensive validation of the SICCS data with pyranometer observations is performed, indicating a bias of approximately 3 W/m2 and RMSE of 11 W/m2 for daily data. Long term averages and seasonal variations of solar irradiance show regional patterns related to the surface type (e.g., coastal waters, forests, cities). The inter-annual variability over the time frame of the data record is quantified. Methods to merge satellite and surface observations into an optimized data record are explored.

Spectral and Broad Band Ultraviolet Measurements in Valencia (Spain): A Preliminary Comparison

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tena, F.; Marin, M.J.; Martinez-Lozano, J.A.; Utrillas, M.P.; Gomez, J.L

2000-07-01

The Solar Radiation Group of the University of Valencia, in collaboration with the National Institute of Meteorology (INM), recently began a database of erythemal UV irradiance measurements. Such measurements are obtained by a YES UVB-1 pyranometer (280-330 nm) that measures continuously, integrates the values and stores them in a database. The measured values are being compared with those obtained by the integration of the data registered by an Optronic OL 754 spectroradiometer (250-800 nm) considering clear days and different solar zenith angles. For the present study only the data corresponding to the summer (1999) are being considered because these are the days of the year with the higher erythemal values and also the season when people enjoy sunbathing. The results are used to deduce the ultraviolet index (UVI) related to the erythemal doses and the sunburn time. (author)

Automatic actinometric system for diffuse radiation measurement

Science.gov (United States)

Litwiniuk, Agnieszka; Zajkowski, Maciej

2015-09-01

Actinometric station is using for measuring solar of radiation. The results are helpful in determining the optimal position of solar panels relative to the Sun, especially in today's world, when the energy coming from the Sun and other alternative sources of energy become more and more popular. Polish climate does not provide as much energy as in countries in southern Europe, but it is possible to increase the amount of energy produced by appropriate arrangement of photovoltaic panels. There is the possibility of forecasting the amount of produced energy, the cost-effectiveness and profitability of photovoltaic installations. This implies considerable development opportunities for domestic photovoltaic power plants. This article presents description of actinometric system for diffuse radiation measurement, which is equipped with pyranometer - thermopile temperature sensor, amplifier AD620, AD Converter ADS1110, microcontroller Atmega 16, SD card, GPS module and LCD screen.

Calibration of erythemally weighted broadband instruments: A comparison between PMOD/WRC and MSL

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swift, Neil; Nield, Kathryn; Hamlin, John [Measurement Standards Laboratory of New Zealand, Industrial Research Ltd, Lower Hutt (New Zealand); Huelsen, Gregor; Groebner, Julian [Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos, World Radiation Centre, Davos Dorf (Switzerland)

2013-05-10

A Yankee Environmental Systems (YES) UVB-1 ultraviolet pyranometer, designed to measure erythemally weighted total solar irradiance, was calibrated by the Measurement Standards Laboratory (MSL) in Lower Hutt, New Zealand during August 2010. The calibration was then repeated during July and August 2011 by the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Obervatorium Davos, World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) located in Davos, Switzerland. Calibration results show that measurements of the relative spectral and angular response functions at the two institutes are in excellent agreement, thus providing a good degree of confidence in these measurement facilities. However, measurements to convert the relative spectral response into an absolute calibration disagree significantly depending on whether an FEL lamp or solar spectra are used to perform this scaling. This is the first serious comparison of these scaling methods to formally explore the potential systematic errors which could explain the discrepancy.

Distributed solar radiation fast dynamic measurement for PV cells

Science.gov (United States)

Wan, Xuefen; Yang, Yi; Cui, Jian; Du, Xingjing; Zheng, Tao; Sardar, Muhammad Sohail

2017-10-01

To study the operating characteristics about PV cells, attention must be given to the dynamic behavior of the solar radiation. The dynamic behaviors of annual, monthly, daily and hourly averages of solar radiation have been studied in detail. But faster dynamic behaviors of solar radiation need more researches. The solar radiation random fluctuations in minute-long or second-long range, which lead to alternating radiation and cool down/warm up PV cell frequently, decrease conversion efficiency. Fast dynamic processes of solar radiation are mainly relevant to stochastic moving of clouds. Even in clear sky condition, the solar irradiations show a certain degree of fast variation. To evaluate operating characteristics of PV cells under fast dynamic irradiation, a solar radiation measuring array (SRMA) based on large active area photodiode, LoRa spread spectrum communication and nanoWatt MCU is proposed. This cross photodiodes structure tracks fast stochastic moving of clouds. To compensate response time of pyranometer and reduce system cost, the terminal nodes with low-cost fast-responded large active area photodiode are placed besides positions of tested PV cells. A central node, consists with pyranometer, large active area photodiode, wind detector and host computer, is placed in the center of the central topologies coordinate to scale temporal envelope of solar irradiation and get calibration information between pyranometer and large active area photodiodes. In our SRMA system, the terminal nodes are designed based on Microchip's nanoWatt XLP PIC16F1947. FDS-100 is adopted for large active area photodiode in terminal nodes and host computer. The output current and voltage of each PV cell are monitored by I/V measurement. AS62-T27/SX1278 LoRa communication modules are used for communicating between terminal nodes and host computer. Because the LoRa LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) specification provides seamless interoperability among Smart Things without the

Standard Test Methods for Solar Energy Transmittance and Reflectance (Terrestrial) of Sheet Materials

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

1971-01-01

1.1 These test methods cover the measurement of solar energy transmittance and reflectance (terrestrial) of materials in sheet form. Method A, using a spectrophotometer, is applicable for both transmittance and reflectance and is the referee method. Method B is applicable only for measurement of transmittance using a pyranometer in an enclosure and the sun as the energy source. Specimens for Method A are limited in size by the geometry of the spectrophotometer while Method B requires a specimen 0.61 m2 (2 ft2). For the materials studied by the drafting task group, both test methods give essentially equivalent results. 1.2 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety problems, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety and health practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

Data analysis of solar potential in northern Bulgaria obtained by measurements with tall meteorological masts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terziev, A.; Genovski, I.; Petrov, P.; Valchev, V.

2010-01-01

Energy from the sun as a renewable energy source could be used for producing not only heat energy but also electricity. The maximum utilization of this type energy requires very good knowledge of the solar radiation for an exact geographical location. Determination of the solar intensity is carried out with special devices called pyranometers. This work considers solar potential data analysis based on data collected from meteorological masts installed in Northern Bulgaria. Comparison between the data from on-site measurements and some long-term data sources well known in literature is also considered. The possibility of studying the interpolation between the points where measurements are carried out in order to obtain solar radiation intensity Filed for the area limited by the points of measurement is also reviewed. Based on correlation analysis results the estimated energy production within the studied area has been calculated. (authors)

Conversion Efficiency of Photosynthetically Active Radiation Into Acacia mearnsii Biomass

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elder Eloy

2018-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT The objective of this experiment was to determine the conversion efficiency of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation into biomass of Acacia mearnsii De Wild. seedlings. A forest species, plastic tubes (90 cm3, and 11 evaluation periods (up to 180 days after emergence were used in this study. The leaf area index (LAI, total dry biomass (BIO, global solar radiation (GSR, cumulative intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (PARic, and conversion efficiency of radiation (εb were determined using a pyranometer (LI200X, LICOR. The value of εb in BIO seedlings of Acacia mearnsii was 7.76 g MJ-1. LAI was directly related to the efficiency of PARic, and this influenced the development, production potential and accumulation of BIO. The value of GSR flow was 11.81 MJ m-2 day-1, while the value inside the greenhouse was 6.26 MJ m-2 day-1.

A Green Energy Application in Energy Management Systems by an Artificial Intelligence-Based Solar Radiation Forecasting Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping-Huan Kuo

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The photovoltaic (PV systems generate green energy from the sunlight without any pollution or noise. The PV systems are simple, convenient to install, and seldom malfunction. Unfortunately, the energy generated by PV systems depends on climatic conditions, location, and system design. The solar radiation forecasting is important to the smooth operation of PV systems. However, solar radiation detected by a pyranometer sensor is strongly nonlinear and highly unstable. The PV energy generation makes a considerable contribution to the smart grids via a large number of relatively small PV systems. In this paper, a high-precision deep convolutional neural network model (SolarNet is proposed to facilitate the solar radiation forecasting. The proposed model is verified by experiments. The experimental results demonstrate that SolarNet outperforms other benchmark models in forecasting accuracy as well as in predicting complex time series with a high degree of volatility and irregularity.

Estimating solar irradiation in the Arctic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Babar Bilal

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Solar radiation data plays an important role in pre-feasibility studies of solar electricity and/or thermal system installations. Measured solar radiation data is scarcely available due to the high cost of installing and maintaining high quality solar radiation sensors (pyranometers. Indirect measured radiation data received from geostationary satellites is unreliable at latitudes above 60 degrees due to the resulting flat viewing angle. In this paper, an empirical method to estimate solar radiation based on minimum climatological data is proposed. Eight sites in Norway are investigated, all of which lie above 60 N. The estimations by the model are compared to the ground measured values and a correlation coefficient of 0.88 was found while over all percentage error was −1.1%. The proposed models is 0.2% efficient on diurnal and 10.8% better in annual estimations than previous models.

Preliminary Results on Design and Implementation of a Solar Radiation Monitoring System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lorentz Jäntschi

2008-02-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a solar radiation monitoring system, using two scientificpyranometers and an on-line computer home-made data acquisition system. The firstpyranometer measures the global solar radiation and the other one, which is shaded,measure the diffuse radiation. The values of total and diffuse solar radiation arecontinuously stored into a database on a server. Original software was created for dataacquisition and interrogation of the created system. The server application acquires the datafrom pyranometers and stores it into a database with a baud rate of one record at 50seconds. The client-server application queries the database and provides descriptivestatistics. A web interface allow to any user to define the including criteria and to obtainthe results. In terms of results, the system is able to provide direct, diffuse and totalradiation intensities as time series. Our client-server application computes also derivateheats. The ability of the system to evaluate the local solar energy potential is highlighted.

Optimization and modeling of a photovoltaic solar integrated system by neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ashhab, Moh'd Sami S.

2008-01-01

A photovoltaic solar integrated system is modeled with artificial neural networks (ANN's). Data relevant to the system performance was collected on April, 4th 1993 and every 15 min during the day. This input-output data is used to train the ANN. The ANN approximates the data well and therefore can be relied on in predicting the system performance, namely, system efficiencies. The solar system consists of a solar trainer which contains a photovoltaic panel, a DC centrifugal pump, flat plate collectors, storage tank, a flowmeter for measuring the water mass flow rate, pipes, pyranometer for measuring the solar intensity, thermocouples for measuring various system temperatures and wind speed meter. The complex method constrained optimization is applied to the solar system ANN model to find the operating conditions of the system that will produce the maximum system efficiencies. This information will be very hard to obtain by just looking at the available historical input-output data

Estimation of missing values in solar radiation data using piecewise interpolation methods: Case study at Penang city

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zainudin, Mohd Lutfi; Saaban, Azizan; Bakar, Mohd Nazari Abu

2015-01-01

The solar radiation values have been composed by automatic weather station using the device that namely pyranometer. The device is functions to records all the radiation values that have been dispersed, and these data are very useful for it experimental works and solar device’s development. In addition, for modeling and designing on solar radiation system application is needed for complete data observation. Unfortunately, lack for obtained the complete solar radiation data frequently occur due to several technical problems, which mainly contributed by monitoring device. Into encountering this matter, estimation missing values in an effort to substitute absent values with imputed data. This paper aimed to evaluate several piecewise interpolation techniques likes linear, splines, cubic, and nearest neighbor into dealing missing values in hourly solar radiation data. Then, proposed an extendable work into investigating the potential used of cubic Bezier technique and cubic Said-ball method as estimator tools. As result, methods for cubic Bezier and Said-ball perform the best compare to another piecewise imputation technique

A strategy for testing the impact of clouds on the shortwave radiation budge of general circulation models: A prototype for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cess, R.D.

1994-01-01

Cloud-climate interactions are one of the greatest uncertainties in contemporary general circulation models (GCMs), and this study has focused on one aspect of this. Specifically, combined satellite and near-surface shortwave (SW) flux measurements have been used to test the impact of clouds on the SW radiation budgets of two GCMs. Concentration is initially on SW rather than longwave (LW) radiation because, in one of the GCMs used in this study an SW radiation inconsistency causes a LW inconsistency. The surface data consist of near-surface insolation measured by the upward facing pyranometer at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory tower. The satellite data consist of top of the atmosphere (TOA) albedo data, collocated with the tower location, as determined from the GOES SW spin-scan radiometer. Measurements are made every half hour, with hourly means taken by averaging successive measurements. The combined data are for a 21-day period encompassing 28 June through 18 July 1987 and consist of 202 combined albedo/insolation measurements

Solar radiation modeling and measurements for renewable energy applications: data and model quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Myers, Daryl R.

2005-01-01

Measurement and modeling of broadband and spectral terrestrial solar radiation is important for the evaluation and deployment of solar renewable energy systems. We discuss recent developments in the calibration of broadband solar radiometric instrumentation and improving broadband solar radiation measurement accuracy. An improved diffuse sky reference and radiometer calibration and characterization software for outdoor pyranometer calibrations are outlined. Several broadband solar radiation model approaches, including some developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, for estimating direct beam, total hemispherical and diffuse sky radiation are briefly reviewed. The latter include the Bird clear sky model for global, direct beam, and diffuse terrestrial solar radiation; the Direct Insolation Simulation Code (DISC) for estimating direct beam radiation from global measurements; and the METSTAT (Meteorological and Statistical) and Climatological Solar Radiation (CSR) models that estimate solar radiation from meteorological data. We conclude that currently the best model uncertainties are representative of the uncertainty in measured data

Solar radiation modeling and measurements for renewable energy applications: data and model quality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Myers, D.R. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO (United States)

2005-07-01

Measurement and modeling of broadband and spectral terrestrial solar radiation is important for the evaluation and deployment of solar renewable energy systems. We discuss recent developments in the calibration of broadband solar radiometric instrumentation and improving broadband solar radiation measurement accuracy. An improved diffuse sky reference and radiometer calibration and characterization software for outdoor pyranometer calibrations are outlined. Several broadband solar radiation model approaches, including some developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, for estimating direct beam, total hemispherical and diffuse sky radiation are briefly reviewed. The latter include the Bird clear sky model for global, direct beam, and diffuse terrestrial solar radiation; the Direct Insolation Simulation Code (DISC) for estimating direct beam radiation from global measurements; and the METSTAT (Meteorological and Statistical) and Climatological Solar Radiation (CSR) models that estimate solar radiation from meteorological data. We conclude that currently the best model uncertainties are representative of the uncertainty in measured data. (author)

Estimation of missing values in solar radiation data using piecewise interpolation methods: Case study at Penang city

Science.gov (United States)

Zainudin, Mohd Lutfi; Saaban, Azizan; Bakar, Mohd Nazari Abu

2015-12-01

The solar radiation values have been composed by automatic weather station using the device that namely pyranometer. The device is functions to records all the radiation values that have been dispersed, and these data are very useful for it experimental works and solar device's development. In addition, for modeling and designing on solar radiation system application is needed for complete data observation. Unfortunately, lack for obtained the complete solar radiation data frequently occur due to several technical problems, which mainly contributed by monitoring device. Into encountering this matter, estimation missing values in an effort to substitute absent values with imputed data. This paper aimed to evaluate several piecewise interpolation techniques likes linear, splines, cubic, and nearest neighbor into dealing missing values in hourly solar radiation data. Then, proposed an extendable work into investigating the potential used of cubic Bezier technique and cubic Said-ball method as estimator tools. As result, methods for cubic Bezier and Said-ball perform the best compare to another piecewise imputation technique.

Evaluation of conventional and high-performance routine solar radiation measurements for improved solar resource, climatological trends, and radiative modeling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gueymard, Christian A. [Solar Consulting Services, P.O. Box 392, Colebrook, NH 03576 (United States); Myers, Daryl R. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3305 (United States)

2009-02-15

The solar renewable energy community depends on radiometric measurements and instrumentation for data to design and monitor solar energy systems, and develop and validate solar radiation models. This contribution evaluates the impact of instrument uncertainties contributing to data inaccuracies and their effect on short-term and long-term measurement series, and on radiation model validation studies. For the latter part, transposition (horizontal-to-tilt) models are used as an example. Confirming previous studies, it is found that a widely used pyranometer strongly underestimates diffuse and global radiation, particularly in winter, unless appropriate corrective measures are taken. Other types of measurement problems are also discussed, such as those involved in the indirect determination of direct or diffuse irradiance, and in shadowband correction methods. The sensitivity of the predictions from transposition models to inaccuracies in input radiation data is demonstrated. Caution is therefore issued to the whole community regarding drawing detailed conclusions about solar radiation data without due attention to the data quality issues only recently identified. (author)

Thermodynamic solar water pump with multifunction and uses

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ben Slama, R. [Gabes Univ. (Tunisia). Dept. of Electromechanics

2009-07-01

This paper discussed a thermodynamic solar water pump design. Reflectors were used on the pump in order to ensure that water evaporation was conducted at the highest possible temperature. A vacuum was created by steam condensation in a closed container. The influence of heating and cooling temperatures on pump vacuum performance was studied experimentally. Water and ambient temperatures were measured along with pressure drop. Incidental solar radiation on the tilted plane of the collector was measured with a pyranometer. The pumping cycle was characterized by measuring the temperature reached during heating before spontaneous cooling occurred. Results of the study were used to obtain curves corresponding to the cooling temperatures. The curves showed that pressure drop is higher when heating temperatures reached 100 degrees C. A cooling device system was included in order to increase the number of potential pumping cycles per day. It was concluded that the pump can also be used to create hot water. 11 refs., 11 figs.

Proof of Concept of an Irradiance Estimation System for Reconfigurable Photovoltaic Arrays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vincenzo Li Vigni

2015-06-01

Full Text Available In order to reduce the mismatch effect caused by non-uniform shadows in PV arrays, reconfigurable interconnections approaches have been recently proposed in the literature. These systems usually require the knowledge of the solar radiation affecting every solar module. The aim of this work is to evaluate the effectiveness of three irradiance estimation approaches in order to define which can be well suited for reconfigurable PV arrays. It is presented a real-time solar irradiance estimation device (IrradEst, implementing the three different estimation methods. The proposed system is based on mathematical models of PV modules enabling to estimate irradiation values by sensing a combination of temperature, voltage and current of a PV module. Experimental results showed generally good agreement between the estimated irradiances and the measurements performed by a standard pyranometer taken as reference. Finally one of the three methods was selected as possible solution for a reconfigurable PV system.

Optimization and modeling of a photovoltaic solar integrated system by neural networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ashhab, Moh' d Sami S. [Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13115 (Jordan)

2008-11-15

A photovoltaic solar integrated system is modeled with artificial neural networks (ANN's). Data relevant to the system performance was collected on April, 4th 1993 and every 15 min during the day. This input-output data is used to train the ANN. The ANN approximates the data well and therefore can be relied on in predicting the system performance, namely, system efficiencies. The solar system consists of a solar trainer which contains a photovoltaic panel, a DC centrifugal pump, flat plate collectors, storage tank, a flowmeter for measuring the water mass flow rate, pipes, pyranometer for measuring the solar intensity, thermocouples for measuring various system temperatures and wind speed meter. The complex method constrained optimization is applied to the solar system ANN model to find the operating conditions of the system that will produce the maximum system efficiencies. This information will be very hard to obtain by just looking at the available historical input-output data. (author)

Estimation of missing values in solar radiation data using piecewise interpolation methods: Case study at Penang city

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zainudin, Mohd Lutfi, E-mail: mdlutfi07@gmail.com [School of Quantitative Sciences, UUMCAS, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah (Malaysia); Institut Matematik Kejuruteraan (IMK), Universiti Malaysia Perlis, 02600 Arau, Perlis (Malaysia); Saaban, Azizan, E-mail: azizan.s@uum.edu.my [School of Quantitative Sciences, UUMCAS, Universiti Utara Malaysia, 06010 Sintok, Kedah (Malaysia); Bakar, Mohd Nazari Abu, E-mail: mohdnazari@perlis.uitm.edu.my [Faculty of Applied Science, Universiti Teknologi Mara, 02600 Arau, Perlis (Malaysia)

2015-12-11

The solar radiation values have been composed by automatic weather station using the device that namely pyranometer. The device is functions to records all the radiation values that have been dispersed, and these data are very useful for it experimental works and solar device’s development. In addition, for modeling and designing on solar radiation system application is needed for complete data observation. Unfortunately, lack for obtained the complete solar radiation data frequently occur due to several technical problems, which mainly contributed by monitoring device. Into encountering this matter, estimation missing values in an effort to substitute absent values with imputed data. This paper aimed to evaluate several piecewise interpolation techniques likes linear, splines, cubic, and nearest neighbor into dealing missing values in hourly solar radiation data. Then, proposed an extendable work into investigating the potential used of cubic Bezier technique and cubic Said-ball method as estimator tools. As result, methods for cubic Bezier and Said-ball perform the best compare to another piecewise imputation technique.

Solar Radiation Model for Development and Control of Solar Energy Sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dominykas Vasarevičius

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The model of solar radiation, which takes into account direct, diffused and reflected components of solar energy, has been presented. Model is associated with geographical coordinates and local time of every day of the year. It is shown that using analytic equations for modelling the direct component, it is possible to adopt it for embedded systems with low computational power and use in solar tracking applications. Reflected and diffused components are especially useful in determining the performance of photovoltaic modules in certain location and surroundings. The statistical method for cloud layer simulation based on local meteorological data is offered. The presented method can’t be used for prediction of weather conditions but it provides patterns of solar radiation in time comparable to those measured with pyranometer. Cloud layer simulation together with total solar radiation model is a useful tool for development and analysis of maximum power point tracking controllers for PV modules.

A mathematical correlation between variations in solar radiation parameters. 2. Global radiation, air temperature and specific humidity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Njau, E.C.

1988-06-01

We derive from first principles, an equation which expresses global radiation as a function of specific humidity and air temperature at screen height. The practical validity of this equation is tested by using humidity, air temperature and global radiation data from Tanzania. It is shown that global radiation values calculated on the basis of the derived equation agree with measured radiation values to within ± 8% as long as the prevalent (horizontal) winds are either calm or light. It is noted that the equation is equally valid at times of strong horizontal winds provided that the temperature and humidity measuring site is sufficiently shielded from the winds. This implies that meteorological stations that are (for some unavoidable reasons) unable to stock pyranometers can still procure reasonable estimates of local global radiation as long as they can, at least, stock the relatively cheaper barometers and wet- and dry-bulb psychrometers. (author). 12 refs, 1 fig., 4 tabs

Low-energy house in Sisimiut - Measurement equipment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hvidthoeft Delff Andersen, P.; Rode, C.; Madsen, Henrik

2013-08-15

This paper documents the measurement equipment in a low-energy house in Sisimiut, Greenland. Detailed measurements are being taken on energy consumption, indoor temperatures, floor heating, ventilation, open/closed state of doors and windows, and indoors climate. Equipped with a central control unit, experiments can be designed in order to study heat dynamics of the building. It is described how to plan and execute such experiments in one apartment in the building. The building also features both a solar thermal system and extra buffer tank facilitating testing of storage strategies on the power generated by the solar thermal system. A weather station equipped with thermometer, pyranometer and anemometer is installed on the building as well. Finally, it is described how to retrieve data from an SQL server which is configured to take monthly backups. R functions have been implemented to fetch and prepare the data for time series analysis. Examples are given on the use of these. (Author)

Trends of solar ultraviolet irradiance at Barrow, Alaska, and the effect of measurement uncertainties on trend detection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Bernhard

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Spectral ultraviolet (UV irradiance has been observed near Barrow, Alaska (71° N, 157° W between 1991 and 2011 with an SUV-100 spectroradiometer. The instrument was historically part of the US National Science Foundation's UV Monitoring Network and is now a component of NSF's Arctic Observing Network. From these measurements, trends in monthly average irradiance and their uncertainties were calculated. The analysis focuses on two quantities, the UV Index (which is affected by atmospheric ozone concentrations and irradiance at 345 nm (which is virtually insensitive to ozone. Uncertainties of trend estimates depend on variations in the data due to (1 natural variability, (2 systematic and random errors of the measurements, and (3 uncertainties caused by gaps in the time series. Using radiative transfer model calculations, systematic errors of the measurements were detected and corrected. Different correction schemes were tested to quantify the sensitivity of the trend estimates on the treatment of systematic errors. Depending on the correction method, estimates of decadal trends changed between 1.5% and 2.9%. Uncertainties in the trend estimates caused by error sources (2 and (3 were set into relation with the overall uncertainty of the trend determinations. Results show that these error sources are only relevant for February, March, and April when natural variability is low due to high surface albedo. This method of addressing measurement uncertainties in time series analysis is also applicable to other geophysical parameters. Trend estimates varied between −14% and +5% per decade and were significant (95.45% confidence level only for the month of October. Depending on the correction method, October trends varied between −11.4% and −13.7% for irradiance at 345 nm and between −11.7% and −14.1% for the UV Index. These large trends are consistent with trends in short-wave (0.3–3.0 μm solar irradiance measured with pyranometers at NOAA

Estimating hourly variation in photosynthetically active radiation across the UK using MSG SEVIRI data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pankaew, P; Milton, E J; Dash, J

2014-01-01

The amount of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) reaching the Earth's surface is a key input variable in most gross primary productivity models. However, poor representation of PAR due to large pixel size or limited temporal sampling is one of the main sources of uncertainty in such models. This paper presents a method to estimate PAR at up to 1 km spatial resolution at a regional to global scale. The method uses broadband radiance data (400–1100nm) and per-pixel estimates of relative cloud cover from a geostationary satellite to estimate the amount of PAR reaching the Earth's surface at high spatial and temporal resolution (1–2 km and hourly). The method was validated using data from 54 pyranometers located at sites across the UK. Hourly averaged PAR over the range 400–1400 μmol m −2 s −1 was estimated with a mean bias error = 5.01 μmol m −2 s −1 (R 2 = 0.87), providing a source of accurate data for high resolution models of gross primary productivity

Enhanced solar global irradiance during cloudy sky conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schade, N.H.; Sandmann, H.; Stick, C. [Kiel Univ. (Germany). Inst. fuer Medizinische Klimatologie; Macke, A. [Kiel Univ. (DE). Leibniz Inst. fuer Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR)

2007-06-15

The impact of cloudiness on the shortwave downwelling radiation (SDR) at the surface is investigated by means of collocated pyranometer radiation measurements and all-sky imager observations. The measurements have been performed in Westerland, a seaside resort on the North Sea island of Sylt, Germany, during summer 2004 and 2005. A main improvement to previous studies on this subject resulted from the very high temporal resolution of cloud images and radiation measurements and, therefore, a more robust statistical analysis of the occurrence of this effect. It was possible to observe an excess of solar irradiation compared to clear sky irradiation by more than 500 W/m{sup 2}, the largest observed excess irradiation to our knowledge so far. Camera images reveal that largest excess radiation is reached close to overcast situations with altocumulus clouds partly obscuring the solar disk, and preferably with cumulus clouds in lower levels. The maximum duration of the enhancements depends on its strength and ranges from 20 seconds (enhancements > 400 W/m{sup 2}) up to 140 seconds (enhancements > 200 W/m{sup 2}). (orig.)

An overview of global solar radiation measurements in Ghardaia area, south Algeria

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gairaa, Kacem; Bakelli, Yahia [Applied Research Unit for Renewables Energies, Ouargla Road, Ghardaia (Algeria)

2011-07-01

This paper presents an overview of actual solar radiation data measurements in Ghardaia site (32.360 N, 3.810 W, 450 m above MSL). Global solar radiation and surface temperatures were measured and analyzed for one complete year from 1 January-31December 2005. The data thus recorded are compared with corresponding data of the 22-year average of NASA's surface meteorology and solar energy-model. Hourly, daily and monthly solar radiation was made from five-minute recorded by EKO Pyranometer. The highest measured daily and monthly mean solar radiation was found to be 369 and 326 (W/m2), and the highest five minute averaged solar radiation values up to 1268 (W/m2) were observed in the summer season from May to September, and the yearly average daily energy input was 21.83 (MJ/m2/day). Besides the global solar radiation, the daily and monthly average temperature variations are discussed. The collected data indicate that Ghardaia has a strong potential for solar energy applications.

Procedure for measuring simultaneously the solar and visible properties of glazing with complex internal or external structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Gentle, A R; Smith, G B

2014-10-20

Accurate solar and visual transmittances of materials in which surfaces or internal structures are complex are often not easily amenable to standard procedures with laboratory-based spectrophotometers and integrating spheres. Localized "hot spots" of intensity are common in such materials, so data on small samples is unreliable. A novel device and simple protocols have been developed and undergone validation testing. Simultaneous solar and visible transmittance and reflectance data have been acquired for skylight components and multilayer polycarbonate roof panels. The pyranometer and lux sensor setups also directly yield "light coolness" in lumens/watt. Sample areas must be large, and, although mainly in sheet form, some testing has been done on curved panels. The instrument, its operation, and the simple calculations used are described. Results on a subset of diffuse and partially diffuse materials with no hot spots have been cross checked using 150 mm integrating spheres with a spectrophotometer and the Air Mass 1.5 spectrum. Indications are that results are as good or better than with such spheres for transmittance, but reflectance techniques need refinement for some sample types.

Analysis of absorbed energy and efficiency of a solar flat plate collector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anderson Miguel Lenz

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The highest percentage in home electricity demands in Brazil lies with the water heating systems, where the electric shower has a great contribution in consumption. The use of solar thermal panels is an alternative to minimize the strain on the electrical system by heating water. Current study evaluates a water heating system built with materials commonly used in home constructions. The tested collector is a 1 m² flat plate. Experiments were conducted at the State University of Western Paraná (UNIOESTE, campus Cascavel, Paraná State, Brazil. Temperature data were collected by PT100 sensors and solar radiation was measured with a pyranometer, coupled to a CR-1000 datalogger, with readings and collection every 5 minutes for 1 year. Data collection and analysis showed that the system presented monthly efficiency ranging between 33.7 and 53.54%, and energy absorbed between 30.79 and 75.29 kWh m-².month. Results show the system is a good option for use in residential or rural water heating due to decrease in the electric bill.

Broadband Outdoor Radiometer Calibration Process for the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dooraghi, Michael [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2015-09-01

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program (ARM) maintains a fleet of monitoring stations to aid in the improved scientific understanding of the basic physics related to radiative feedback processes in the atmosphere, particularly the interactions among clouds and aerosols. ARM obtains continuous measurements and conducts field campaigns to provide data products that aid in the improvement and further development of climate models. All of the measurement campaigns include a suite of solar measurements. The Solar Radiation Research Laboratory at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory supports ARM's full suite of stations in a number of ways, including troubleshooting issues that arise as part of the data-quality reviews; managing engineering changes to the standard setup; and providing calibration services and assistance to the full fleet of solar-related instruments, including pyranometers, pyrgeometers, pyrheliometers, as well as the temperature/relative humidity probes, multimeters, and data acquisition systems that are used in the calibrations performed at the Southern Great Plains Radiometer Calibration Facility. This paper discusses all aspects related to the support provided to the calibration of the instruments in the solar monitoring fleet.

Influence of spectral solar radiation to the generating power of photovoltaic module; Taiyo denchi shutsuryoku eno taiyoko supekutoru eno eikyo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Minaki, S.; Ishihara, Y.; Todaka, T.; Harada, K. [Doshisha University, Kyoto (Japan); Oshiro, T.; Nakamura, H. [Japan quality Assurance Organization, Tokyo (Japan)

1997-11-25

As to the influence of spectral solar radiation to generating power of solar cells, a study was conducted from the aspects of season, time zone, intensity of solar radiation, etc. In the study, spectral responsive variation correction coefficients were introduced as evaluation values expressing the influence of spectral solar radiation. For the spectral distribution, an all sky spectral pyranometer by wavelength was used, and data were used which were obtained in the measurement in experimental facilities of the solar techno center. Concerning solar cell relative spectral sensitivity values, used were relative spectral sensitivity values of monocrystal and amorphous standard solar cells to the short-circuit current. Spectral response variation correction coefficients are coefficients correcting variations in conversion efficiency of solar cells due to changes in the spectral distribution. The changes of spectral responsive variation correction coefficients were studied using data obtained during April 1994 and March 1996. As a result, it was found that the coefficients showed large changes in summer and small ones in winter and that amorphous solar cells indicate this trend conspicuously. 3 refs., 6 figs., 3 tabs.

A Preliminary Analysis of Solar Irradiance Measurements at TNB Solar Research Centre for Optimal Orientation of Fixed Solar Panels installed in Selangor Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hashim, A M; Ahmad, B; Shafie, R M; Rusli, R; Aziz, M A; Hassan, J; Wanik, M Z C; Ali, M A M

2013-01-01

The well established rule for orienting fixed solar devices is to face south for places in the northern hemisphere and northwards for the southern hemisphere. However for regions near the equator such as in Selangor Malaysia, the position of the sun at solar noon is always near zenith both to the north and south depending on location and month of year. This paper reports an analysis of global solar radiation data taken at TNB Solar Research Centre, Malaysia. The solar radiation is measured using both shaded and exposed pyranometers together with a pyrheliometer which is mounted on a sun-tracker. The analysis on the solar measurements show that a near regular solar irradiation pattern had occurred often enough during the year to recommend an optimum azimuth orientation of installing the fixed solar panels tilted facing towards east. Even though all the solar measurements were done at a single location in TNBR Solar Research Centre at Bangi, for locations near the equator with similar weather pattern, the recommended azimuth direction of installing fixed solar panels and collectors tilted eastward will also be generally valid.

Analysis of data from water lift powered by solar energy pump

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oyama, Paulo Takashi [Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (UNIOESTE), Cascavel, PR (Brazil); Ricieri, Reinaldo Prandini [Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (UNIOESTE), Cascavel, PR (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Agricola], E-mail: ricieri@unioeste.br; Halmeman, Maria Cristina Rodrigues [Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Botucatu, SP (Brazil); Gnoatto, Estor; Kavanagh; Brenneisen, Paulo Job [Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana (UTFPR), Medianeira, PR (Brazil)], Emails: gnoatto@utfpr.edu.br, kavanagh@utfpr.edu.br, brenneisen@utfpr.edu.br

2008-07-01

Due to the high costs to install electricity in remote locations, away from the regular urban electrical installations, photovoltaic solar energy has ample application in public illumination, water pumping, health services offices, etc. With the purpose to contribute to a better use of this kind of energy, this project aimed in analyzing the outflow and efficiency of a motor pump powered by photovoltaic panels, the irradiation necessary to activate it for water lift, collecting data at every 6- meter height, ranging from 6,2 to 18,2 meters. This study is part of a development project of the Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana (UTFPR), by making use of photovoltaic panels, motor pump, pyranometers, thermocouple type K, pressure transducer and outflow transducer. The data show a maximum average outflow of 584,299 Lh{sup -1} and maximum efficiency of 23,338% for a lift of 18,2 m. There is also the need of irradiation for the activation of the motor pump proportional to the height of the lift, in a polynomial dependence of the third order. (author)

Fiscal 1974 Sunshine Project result report. R and D on solar energy system (weather survey). Part 3. Observation data on global solar radiation and sunshine duration; 1974 nendo zenten nissharyo, nissho jikan no kansoku shiryo. 3. Taiyo energy system no kenkyu kaihatsu (kisho chosa)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1975-03-01

This report includes observation data on global solar radiation and sunshine duration for R and D on solar energy system. The global solar radiation data include the following measured by bimetal pyranometer in 1954-1970: Monthly and yearly mean value, average value, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and maximum and minimum value. The sunshine duration data include the following measured by Jordan's heliograph in 1941-1970: Monthly and yearly total value, 10-year mean value, average value, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and maximum and minimum value. Annual variations of the global solar radiation at 16 typical sites all over the country are illustrated using the average values, and secular variations of the monthly and yearly mean values at 16 sites are also illustrated. Annual variations of the sunshine duration at 17 typical sites are illustrated using the average values, and secular variations of the monthly and yearly total values at 17 sites are also illustrated. Profiles of the global solar radiation and sunshine duration, and their coefficients of variation are illustrated for every country. (NEDO)

Analysis of direct to diffuse partitioning of global solar irradiance at the radiometric station in Badajoz (Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Sanchez, G.; Cancillo, M. L.; Serrano, A.

2010-09-01

This study is aimed at the analysis of the partitioning of global solar irradiance into its direct and diffuse components at the radiometric station in Badajoz (Spain). The detailed knowledge of the solar radiation field is of increasing interest in Southern Europe due to its use as renewable energy. In particular, the knowledge of the solar radiation partitioning into direct and diffuse radiation has become a major demand for the design and suitable orientation of solar panels in solar power plants. In this study the first measurements of solar diffuse irradiance performed in the radiometric station in Badajoz (Spain) are presented and analyzed in the framework of the partitioning of solar global radiation. Thus, solar global and diffuse irradiance were measured at one-minute basis from 23 November 2009 to 31 March 2010. Solar irradiances were measured by two Kipp&Zonen CMP11 pyranometers, using a Kipp&Zonen CM121 shadow ring for the measurements of solar diffuse irradiance. Diffuse measurements were corrected from the solid angle hidden by the ring and direct irradiance was calculated as the difference between global and diffuse measurements. Irradiance was obtained from the pyranomenters by applying calibration coefficients obtained in an inter-comparison campaign performed at INTA/El Arenosillo, in Huelva (Spain), last September 2009. There, calibration coefficients were calculated using as a reference a CMP11 pyranometer which had been previously calibrated by the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos/World Radiation Centre in Switzerland. In order to study the partitioning of the solar radiation, the global and diffuse irradiances have been analyzed for three typical different sky conditions: cloud-free, broken clouds and overcast. Particular days within the period of study have been selected by visual inspection. Along with the analysis of the global and diffuse irradiances themselves, ratios of these irradiances to the downward irradiance at the

Theoretical and experimental study of a small unit for solar desalination using flashing process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nafey, A. Safwat; Mohamad, M.A.; El-Helaby, S.O.; Sharaf, M.A.

2007-01-01

A small unit for water desalination by solar energy and a flash evaporation process is investigated. The system is built at the Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering at Suez, Egypt. The system consists of a solar water heater (flat plate solar collector) working as a brine heater and a vertical flash unit that is attached with a condenser/preheater unit. In this work, the system is investigated theoretically and experimentally at different real environmental conditions along Julian days of one year (2005). A mathematical model is developed to calculate the productivity of the system under different operating conditions. The BIRD's model for the calculation of solar insolation is used to predict the solar insolation instantaneously. Also, the solar insolation is measured by a highly sensitive digital pyranometer. Comparison between the theoretical and experimental results is performed. The average accumulative productivity of the system in November, December and January ranged between 1.04 to 1.45 kg/day/m 2 . The average summer productivity ranged between 5.44 to 7 kg/day/m 2 in July and August and 4.2 to 5 kg/day/m 2 in June

Water evaporation from bare soil at Paraiba, Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lima, Jose Romualdo de Sousa; Antonino, Antonio Celso D.; Lira, Carlos A. Brayner de O.; Maciel Netto, Andre; Silva, Ivandro de Franca da; Souza, Jeffson Cavalcante de

2002-01-01

Measurements were accomplished in a 4,0 ha area in Centro de Ciencias Agrarias, UFPB, Areia City, Paraiba State, Brazil (6 deg C 58'S, 35 deg C 41'W and 645 m), aiming to determine water evaporation from bare soil, by energy and water balance approaches. Rain gauge, net radiometer, pyranometer and sensor for measuring the temperature and the relative humidity of the air and the speed of the wind, in two levels above the soil surface, were used to solve the energy balance equations. In the soil, two places were fitted with instruments, each one with two thermal probes, installed horizontally in the depths z1 = 2,0 cm and z2 = 8,0 cm, and a heat flux plate, for the measurement of the heat flux in the soil, the z1 = 5,0 cm. The measured data were stored every 30 minutes in a data logger. For the calculation of the water balance, three tensio-neutronics sites were installed, containing: an access tube for neutrons probe and eight tensiometers. The values of soil evaporation obtained by water balance were lower than obtained by energy balance because of the variability of the water balance terms. (author)

Accuracy improvement of irradiation data by combining ground and satellite measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Betcke, J. [Energy and Semiconductor Research Laboratory, Carl von Ossietzky University, Oldenburg (Germany); Beyer, H.G. [Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Applied Science (F.H.) Magdeburg-Stendal, Magdeburg (Germany)

2004-07-01

Accurate and site-specific irradiation data are essential input for optimal planning, monitoring and operation of solar energy technologies. A concrete example is the performance check of grid connected PV systems with the PVSAT-2 procedure. This procedure detects system faults in an early stage by a daily comparison of an individual reference yield with the actual yield. Calculation of the reference yield requires hourly irradiation data with a known accuracy. A field test of the predecessing PVSAT-1 procedure showed that the accuracy of the irradiation input is the determining factor for the overall accuracy of the yield calculation. In this paper we will investigate if it is possible to improve the accuracy of sitespeci.c irradiation data by combining accurate localised pyranometer data with semi-continuous satellite data.We will therefore introduce the ''Kriging of Differences'' data fusion method. Kriging of Differences also offers the possibility to estimate it's own accuracy. The obtainable accuracy gain and the effectiveness of the accuracy prediction will be investigated by validation on monthly and daily irradiation datasets. Results will be compared with the Heliosat method and interpolation of ground data. (orig.)

Intercomparison between aerosol optical properties by a PREDE skyradiometer and CIMEL sunphotometer over Beijing, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H. Che

2008-06-01

Full Text Available This study compares the aerosol optical and physical properties simultaneously measured by a SKYNET PREDE skyradiometer and AERONET/PHOTONS CIMEL sunphotometer at a location in Beijing, China. Aerosol optical properties (AOP including the Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD, Angstrom exponent (α, volume size distribution, single scattering albedo (ω and the complex refractive index were compared. The difference between the two types of instruments was less than 1.3% for the AOD and less than 4% for the single scattering albedo below the wavelength of 670 nm. There is a difference between the volume size distribution patterns derived from two instruments, which is probably due to difference of measurement protocols and inversion algorithms for the respective instruments.

AOP under three distinct weather conditions (background, haze, and dust days over Beijing were compared by using the retrieved skyradiometer and sunphotometer data combined with MODIS satellite results, pyranometer measurements, PM₁₀ measurements, and backtrajectory analysis. The results show that the significant difference of AOP under background, haze, and dust days over Beijing is probably due to different aerosol components under distinct weather conditions.

Theoretical and experimental study of a small unit for solar desalination using flashing process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nafey, A. Safwat; El-Helaby, S.O.; Sharaf, M.A. [Department of Engineering Science, Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering, Suez Canal University, Suez 43522 (Egypt); Mohamad, M.A. [Solar Energy Department, National Research Center, Cairo (Egypt)

2007-02-15

A small unit for water desalination by solar energy and a flash evaporation process is investigated. The system is built at the Faculty of Petroleum and Mining Engineering at Suez, Egypt. The system consists of a solar water heater (flat plate solar collector) working as a brine heater and a vertical flash unit that is attached with a condenser/preheater unit. In this work, the system is investigated theoretically and experimentally at different real environmental conditions along Julian days of one year (2005). A mathematical model is developed to calculate the productivity of the system under different operating conditions. The BIRD's model for the calculation of solar insolation is used to predict the solar insolation instantaneously. Also, the solar insolation is measured by a highly sensitive digital pyranometer. Comparison between the theoretical and experimental results is performed. The average accumulative productivity of the system in November, December and January ranged between 1.04 to 1.45 kg/day/m{sup 2}. The average summer productivity ranged between 5.44 to 7 kg/day/m{sup 2} in July and August and 4.2 to 5 kg/day/m{sup 2} in June. (author)

Solar Radiation Received by Slopes Using COMS Imagery, a Physically Based Radiation Model, and GLOBE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jong-Min Yeom

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This study mapped the solar radiation received by slopes for all of Korea, including areas that are not measured by ground station measurements, through using satellites and topographical data. When estimating insolation with satellite, we used a physical model to measure the amount of hourly based solar surface insolation. Furthermore, we also considered the effects of topography using the Global Land One-Kilometer Base Elevation (GLOBE digital elevation model (DEM for the actual amount of incident solar radiation according to solar geometry. The surface insolation mapping, by integrating a physical model with the Communication, Ocean, and Meteorological Satellite (COMS Meteorological Imager (MI image, was performed through a comparative analysis with ground-based observation data (pyranometer. Original and topographically corrected solar radiation maps were created and their characteristics analyzed. Both the original and the topographically corrected solar energy resource maps captured the temporal variations in atmospheric conditions, such as the movement of seasonal rain fronts during summer. In contrast, although the original solar radiation map had a low insolation value over mountain areas with a high rate of cloudiness, the topographically corrected solar radiation map provided a better description of the actual surface geometric characteristics.

Assessment of daytime outdoor comfort levels in and outside the urban area of Glasgow, UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Krüger, Eduardo; Drach, Patricia; Emmanuel, Rohinton; Corbella, Oscar

2013-07-01

To understand thermal preferences and to define a preliminary outdoor comfort range for the local population of Glasgow, UK, an extensive series of measurements and surveys was carried out during 19 monitoring campaigns from winter through summer 2011 at six different monitoring points in pedestrian areas of downtown Glasgow. For data collection, a Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station equipped with temperature and humidity sensors, cup anemometer with wind vane, silicon pyranometer and globe thermometer was employed. Predictions of the outdoor thermal index PET (physiologically equivalent temperature) correlated closely to the actual thermal votes of respondents. Using concurrent measurements from a second Davis Vantage Pro2 weather station placed in a rural setting approximately 15 km from the urban area, comparisons were drawn with regard to daytime thermal comfort levels and urban-rural temperature differences (∆T(u-r)) for the various sites. The urban sites exhibited a consistent lower level of thermal discomfort during daytime. No discernible effect of urban form attributes in terms of the sky-view factor were observed on ∆Tu-r or on the relative difference of the adjusted predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD*).

Experimental Study of Natural Gas Temperature Effects on the Flame Luminosity and No Emission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. M. Javadi

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The flame radiation enhancement in gas-fired furnaces significantly improves the thermal efficiency without significantly affecting the NOx emissions. In this paper, the effects of inlet natural gas preheating on the flame luminosity, overall boiler efficiency, and NO emission in a 120 kW boiler have been investigated experimentally. Flame radiation is measured by use of laboratory pyranometer with photovoltaic sensor. A Testo350XL gas analyzer is also used for measuring the temperature and combustion species. The fuel is preheated from the room temperature to 350°C. The experimental measurements show that the preheating of natural gas up to about 240°C has no considerable effect on the flame luminosity. The results show that increasing the inlet gas temperature from 240°C, abruptly increases the flame luminosity. This luminosity increase enhances the boiler efficiency and also causes significant reduction in flame temperature and NO emission. The results show that increasing the inlet gas temperature from 240°C to 300°C increases the flame luminous radiation by 60% and boiler efficiency by 20%; while the maximum flame temperature and the boiler NO emission show a 10% and 8% decrease respectively.

Fiscal 1976 Sunshine Project result report. Research on solar energy system (weather survey); 1976 nendo taiyo energy system no kenkyu seika hokokusho. Kisho chosa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1977-03-31

This report describes the fiscal 1976 research result on weather survey for solar energy systems. Study was made on preparation of the global solar radiation (GSR) map of Japan. To obtain the estimation equation of GSR based on related weather data, analysis was made on data at A type GSR observation sites and related weather data. As some factors effective for estimating monthly mean GSR, a relative sunshine duration, snowfall index (ratio of days more than 10cm in snowfall) and solar altitude index (sine of solar altitude at culmination hour) were selected. The estimation equation was prepared on the basis of these above factors. GSR was affected by relative sunshine duration exceedingly, snowfall by 12%, and solar altitude difference by 6% within an error of 5%. The monthly and annual GSR maps were prepared every site by the above calculation. The continuous observation results in Kagoshima and Fukuoka by recording direct pyranometers are presented. Scattered solar radiation is defined as the difference between simultaneously measured GSR and direct solar radiation. Weather data preparation in Fukuoka for design of solar cooling/heating and hot water supply systems is also described. (NEDO)

Fiscal 1974 Sunshine Project result report. R and D on solar energy system (weather survey). Part 2. Guideline for using weather data; 1974 nendo kisho data ni saishite no shishin. 2. Taiyo energy system no kenkyu kaihatsu

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1975-03-01

This report describes the guideline for using weather data in R and D on solar energy system. Solar radiation is defined as direct, scattered and reflected radiation in a range of near UV-near IR radiation. Direct solar radiation is observed by silver disk pyrheliometer, while global solar radiation by thermostat or bimetal pyranometer. Accuracy standards of such meters are indispensable to keep the accuracy uniformly. To keep the uniformity and accuracy of observation data all over the world, the international comparative observation is held every 5 years. Solar radiation observation in Japan started in 1932 by installing silver disk pyrheliometers all over the country. In 1938 the observation stations were increased to 79 sites, however, in 1953 those were integrated into 13 long-term weather observation stations. Sunshine duration is defined as the time direct sunbeam aims at the ground, and observed generally by Jordan's heliograph which observes sunshine durations with burned holes on photosensitive recording paper by direct sunbeam through 2 small holes on both sides of a cylinder. The history of statistical processing of solar radiation and sunshine duration data in Meteorological Agency is also presented. (NEDO)

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE PRODUCTION OF SOLAR HYDROGEN IN ALGERIA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Bendaikha

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Hydrogen is a sustainable fuel option and one of the potential solutions for the current energy and environmental problems. In this study hydrogen is produced using a hydrogen generator with a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM electrolyser. An experimental study is done in the Center of Development of the Renewable Energy, Algiers, Algeria.The experimental device contains essentially a photovoltaic module, a PEM electrolyser, a gasometer and the devices of measures of characteristics of the PEM electrolyser as well as two pyranometers for the horizontal and diffuse global radiance registration. This system in pilots scale is permitted on the one hand, to measured and analyzed the characteristics: of the PEM electrolyser for two different pressures of working (Patm and P=3 bar, on the other hand, to study the volume of hydrogen produces in the time with different sources of electrical power (generator, photovoltaic module, fluorescent lamp, the efficiency for every case is calculated and compared. We present in this paper the variation of the solar hydrogen flow rate produced according to the global radiance and according to the time for a typical day’s of August.

Analysis of output characteristics of PV modules under natural sunlight; Shizen taiyokoka ni okeru taiyo denchi module shutsuryoku tokusei no kaiseki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Murai, Y.; Igari, S. [Japan Quality Assurance of Organization, Tokyo (Japan)

1997-11-25

The paper measured current/voltage characteristics of various PV modules under natural light and analyzed various characteristics such as generated output and module power generation efficiency. In the experiment, installing various PV modules at the solar techno center located at north latitude 34.7deg and east longitude 137.6deg, measurement was made by I-V curve tracer, pyranometer, and thermocouple buried on the module back. As a result, the following were confirmed: As to the monthly mean power generation efficiency, the crystalline system is lowest in summer and highest in winter, and the amorphous system highest in summer and lowest in winter. Concerning the power generation efficiency and illuminance, the gap of power generation efficiency between at high illuminance and at low illuminance is large in the crystalline system and small in amorphous system. Relating to the azimuth angle of module installation and the generated output, the installation inclined 15deg angle west in summer and 15deg angle east in fall/winter generates more power in the crystalline system. On the contrary, the installation on the south face generates more power in the amorphous system. 4 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs.

A Power Case Study for Monocrystalline and Polycrystalline Solar Panels in Bursa City, Turkey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayşegül Taşçıoğlu

2016-01-01

Full Text Available It was intended to reveal the time dependent power generation under different loads for two different solar panels under the conditions of Bursa province in between August 19 and 25, 2014. The testing sets include solar panels, inverter, multimeter, accumulator, regulator, pyranometer, pyrheliometer, temperature sensor, and datalogger. The efficiency of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar panels was calculated depending on the climatic data’s measurements. As the result of the study, the average performances of monocrystalline and polycrystalline panels are 42.06 and 39.80 Wh, respectively. It was seen that 87.14 W instantaneous power could be obtained from monocrystalline solar panel and that 80.17 W instantaneous power could be obtained from polycrystalline solar panel under maximum total radiation (1001.13 W/m2. Within this frame, it was determined that monocrystalline solar panel is able to operate more efficiently under the conditions of Bursa compared to polycrystalline solar panel. When the multivariate correlations coefficients were examined statistically, a significant relationship in positive direction was detected between total and direct radiation and ambient temperature on energy generation from monocrystalline and polycrystalline panel.

Missing Data Imputation of Solar Radiation Data under Different Atmospheric Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Turrado, Concepción Crespo; López, María del Carmen Meizoso; Lasheras, Fernando Sánchez; Gómez, Benigno Antonio Rodríguez; Rollé, José Luis Calvo; de Cos Juez, Francisco Javier

2014-01-01

Global solar broadband irradiance on a planar surface is measured at weather stations by pyranometers. In the case of the present research, solar radiation values from nine meteorological stations of the MeteoGalicia real-time observational network, captured and stored every ten minutes, are considered. In this kind of record, the lack of data and/or the presence of wrong values adversely affects any time series study. Consequently, when this occurs, a data imputation process must be performed in order to replace missing data with estimated values. This paper aims to evaluate the multivariate imputation of ten-minute scale data by means of the chained equations method (MICE). This method allows the network itself to impute the missing or wrong data of a solar radiation sensor, by using either all or just a group of the measurements of the remaining sensors. Very good results have been obtained with the MICE method in comparison with other methods employed in this field such as Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). The average RMSE value of the predictions for the MICE algorithm was 13.37% while that for the MLR it was 28.19%, and 31.68% for the IDW. PMID:25356644

Characteristics of evacuated tubular solar thermal collector as input energy for cooling system at Universitas Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Alhamid, M. Idrus; Nasruddin, Aisyah, Nyayu; Sholahudin

2017-03-01

This paper discussed the use of solar thermal collector as an input energy for cooling system. The experimental investigation was undertaken to characterize solar collectors that have been integrated with an absorption chiller. About 62 modules of solar collectors connected in series and parallel are placed on the roof top of MRC building. Thermistors were used to measure the fluid temperature at inlet, inside and outlet of each collector, inside the water tank and ambient temperature. Water flow that circulated from the storage was measured by flow meter, while solar radiation was measured by a pyranometer that was mounted parallel to the collector. Experimental data for a data set was collected in March 2016, during the day time hours of 08:00 - 17:00. This data set was used to calculate solar collector efficiency. The results showed that in the maximum solar radiation, the outlet temperature that can be reached is about 78°C, the utilized energy is about 70 kW and solar collector has an efficiency of 64%. While in the minimum solar radiation, the outlet temperature that can be reached is about 53°C, the utilized energy is about 28 kW and solar collector has an efficiency of 43%.

On the importance of considering the incident spectrum when measuring the outdoor performance of amorphous silicon photovoltaic devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gottschalg, R.; Betts, T.R.; Infield, D.G. [Loughborough University (United Kingdom). Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Centre for Renewable Energy Systems Technology; Kearney, M.J. [University of Surrey, Guildford (United Kingdom). School of Electronics and Physical Sciences, Advanced Technology Institute

2004-02-01

Conventional measurement practice for the outdoor performance evaluation of solar cells does not make use of the complete spectrum, relying instead on the total irradiance as measured, say, with a pyranometer. In this paper it is shown that this can result in significant errors for solar cells having wide band gaps, in particular, for amorphous silicon solar cells. Two effects are investigated. The first relates to quantifying the typical errors associated with instantaneous measurements; what one might term the calibration of devices. The second relates to quantifying the impact of neglecting variations in the spectrum on the estimation of the annual energy production. It is observed that the fraction of the spectrum falling in the spectrally useful range for amorphous silicon can vary by as much as +10% to -15% with respect to standard test conditions at the test site used in this study, which translates directly into performance variations of similar magnitude. The relationship between changes due to spectral variations as opposed to variations in device temperature is also investigated. The results show that there is a strong case for investigating spectral effects more thoroughly, and explicitly including the measurement of the spectral distribution in all outdoor performance testing. (author)

A long term study of the relations between erythemal UV-B irradiance, total ozone column, and aerosol optical depth at central Argentina

Science.gov (United States)

Palancar, Gustavo G.; Olcese, Luis E.; Achad, Mariana; López, María Laura; Toselli, Beatriz M.

2017-09-01

Global ultraviolet-B irradiance (UV-B, 280-315 nm) measurements made at the campus of the University of Córdoba, Argentina were analyzed to quantify the effects of ozone and aerosols on surface UV-B erythemal irradiance (UVER). The measurements have been carried out with a YES Pyranometer during the period 2000-2013. The effect of ozone and aerosols has been quantified by means of the Radiation Amplification Factor (RAF) and by an aerosol factor (AF, analogous to RAF), respectively. The overall mean RAF under cloudless conditions was (1.2 ± 0.3) %, ranging from 0.67 to 2.10% depending on solar zenith angle (SZA) and on Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD). The RAF increased with the SZA with a clear trend. Similarly, the aerosol effect under almost-constant ozone and SZA showed that, on average, a 1% increase in AOD forced a decrease of (0.15 ± 0.04) % in the UVER, with a range of 0.06 to 0.27 and no defined trend as a function of the SZA. To analyze the effect of absorbing aerosols, an effective single scattering albedo (SSA) was determined by comparing the experimental UVER with calculations carried out with the TUV radiative transfer model.

Reconstruction of solar spectral surface UV irradiances using radiative transfer simulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Lindfors, Anders; Heikkilä, Anu; Kaurola, Jussi; Koskela, Tapani; Lakkala, Kaisa

2009-01-01

UV radiation exerts several effects concerning life on Earth, and spectral information on the prevailing UV radiation conditions is needed in order to study each of these effects. In this paper, we present a method for reconstruction of solar spectral UV irradiances at the Earth's surface. The method, which is a further development of an earlier published method for reconstruction of erythemally weighted UV, relies on radiative transfer simulations, and takes as input (1) the effective cloud optical depth as inferred from pyranometer measurements of global radiation (300-3000 nm); (2) the total ozone column; (3) the surface albedo as estimated from measurements of snow depth; (4) the total water vapor column; and (5) the altitude of the location. Reconstructed daily cumulative spectral irradiances at Jokioinen and Sodankylä in Finland are, in general, in good agreement with measurements. The mean percentage difference, for instance, is mostly within +/-8%, and the root mean square of the percentage difference is around 10% or below for wavelengths over 310 nm and daily minimum solar zenith angles (SZA) less than 70 degrees . In this study, we used pseudospherical radiative transfer simulations, which were shown to improve the performance of our method under large SZA (low Sun).

Construction and first atmospheric observations of a high spectral resolution lidar system in Argentina in the frame of a trinational Japanese-Argentinean-Chilean collaboration

Science.gov (United States)

Papandrea, S.; Jin, Y.; Ristori, P.; Otero, L.; Nishizawa, T.; Mizuno, A.; Sugimoto, N.; Quel, E.

2016-05-01

Atmospheric monitoring stations are being developed in Argentina. The most important targets are volcanic ashes, desert aerosols in particular Patagonian dust and biomass burning aerosols. Six stations deployed in the Patagonian Region and Buenos Aires have lidar systems, sun photometers integrated to the AERONET/NASA monitoring network, in situ optical particle analyzers, four solar radiation sensors (pyranometer, UVA, UVB and GUV), and meteorological equipment. The stations are in the main international airports of the Regions (San Carlos de Bariloche, Comodoro Rivadavia, Neuquén, Rio Gallegos) and in Buenos Aires (Aeroparque Jorge Newbery and at CEILAP/CITEDEF). CEILAP and the National Institute of Environmental Studies (NIES) at Tsukuba, Japan developed the first iodine cell-based high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) in Argentina to add in the lidar network. We upgraded the standard CEILAP multi-wavelength Raman lidar adding the laser frequency tuning system and the 532 iodine-filtered channel at the reception to built the HSRL. HSRL will provide daytime and nighttime direct observation of the aerosol and cloud optical properties (backscatter and extinction) without the pre-assumption of the lidar ratio. This work shows the design and construction of the first Argentinean HSRL. We also show the first lidar observations done in the country with this kind of lidar.

Models in the estimate of the diffuse solar radiation; Modelos de estimativa da radiacao solar difusa

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Recieri, Reinaldo Prandini; Ferruzzi, Yuri; Silva, Suedemio de Lima [Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (UNIOESTE/FAG), Cascavel, PR (Brazil). Curso de Mestrado em Engenharia Agricola; Quallio, Silvana [Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (UNIOESTE/FAG), Cascavel, PR (Brazil). Curso de Biologia; Batista, Vitor Roberto Lourenco [Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Parana (UNIOESTE/FAG), Cascavel, PR (Brazil). Curso de Graduacao em Engenharia Eletrica

2004-07-01

In this work we evaluate, by means of polynomial regression analysis, several models that relate the diffuse fraction of the global radiation (K{sub d}) with the clearness index (K{sub t}). The experiment was conducted in the Solar Radiometry Station of Cascavel/PR from the first of January to the 31st of December, in the year of 2001. The solar radiation components were monitored by the following manufactured instruments: pyranometer (KIPP and ZONEN CM3) and pirheliometer (EPPLEY NIP) connected in a sun tracker (ST-1 model). A datalogger CR10X from the CAMPBELL SCIENTIFIC was used in the data acquisition. This datalogger was programmed in the frequency of 1 Hz storing an average of 5 minutes of collected data. Among the equations the best values of RMSE an MBE were find in the fourth and third degrees, respectively. We also find that the fourth degree polynomial equation (K{sub d}=1,172-1,001K{sub t}+3,992K{sub t}{sup 2}-11,742K{sub t}{sup 3}+7,698K{sub t}{sup 4}) generalizes the utilization of equations for diffuse solar radiation estimation. This means that this equation probably can be applied for any place and climatic conditions. (author)

Comparison between IEEE and CIGRE Thermal Behaviour Standards and Measured Temperature on a 132-kV Overhead Power Line

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Alberto Arroyo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the steady and dynamic thermal balances of an overhead power line proposed by CIGRE (Technical Brochure 601, 2014 and IEEE (Std.738, 2012 standards. The estimated temperatures calculated by the standards are compared with the averaged conductor temperature obtained every 8 min during a year. The conductor is a LA 280 Hawk type, used in a 132-kV overhead line. The steady and dynamic state comparison shows that the number of cases with deviations to conductor temperatures higher than 5 ∘ C decreases from around 20% to 15% when the dynamic analysis is used. As some of the most critical variables are magnitude and direction of the wind speed, ambient temperature and solar radiation, their influence on the conductor temperature is studied. Both standards give similar results with slight differences due to the different way to calculate the solar radiation and convection. Considering the wind, both standards provide better results for the estimated conductor temperature as the wind speed increases and the angle with the line is closer to 90 ∘ . In addition, if the theoretical radiation is replaced by that measured with the pyranometer, the number of samples with deviations higher than 5 ∘ C is reduced from around 15% to 5%.

Influence of angle of inclination on power of solar module; Taiyo denchi module no keisha kakudo to shutsuryoku tokusei

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsutsumi, K.; Nishitani, M. [Dai Ichi University, College of Technology, Kagoshima (Japan)

1997-11-25

Experiment/study were conducted on the influence of angle of inclination on output of solar modules. In the experiment, changing the angle of inclination of the photovoltaic module installed on the top of school building to 0, 30, 60 and 90 degC, the global radiation on an inclined surface was measured by pyranometer equipped with the module, and at the same time output characteristics were measured by I-V curve tracer. In the I-V curve tracer, voltage, current, and output capability diagram are illustrated automatically changing bias voltage to get the maximum output. The global radiation on an inclined surface and the maximum output indicated an almost proportional relation and were expressed in a recursion method. Moreover, measurement of the global radiation is usually conducted using the amount of global radiation on a horizontal surface, and the global radiation on an inclined surface is calculated as a sum of the direct solar radiation amount and the sky solar radiation amount after determining a penetration rate by the relational equation. By calculating the global radiation on an inclined surface, it becomes possible to calculate the maximum output of photovoltaic modules by this recursion method. 1 ref., 6 figs., 1 tab.

Missing Data Imputation of Solar Radiation Data under Different Atmospheric Conditions

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Concepción Crespo Turrado

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Global solar broadband irradiance on a planar surface is measured at weather stations by pyranometers. In the case of the present research, solar radiation values from nine meteorological stations of the MeteoGalicia real-time observational network, captured and stored every ten minutes, are considered. In this kind of record, the lack of data and/or the presence of wrong values adversely affects any time series study. Consequently, when this occurs, a data imputation process must be performed in order to replace missing data with estimated values. This paper aims to evaluate the multivariate imputation of ten-minute scale data by means of the chained equations method (MICE. This method allows the network itself to impute the missing or wrong data of a solar radiation sensor, by using either all or just a group of the measurements of the remaining sensors. Very good results have been obtained with the MICE method in comparison with other methods employed in this field such as Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR. The average RMSE value of the predictions for the MICE algorithm was 13.37% while that for the MLR it was 28.19%, and 31.68% for the IDW.

Missing data imputation of solar radiation data under different atmospheric conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Turrado, Concepción Crespo; López, María Del Carmen Meizoso; Lasheras, Fernando Sánchez; Gómez, Benigno Antonio Rodríguez; Rollé, José Luis Calvo; Juez, Francisco Javier de Cos

2014-10-29

Global solar broadband irradiance on a planar surface is measured at weather stations by pyranometers. In the case of the present research, solar radiation values from nine meteorological stations of the MeteoGalicia real-time observational network, captured and stored every ten minutes, are considered. In this kind of record, the lack of data and/or the presence of wrong values adversely affects any time series study. Consequently, when this occurs, a data imputation process must be performed in order to replace missing data with estimated values. This paper aims to evaluate the multivariate imputation of ten-minute scale data by means of the chained equations method (MICE). This method allows the network itself to impute the missing or wrong data of a solar radiation sensor, by using either all or just a group of the measurements of the remaining sensors. Very good results have been obtained with the MICE method in comparison with other methods employed in this field such as Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) and Multiple Linear Regression (MLR). The average RMSE value of the predictions for the MICE algorithm was 13.37% while that for the MLR it was 28.19%, and 31.68% for the IDW.

Analysis of water flow, power and electrical current of a motor pump powered by photovoltaic panels; Analise da vazao, potencia e corrente em uma motobomba acionada por paines fotovoltaicos

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oyama, Paulo Takashi; Santos, Jose Airton Azevedo dos; Michels, Roger Nabeyama [Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana (UTFPR-MD), Medianeira, PR (Brazil)], E-mail: airton@utfpr.edu.br; Ricieri, Reinaldo Prandini [Universidade do Oeste Paulista (UNIOESTE), Cascavel, PR (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Agricola], E-mail: ricieri@unioeste.br; Halmeman, Maria Cristina Rodrigues [Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana (UTFPR-CM), Campo Mourao, PR (Brazil)

2009-07-01

Because of the high cost of electricity connection to distant places, far away from conventional nets, photovoltaic solar energy is widely used in public illumination, water pumping, medical care centers, etc. With the purpose to contribute to a better utilization in this type of energy, the object of the project is to analyze the water flow, power and electrical current of a motor pump to be used for water lift, driven by photovoltaic panels, the data will be collected at every 2 meters in height from 2.2 to 18.2 meters. The analyses show the outflow linear dependence in relation to the height of the water lift, a second order dependence of the electrical power provided by the photovoltaic panels in relation to the solar irradiance on the panels and a linear dependence of the electrical current in relation to the solar irradiance. This study is a part of a project developed at the 'Universidade Tecnologica Federal do Parana' (UTFPR) - Campus Medianeira - PR. Two photovoltaic panels were used from Solarex Brand, model MSX 56, a motor pump made by Shurflo Ltd, model 2088-732, two pyranometers from KIPP and ZONEN CM3, a type K thermocouple, a pressure transducer model HUBA-510 and a water flow transducer. (author)

Diseño e implementación de un sistema de adquisición de datos para medir potencia solar local

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Joe Alexander Jiménez Herrera

2006-05-01

Full Text Available El presente trabajo versa sobre la medición de las componentes directa, difusa y global de la radiación solar, a través de piranómetros, con el debido acondicionamiento de las señales y digitalización de las mismas en el microprocesador HCS12. El almacenamiento de los datos se efectúa mediante memorias I2C, logrando una capacidad de captura de 13 días aproximadamente, almacenando tres datos por minuto durante el "día Solar". Además de contar, con una interfaz de visualización y comunicación serial constituida por un PC, un LCD y un teclado, con el cual permite modificar los parámetros del sistema. / The present work deals with the measurement of the direct, global and diffuse components of the solar radiation, through pyranometers, with the signs adaptation right and the digitalization of them in the microprocessor HCS12. The data storage is effected through memories I2C, achieving a capture capacity of 13 days approximately, storing 3 data by minute during the "solar day". Besides, it counts with a visualization and serial communication interface constituted by a PC, a LCD and a keyboard with which it allows modifying the system parameters.

UV Reconstruction Algorithm And Diurnal Cycle Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Curylo, Aleksander; Litynska, Zenobia; Krzyscin, Janusz; Bogdanska, Barbara

2009-03-01

UV reconstruction is a method of estimation of surface UV with the use of available actinometrical and aerological measurements. UV reconstruction is necessary for the study of long-term UV change. A typical series of UV measurements is not longer than 15 years, which is too short for trend estimation. The essential problem in the reconstruction algorithm is the good parameterization of clouds. In our previous algorithm we used an empirical relation between Cloud Modification Factor (CMF) in global radiation and CMF in UV. The CMF is defined as the ratio between measured and modelled irradiances. Clear sky irradiance was calculated with a solar radiative transfer model. In the proposed algorithm, the time variability of global radiation during the diurnal cycle is used as an additional source of information. For elaborating an improved reconstruction algorithm relevant data from Legionowo [52.4 N, 21.0 E, 96 m a.s.l], Poland were collected with the following instruments: NILU-UV multi channel radiometer, Kipp&Zonen pyranometer, radiosonde profiles of ozone, humidity and temperature. The proposed algorithm has been used for reconstruction of UV at four Polish sites: Mikolajki, Kolobrzeg, Warszawa-Bielany and Zakopane since the early 1960s. Krzyscin's reconstruction of total ozone has been used in the calculations.

The relationship between incoming solar radiation and daily air temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kpeglo, Daniel Kwasi

2013-07-01

Solar radiation is the ultimate source of energy for the planet. To predict the values of temperature and instant solar radiation when equipment are not readily available from obtained equations, a good knowledge and understanding of the disposition and distribution of solar radiation is a requirement for modelling earth’s weather and climate change variables. A pyranometer (CM3) in series with a PHYWE amplifier and a voltmeter were experimentally set-up and used to study the amount of solar radiation received at the Physics Department of the University of Ghana during the day. The temperature of the study area as well as the Relative Humidity was also recorded. Data was collected over a period of one month (from 2nd to 24th April, 2012). Days for which rain was recorded were ignored because rain could damage the pyranometer. The data obtained by the set-up were therefore used to compare with data obtained by a wireless weather station (Davis Vintage Pro). The data from these separate set-ups indicated that a perfect correlation existed between the solar radiation and temperature of the place. The data obtained by the experimental set-up was split into two separate sessions as morning and evening sessions. It was observed that the experimental set-up had a good correlation with that of the weather station on a particular day 11th April, 2012. The various Regression Coefficient (R"2) values for morning session were respectively R"2 = 0.96 and R"2 = 0.95 with their respective equations as I_W =136.22T_W - 40623 and I_p = 2.3198T_p - 678.14. The evening session also had good Regression Coefficient values of R"2 = 0.81 and R"2 = 0.97 with equations of 2.1098T_p - 625 and I_W = 161.31T_w - 4876.9. Similar analysis of the data from the separate set-ups gave a better correlation for that of the experimental set-up than that of the wireless station. The range of values of Regression Coefficient (R"2) for the experimental set-up was between 0.82 − 0.99 for the morning

Influence of ambient meteorology on the accuracy of radiation measurements: insights from field and laboratory experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Oswald, Sandro M.; Pietsch, Helga; Baumgartner, Dietmar J.; Rieder, Harald E.

2016-04-01

A precise knowledge of the surface energy budget, which includes the solar and terrestrial radiation fluxes, is needed to accurately characterize the global energy balance which is largely determining Earth's climate. To this aim national and global monitoring networks for surface radiative fluxes have been established in recent decades. The most prominent among these networks is the so-called Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) operating under the auspices of the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) (Ohmura et al., 1998). National monitoring networks such as the Austrian RADiation Monitoring Network (ARAD), which has been established in 2010 by a consortium of the Central Agency of Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG), the University of Graz, the University of Innsbruck, and the University of Natural Resources and Applied Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), orient themselves on BSRN standards (McArthur, 2005). ARAD comprises to date five sites (Wien Hohe Warte, Graz/University, Innsbruck/University, Kanzelhöhe Observatory and Sonnblick (which is also a BSRN site)) and aims to provide long-term monitoring of radiation budget components at highest accuracy and to capture the spatial patterns of radiation climate in Austria (Olefs et al., 2015). Given the accuracy requirement for the local monitoring of radiative fluxes instrument offsets, triggered by meteorological factors and/or instrumentation, pose a major challenge in radiation monitoring. Within this study we investigate effects of ambient meteorology on the accuracy of radiation measurements performed with pyranometers contained in various heating/ventilation systems (HV-systems), all of which used in regular operation within the ARAD network. We focus particularly on instrument offsets observed following precipitation events. To quantify pyranometer responses to precipitation we performed a series of controlled laboratory experiments as well as targeted field campaigns in 2015 and 2016. Our results indicate

Solar and Lighting Transmission through Complex Fenestration Systems of Office Buildings in a Warm and Dry Climate of Chile

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Waldo Bustamante

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Overheating, glare, and high-energy demand are recurrent problems in office buildings in Santiago, Chile (33°27'S; 70°42'W during cooling periods. Santiago climate is warm and dry, with high solar radiation and temperature during most of the year. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the thermal and daylighting performance of office buildings transparent façades composed of three different complex fenestration systems (CFS. Each CFS contains a different external shading device (ESD: (1 external roller, (2 vertical undulated and perforated screens, and (3 tilted undulated and perforated screens. The study was carried out by in situ monitoring in three office buildings in Santiago, Chile. Buildings were selected from a database of 103 buildings, representing those constructed between 2005 and 2011 in the city. The monitoring consisted of measuring the short wave solar and daylighting transmission through fenestration systemsby means of pyranometers and luxometers, respectively. This paper shows measurements that were carried out during summer period. A good performance is observed in a building with the external roller system. This system—applied to a northwest façade—shows a regular and high solar and daylighting control of incoming solar radiation. The other two ESD systems evidence a general good performance. However, some deficiencies at certain times of the day were detected, suggesting a non-appropriated design.

Schoolyard Shade and Sun Exposure: Assessment of Personal Monitoring During Children's Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Vanos, Jennifer K; McKercher, Grant R; Naughton, Kylie; Lochbaum, Marc

2017-07-01

Childhood exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) is a major risk factor for the development of melanoma later in life. However, it is challenging to accurately determine personal outdoor exposure to UVR, specifically erythemally weighted UVR (UV E ry ), due to technological constraints, variable time-activity patterns, and the influence of outdoor environmental design. To address this challenge, this study utilized mobile and stationary techniques to examine the UV E ry exposures of 14 children in a schoolyard in Lubbock, TX, in spring 2016. The aims of the study were to examine the influence of artificial shade on personal UV E ry exposures and to assess full sun exposure ratios (ERs) within the same playground microenvironment. On average, personal wrist dosimeters worn during play in the sun measured 18% of the total onsite UV E ry measured by a stationary UV pyranometer. Shade was found to significantly reduce the personal UV E ry exposures by 55%, UVB 280-315 nm exposures by 91%, and the overall solar radiation by 84%. Substantial benefits can be garnered through focused design of children's recreational space to utilize shade-both natural and artificial-to reduce UVR exposures during play, and to extend safe outdoor stays. Finally, although the wrist is a practical location for a dosimeter, it often underestimates full exposures, particularly during physical activity. © 2017 The American Society of Photobiology.

Improved Satellite-based Photosysnthetically Active Radiation (PAR) for Air Quality Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Pour Biazar, A.; McNider, R. T.; Cohan, D. S.; White, A.; Zhang, R.; Dornblaser, B.; Doty, K.; Wu, Y.; Estes, M. J.

2015-12-01

One of the challenges in understanding the air quality over forested regions has been the uncertainties in estimating the biogenic hydrocarbon emissions. Biogenic volatile organic compounds, BVOCs, play a critical role in atmospheric chemistry, particularly in ozone and particulate matter (PM) formation. In southeastern United States, BVOCs (mostly as isoprene) are the dominant summertime source of reactive hydrocarbon. Despite significant efforts in improving BVOC estimates, the errors in emission inventories remain a concern. Since BVOC emissions are particularly sensitive to the available photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), model errors in PAR result in large errors in emission estimates. Thus, utilization of satellite observations to estimate PAR can help in reducing emission uncertainties. Satellite-based PAR estimates rely on the technique used to derive insolation from satellite visible brightness measurements. In this study we evaluate several insolation products against surface pyranometer observations and offer a bias correction to generate a more accurate PAR product. The improved PAR product is then used in biogenic emission estimates. The improved biogenic emission estimates are compared to the emission inventories over Texas and used in air quality simulation over the period of August-September 2013 (NASA's Discover-AQ field campaign). A series of sensitivity simulations will be performed and evaluated against Discover-AQ observations to test the impact of satellite-derived PAR on air quality simulations.

Thermal Transmission through Existing Building Enclosures: Destructive Monitoring in Intermediate Layers versus Non-Destructive Monitoring with Sensors on Surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Echarri, Víctor; Espinosa, Almudena; Rizo, Carlos

2017-12-08

Opaque enclosures of buildings play an essential role in the level of comfort experienced indoors and annual energy demand. The impact of solar radiation and thermal inertia of the materials that make up the multi-layer enclosures substantially modify thermal transmittance behaviour of the enclosures. This dynamic form of heat transfer, additionally affected by indoor HVAC systems, has a substantial effect on the parameters that define comfort. It also has an impact on energy demand within a daily cycle as well as throughout a one-year use cycle. This study describes the destructive monitoring of an existing block of flats located in Alicante. Once the enclosure was opened, sensors of temperature (PT100), air velocity, and relative humidity were located in the different layers of the enclosure, as well as in the interior and exterior surfaces. A pyranometer was also installed to measure solar radiation levels. A temperature data correction algorithm was drawn up to address irregularities produced in the enclosure. The algorithm was applied using a Raspberry Pi processor in the data collection system. The comparative results of temperature gradients versus non-destructive monitoring systems are presented, providing measures of the transmittance value, surface temperatures and indoor and outdoor air temperatures. This remote sensing system can be used in future studies to quantify and compare the energy savings of different enclosure construction solutions.

A critical assessment of two types of personal UV dosimeters.

Science.gov (United States)

Seckmeyer, Gunther; Klingebiel, Marcus; Riechelmann, Stefan; Lohse, Insa; McKenzie, Richard L; Liley, J Ben; Allen, Martin W; Siani, Anna-Maria; Casale, Giuseppe R

2012-01-01

Doses of erythemally weighted irradiances derived from polysulphone (PS) and electronic ultraviolet (EUV) dosimeters have been compared with measurements obtained using a reference spectroradiometer. PS dosimeters showed mean absolute deviations of 26% with a maximum deviation of 44%, the calibrated EUV dosimeters showed mean absolute deviations of 15% (maximum 33%) around noon during several test days in the northern hemisphere autumn. In the case of EUV dosimeters, measurements with various cut-off filters showed that part of the deviation from the CIE erythema action spectrum was due to a small, but significant sensitivity to visible radiation that varies between devices and which may be avoided by careful preselection. Usually the method of calibrating UV sensors by direct comparison to a reference instrument leads to reliable results. However, in some circumstances the quality of measurements made with simple sensors may be over-estimated. In the extreme case, a simple pyranometer can be used as a UV instrument, providing acceptable results for cloudless skies, but very poor results under cloudy conditions. It is concluded that while UV dosimeters are useful for their design purpose, namely to estimate personal UV exposures, they should not be regarded as an inexpensive replacement for meteorological grade instruments. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Photochemistry and Photobiology © 2011 The American Society of Photobiology.

Thermal Transmission through Existing Building Enclosures: Destructive Monitoring in Intermediate Layers versus Non-Destructive Monitoring with Sensors on Surfaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Víctor Echarri

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Opaque enclosures of buildings play an essential role in the level of comfort experienced indoors and annual energy demand. The impact of solar radiation and thermal inertia of the materials that make up the multi-layer enclosures substantially modify thermal transmittance behaviour of the enclosures. This dynamic form of heat transfer, additionally affected by indoor HVAC systems, has a substantial effect on the parameters that define comfort. It also has an impact on energy demand within a daily cycle as well as throughout a one-year use cycle. This study describes the destructive monitoring of an existing block of flats located in Alicante. Once the enclosure was opened, sensors of temperature (PT100, air velocity, and relative humidity were located in the different layers of the enclosure, as well as in the interior and exterior surfaces. A pyranometer was also installed to measure solar radiation levels. A temperature data correction algorithm was drawn up to address irregularities produced in the enclosure. The algorithm was applied using a Raspberry Pi processor in the data collection system. The comparative results of temperature gradients versus non-destructive monitoring systems are presented, providing measures of the transmittance value, surface temperatures and indoor and outdoor air temperatures. This remote sensing system can be used in future studies to quantify and compare the energy savings of different enclosure construction solutions.

Thermal Transmission through Existing Building Enclosures: Destructive Monitoring in Intermediate Layers versus Non-Destructive Monitoring with Sensors on Surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Echarri, Víctor; Espinosa, Almudena; Rizo, Carlos

2017-01-01

Opaque enclosures of buildings play an essential role in the level of comfort experienced indoors and annual energy demand. The impact of solar radiation and thermal inertia of the materials that make up the multi-layer enclosures substantially modify thermal transmittance behaviour of the enclosures. This dynamic form of heat transfer, additionally affected by indoor HVAC systems, has a substantial effect on the parameters that define comfort. It also has an impact on energy demand within a daily cycle as well as throughout a one-year use cycle. This study describes the destructive monitoring of an existing block of flats located in Alicante. Once the enclosure was opened, sensors of temperature (PT100), air velocity, and relative humidity were located in the different layers of the enclosure, as well as in the interior and exterior surfaces. A pyranometer was also installed to measure solar radiation levels. A temperature data correction algorithm was drawn up to address irregularities produced in the enclosure. The algorithm was applied using a Raspberry Pi processor in the data collection system. The comparative results of temperature gradients versus non-destructive monitoring systems are presented, providing measures of the transmittance value, surface temperatures and indoor and outdoor air temperatures. This remote sensing system can be used in future studies to quantify and compare the energy savings of different enclosure construction solutions. PMID:29292781

A 25-month database of stratus cloud properties generated from ground-based measurements at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement Southern Great Plains Site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dong, Xiquan; Minnis, Patrick; Ackerman, Thomas P.; Clothiaux, Eugene E.; Mace, Gerald G.; Long, Charles N.; Liljegren, James C.

2000-01-01

A 25-month database of the macrophysical, microphysical, and radiative properties of isolated and overcast low-level stratus clouds has been generated using a newly developed parameterization and surface measurements from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement central facility in Oklahoma. The database (5-min resolution) includes two parts: measurements and retrievals. The former consist of cloud base and top heights, layer-mean temperature, cloud liquid water path, and solar transmission ratio measured by a ground-based lidar/ceilometer and radar pair, radiosondes, a microwave radiometer, and a standard Eppley precision spectral pyranometer, respectively. The retrievals include the cloud-droplet effective radius and number concentration and broadband shortwave optical depth and cloud and top-of-atmosphere albedos. Stratus without any overlying mid or high-level clouds occurred most frequently during winter and least often during summer. Mean cloud-layer altitudes and geometric thicknesses were higher and greater, respectively, in summer than in winter. Both quantities are positively correlated with the cloud-layer mean temperature. Mean cloud-droplet effective radii range from 8.1 μm in winter to 9.7 μm during summer, while cloud-droplet number concentrations during winter are nearly twice those in summer. Since cloud liquid water paths are almost the same in both seasons, cloud optical depth is higher during the winter, leading to greater cloud albedos and lower cloud transmittances. (c) 2000 American Geophysical Union

Osmaniye’de Günlük Toplam Güneş Işınım Ölçümleri

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Muhittin ŞAHAN

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Özet: Bu çalışmada, güneşten gelen toplam ışınımı ölçmek amacıyla OKÜMERLAB (Osmaniye Korkut Ata Üniversitesi Merkezi Laboratuvarı, En: 37.04227 N; Boy:36.22134 E, Osmaniye/Türkiye binasının çatı katına yerleştirilen Eppley Black and White Pyranometer(Model 8-48 ölçüm cihazı kullanılmıştır. Bir yıl boyunca (Mayıs 2013 – Nisan 2014 dakikalık olarak milivolt cinsinden alınan veriler kişisel bir bilgisayar yardımıyla saatlik, günlük ve aylık olarak W/m2 cinsinden enerji birimine dönüştürülmüştür. Yatay yüzeye gelen toplam ışınım 1662322.88W/m2 olarak hesaplanmıştır. Günlük toplam global güneş ışınımının aylık ortalama değerleri 4755.43 W/m2 olarak ölçülmüştür. Ayrıca, günlük ortalama global güneş ışınımı 396.29 W/m2 olarak bulunmuştur. En yüksek toplam ışınım değerleri haziran ayında 528.33W/m2ölçülürken en düşük toplam değerleri sırasıyla 201.23 W/m2olarak aralık ayında ölçülmüştür. Anahtar kelimeler: Güneş Işınımı, toplam ışınım, Akdeniz bölgesi Daily Global Solar Radiation Measurements in Osmaniye Abstract: In this study, Eppley Black and White Pyranometer (Model 8-48 instrument located on the roof of OKUMERLAB (Central Laboratory of Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Lat: 37.04227 N; Long: 36.22134 E, Osmaniye/Turkey was used to measure solar global radiation. The data received in minutes in terms of millivolts during one year period (May 2013 to April 2014 were converted to energy unit as hourly, daily and monthly in terms of W/m2 using a personal computer. Daily total global radiation on a horizontal surface was calculated as1662322.88 W/m2. Values of monthly average of daily global solar was measured as4755.43 W/m2. It was also found that the average daily total radiation wasas396.29 W/m2. While the highest global solar radiation was obtained in June to be 528.33W/m2, the lowest values were obtained in

Estimate of the atmospheric turbidity from three broad-band solar radiation algorithms. A comparative study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. López

2004-09-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric turbidity is an important parameter for assessing the air pollution in local areas, as well as being the main parameter controlling the attenuation of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface under cloudless sky conditions. Among the different turbidity indices, the Ångström turbidity coefficient β is frequently used. In this work, we analyse the performance of three methods based on broad-band solar irradiance measurements in the estimation of β. The evaluation of the performance of the models was undertaken by graphical and statistical (root mean square errors and mean bias errors means. The data sets used in this study comprise measurements of broad-band solar irradiance obtained at eight radiometric stations and aerosol optical thickness measurements obtained at one co-located radiometric station. Since all three methods require estimates of precipitable water content, three common methods for calculating atmospheric precipitable water content from surface air temperature and relative humidity are evaluated. Results show that these methods exhibit significant differences for low values of precipitable water. The effect of these differences in precipitable water estimates on turbidity algorithms is discussed. Differences in hourly turbidity estimates are later examined. The effects of random errors in pyranometer measurements and cloud interferences on the performance of the models are also presented. Examination of the annual cycle of monthly mean values of β for each location has shown that all three turbidity algorithms are suitable for analysing long-term trends and seasonal patterns.

Estimate of the atmospheric turbidity from three broad-band solar radiation algorithms. A comparative study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. López

2004-09-01

Full Text Available Atmospheric turbidity is an important parameter for assessing the air pollution in local areas, as well as being the main parameter controlling the attenuation of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface under cloudless sky conditions. Among the different turbidity indices, the Ångström turbidity coefficient β is frequently used. In this work, we analyse the performance of three methods based on broad-band solar irradiance measurements in the estimation of β. The evaluation of the performance of the models was undertaken by graphical and statistical (root mean square errors and mean bias errors means. The data sets used in this study comprise measurements of broad-band solar irradiance obtained at eight radiometric stations and aerosol optical thickness measurements obtained at one co-located radiometric station. Since all three methods require estimates of precipitable water content, three common methods for calculating atmospheric precipitable water content from surface air temperature and relative humidity are evaluated. Results show that these methods exhibit significant differences for low values of precipitable water. The effect of these differences in precipitable water estimates on turbidity algorithms is discussed. Differences in hourly turbidity estimates are later examined. The effects of random errors in pyranometer measurements and cloud interferences on the performance of the models are also presented. Examination of the annual cycle of monthly mean values of β for each location has shown that all three turbidity algorithms are suitable for analysing long-term trends and seasonal patterns.

Estimate of the atmospheric turbidity from three broad-band solar radiation algorithms. A comparative study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopez, G.; Batlles, F.J. [Dept. de Ingenieria Electrica y Termica, EPS La Rabida, Univ. de Huelva, Huelva (Spain)

2004-07-01

Atmospheric turbidity is an important parameter for assessing the air pollution in local areas, as well as being the main parameter controlling the attenuation of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface under cloudless sky conditions. Among the different turbidity indices, the Aangstroem turbidity coefficient {beta} is frequently used. In this work, we analyse the performance of three methods based on broadband solar irradiance measurements in the estimation of {beta}. The evaluation of the performance of the models was undertaken by graphical and statistical (root mean square errors and mean bias errors) means. The data sets used in this study comprise measurements of broad-band solar irradiance obtained at eight radiometric stations and aerosol optical thickness measurements obtained at one co-located radiometric station. Since all three methods require estimates of precipitable water content, three common methods for calculating atmospheric precipitable water content from surface air temperature and relative humidity are evaluated. Results show that these methods exhibit significant differences for low values of precipitable water. The effect of these differences in precipitable water estimates on turbidity algorithms is discussed. Differences in hourly turbidity estimates are later examined. The effects of random errors in pyranometer measurements and cloud interferences on the performance of the models are also presented. Examination of the annual cycle of monthly mean values of {beta} for each location has shown that all three turbidity algorithms are suitable for analysing long-term trends and seasonal patterns. (orig.)

Daytime relapse of the mean radiant temperature based on the six-directional method under unobstructed solar radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kántor, Noémi; Lin, Tzu-Ping; Matzarakis, Andreas

2014-09-01

This study contributes to the knowledge about the capabilities of the popular "six-directional method" describing the radiation fields outdoors. In Taiwan, measurements were carried out with three orthogonally placed net radiometers to determine the mean radiant temperature (T(mrt)). The short- and long-wave radiation flux densities from the six perpendicular directions were recorded in the daylight hours of 12 days. During unobstructed direct irradiation, a specific daytime relapse was found in the temporal course of the T(mrt) values referring to the reference shapes of a standing man and also of a sphere. This relapse can be related to the short-wave fluxes reaching the body from the lateral directions. Through deeper analysis, an instrumental shortcoming of the six-directional technique was discovered. The pyranometer pairs of the same net radiometer have a 10-15-min long "blind spot" when the sun beams are nearly perpendicular to them. The blind-spot period is supposed to be shorter with steeper solar azimuth curve on the daylight period. This means that the locations with lower geographical latitude, and the summertime measurements, are affected less by this instrumental problem. A methodological shortcoming of the six-directional technique was also demonstrated. Namely, the sum of the short-wave flux densities from the lateral directions is sensitive to the orientation of the radiometers, and therefore by deviating from the original directions, the T(mrt) decrease on clear sunny days will occur in different times and will be different in extent.

[Radiometers performance attenuation and data correction in long-term observation of total radiation and photosynthetically active radiation in typical forest ecosystems in China].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Zhi-Lin; Sun, Xiao-Min; Yu, Gui-Rui; Wen, Xue-Fa; Zhang, Yi-Ping; Han, Shi-Jie; Yan, Jun-Hua; Wang, Hui-Min

2011-11-01

Based on the total radiation and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) observations with net radiometer (CNR1) and quantum sensor (Li-190SB) in 4 ChinaFLUX forest sites (Changbaishan, Qianyanzhou, Dinghushan, and Xishuangbanna) in 2003-2008, this paper analyzed the uncertainties and the radiometers performance changes in long-term and continuous field observation. The results showed that the 98% accuracy of the total radiation measured with CNR1 (Q(cNR1)) could satisfy the technical criterion for the sites except Xishuangbanna where the Q(CNR1) was averagely about 7% lower than Q(CM11), the radiation measured with high accuracy pyranometer CM11. For most sites, though the temperature had definite effects on the performance of CNR1, the effects were still within the allowable range of the accuracy of the instrument. Besides temperature, the seasonal fog often occurred in tropical rain forests in Xishuangbanna also had effects on the performance of CNR1. Based on the long-term variations of PAR, especially its ratio to total radiation in the 4 sites, it was found that quantum sensor (Li-190SB) had obvious performance attenuation, with the mean annual attenuation rate being about 4%. To correct the observation error caused by Li-190SB, an attempt was made to give a post-correction of the PAR observations, which could basically eliminate the quantum sensor's performance attenuation due to long-term field measurement.

Cloud and radiance measurements with the VIS/NIR Daylight Whole Sky Imager at Lindenberg (Germany)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feister, U. [Deutscher Wetterdienst, Meteorologisches Observatorium Lindenberg (Germany); Shields, J. [Scripps Inst. of Oceanography, Univ. of California, San Diego (United States)

2005-10-01

Ground-based cloud data acquired with the whole sky imager (WSI) are analyzed in relation to measurements of solar radiation performed at the Lindenberg Meteorological Observatory. Cloud fractions derived by the cloud detection algorithm from WSI images acquired during daylight hours between 2002 and 2004 are compared with conventional cloud observations for the two sites Potsdam and Lindenberg, and also with ceilometer data of cloud-base heights at Lindenberg. The comparison statistics are discussed in the context of different principles of measurement. A few case studies illustrate the strong scattering effect of clouds on solar radiance and irradiance measured at the ground in different spectral regions. Particularly clouds close to the apparent position of the sun lead to strong enhancements of solar diffuse irradiance incident on horizontal planes and hemispheres that substantially exceed corresponding clear-sky values. Irradiances derived from WSI sky radiance fields are shown in comparison to pyranometer data of diffuse irradiance and radiative transfer model calculations performed for clear sky conditions. Examples of spectral sky radiances with moving contrails illustrate the significant enhancement the contrails have compared to clear sky, even though they may have a relatively small direct effect on global irradiance values. As contrails are observed at Lindenberg for about 18 to 19% of daylight hours, and part of them become clouds, the indirect impact of these changes on solar irradiance received at the ground may not be negligible. (orig.)

Coastal-inland solar radiation difference study. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bach, W.D. Jr.; Vukovich, F.M.

1980-04-01

The purpose of this study was to quantify the characteristics of solar insolation in the coastal zone and to determine the effect of the sea breeze circulation on the global insolation. In order to satisfy these objectives, a six station sampling network was established in the coastal plain of southeastern North Carolina, where previous evidence has indicated that the sea breeze circulation is almost a daily occurrence from late May through October. Three sites (Sloop Point, Onslow Beach, and Cape Fear Technical Institute (CFTI)) were located near the coast (coastal sites) to assess the insolation at the coast. A site (Clinton) was located in an area seldom affected by the sea breeze (about 100 km from the coast). Two additional sites, Wallace and Ellis Airport, located between the coastal sites and the control site, were to be used to assess the transient impact of the sea breeze upon the insolation. Pyranometers were located at each site to measure the global insolation. Direct normal insolation measured by a pyrheliometer and ultraviolet radiation measured by uv radiometers were observed at the Sloop Point and Clinton sites only. Data were collected during the calendar year 1978. The results of the study indicated that the global insolation had greater variability over the network during the summer season (June, July, and August). During the summer, there was a systematicdiurnal variation of the difference in global insolation between the inland and the coastal sites.

Estimate potential evaporation and solar radiation in the Yaqui valley, Sonora, Mexico, using data from satellite; Estimacion de evaporacion y radiacion solar en el valle del Yaqui, Sonora, usando datos de satelite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

J Watts, Christopher; Rodriguez, Julio Cesar [Instituto del Medio Ambiente y el Desarrollo sustentable del estado de Sonora (Mexico); Garatuza Payan, Jaime [Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora (Mexico); Henk de Bruin [Universidad Agricola de Wageningen (Netherlands); Stewart, John [Universidad de Southampton (United Kingdom)

1999-12-01

The data from tow automatic weather stations in the Yaqui valley were used to estimate potential evaporation using the Makkink formula, based on observed incoming solar radiation and climatological values of air temperature. The usefulness of this formula was assessed by comparison with the Penman-Monteith, Penman and Priestley-Taylor formula and measurements of net radiation. A methodology was presented for estimating incoming solar radiation using visible band data from the GOES satellite. Comparisons against ground-based measurements from two pyranometers installed in the Yaqui valley gave good results, particularly in months with low cloud cover. Images for August 1993 were used to produce a map of the spatial distribution of potential evaporation. [Spanish] Para calcular la evaporacion potencial en el valle del Yaqui, usando la formula de Makkink, se utilizaron datos de dos estaciones meteorologicas automaticas. La mencionada formula se basa en la radiacion solar incidente observada y en ciertos valores climatologicos de temperatura del aire. Se evaluo la utilidad de esta formula, comparandola con las de Penman-Monteith, Pennan y Priestley-Taylor, asi como con mediciones de radiacion neta. Se desarrollo una metodologia para estimar la radiacion solar incidente usando la banda visible del satelite GOES. Se hizo una comparacion con mediciones de dos piranometros instalados en el valla del Yaqui, obteniendose buenos resultados, principalmente en meses con poca nubosidad. Se utilizaron imagenes de agosto de 1993 para producir un mapa de la distribucion espacial de la evaporacion potencial.

A Study of The Direct Aerosol Forcing At Ground Level For A Pollution Event During The Escompte Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Mallet, M.; Roger, J. C.; Dubuisson, P.; Putaud, J. P.; van Dingenen, R.; Despiau, S.

Radiative forcing by aerosol particles is one of the largest source of uncertainties in predicting climate change (IPCC, 2001). Indeed, quantitative estimates of this effect are still uncertain due to little knowledge of these atmospheric particles. Atmospheric particles influence the Earth's radiation balance both directly and indirectly. The indi- rect effect denotes the effect of aerosols acting as cloud condensation nuclei, possibly modifying cloud albedo and cloud lifetime. The direct effect is due to scattering and absorption of radiation and each of these processes depends mainly on the refractive index and the size distribution of aerosol particles. During the ESCOMPTE campaign, which took place in coastal Mediterranean area during the summer 2001, we estimated these aerosol micro-physical properties during a pollution event at two different sites. The first is an urban site (the city of Marseille), and the second is a rural area located fifty kilometers inland. The aerosol size distribution was measured with an SMPS for the particles with radii 1 µm. The chemi- cal composition (including different ionic compounds , dust, elemental and organic carbon) was deduced from chromatography analysis. The aerosol optical properties calculated from measured aerosol physical and chemical properties at ground level (from Mie theory) are used as input to a shortwave radiative transfer model. Then, this model is used to calculate the diurnally averaged direct aerosol forcing at surface and to compare this values with those measured from the ARAT aircraft and surface pyranometer during the campaign.

NREL Pyrheliometer Comparison: September 16 to 27, 2013 (NPC-2013)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reda, I.; Dooraghi, M.; Habte, A.

2013-11-01

Accurate measurements of direct normal (beam) solar irradiance from pyrheliometers are important for the development and deployment of solar energy conversion systems, improving our understanding of the Earth's energy budget for climate change studies, and for other science and technology applications involving solar flux. Providing these measurements places many demands on the quality system used by the operator of commercially available radiometers. Maintaining accurate radiometer calibrations traceable to an international standard is the first step in producing research-quality solar irradiance measurements. As with all measurement systems, absolute cavity radiometers and other types of pyrheliometers are subject to performance changes over time. NREL has developed and maintained a group of absolute cavity radiometers with direct calibration traceability to the World Radiometric Reference (WRR). These reference instruments are used by NREL to calibrate pyrheliometers and pyranometers using the ISO 17025 accredited Broadband Outdoor Radiometer Calibration (BORCAL) process (Reda et al. 2008). NPCs are held annually at the Solar Radiation Research Laboratory (SRRL) in Golden, Colorado. Open to all pyrheliometer owners/operators, e.g. NREL, NASA, NIST, NOAA, USA industry and academia, USA-DOE and other national laboratories, and national and international organizations. Each NPC provides an opportunity to determine the unique World Radiometric Reference (WRR) transfer factor (WRR-TF) for each participating pyrheliometer. By adjusting all subsequent pyrheliometer measurements by the appropriate WRR-TF, the solar irradiance data are traceable to the International System of Units through WRR.

Ultraviolet radiation modelling from ground-based and satellite measurements on Reunion Island, southern tropics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Lamy

2018-01-01

. Only clear-sky SUR was modelled, so we needed to sort out the clear-sky measurements. We used two methods to detect cloudy conditions: the first was based on an observer's hourly report on the sky cover, while the second was based on applying Long and Ackerman(2000's algorithm to broadband pyranometer data to obtain the cloud fraction and then discriminating clear-sky windows on SUR measurements. Long et al. (2006's algorithm, with the co-located pyranometer data, gave better results for clear-sky filtering than the observer's report. Multiple model inputs were tested to evaluate the model sensitivity to different parameters such as total ozone column, aerosol optical properties, extraterrestrial spectrum or ozone cross section. For total column ozone, we used ground-based measurements from the SAOZ (Système d'Analyse par Observation Zénithale spectrometer and satellite measurements from the OMI and SBUV instruments, while ozone profiles were derived from radio-soundings and the MLS ozone product. Aerosol optical properties came from a local aerosol climatology established using a Cimel photometer. Since the mean difference between various inputs of total ozone column was small, the corresponding response on UVI modelling was also quite small, at about 1 %. The radiative amplification factor of total ozone column on UVI was also compared for observations and the model. Finally, we were able to estimate UVI on Reunion Island with, at best, a mean relative difference of about 0.5 %, compared to clear-sky observations.

Ultraviolet radiation modelling from ground-based and satellite measurements on Reunion Island, southern tropics

Science.gov (United States)

Lamy, Kévin; Portafaix, Thierry; Brogniez, Colette; Godin-Beekmann, Sophie; Bencherif, Hassan; Morel, Béatrice; Pazmino, Andrea; Metzger, Jean Marc; Auriol, Frédérique; Deroo, Christine; Duflot, Valentin; Goloub, Philippe; Long, Charles N.

2018-01-01

clear-sky SUR was modelled, so we needed to sort out the clear-sky measurements. We used two methods to detect cloudy conditions: the first was based on an observer's hourly report on the sky cover, while the second was based on applying Long and Ackerman (2000)'s algorithm to broadband pyranometer data to obtain the cloud fraction and then discriminating clear-sky windows on SUR measurements. Long et al. (2006)'s algorithm, with the co-located pyranometer data, gave better results for clear-sky filtering than the observer's report. Multiple model inputs were tested to evaluate the model sensitivity to different parameters such as total ozone column, aerosol optical properties, extraterrestrial spectrum or ozone cross section. For total column ozone, we used ground-based measurements from the SAOZ (Système d'Analyse par Observation Zénithale) spectrometer and satellite measurements from the OMI and SBUV instruments, while ozone profiles were derived from radio-soundings and the MLS ozone product. Aerosol optical properties came from a local aerosol climatology established using a Cimel photometer. Since the mean difference between various inputs of total ozone column was small, the corresponding response on UVI modelling was also quite small, at about 1 %. The radiative amplification factor of total ozone column on UVI was also compared for observations and the model. Finally, we were able to estimate UVI on Reunion Island with, at best, a mean relative difference of about 0.5 %, compared to clear-sky observations.

Aerosol-Induced Radiative Flux Changes Off the United States Mid-Atlantic Coast: Comparison of Values Calculated from Sunphotometer and In Situ Data with Those Measured by Airborne Pyranometer

Science.gov (United States)

Russell, P. B.; Livingston, J. M.; Hignett, P.; Kinne, S.; Wong, J.; Chien, A.; Bergstrom, R.; Durkee, P.; Hobbs, P. V.

2000-01-01

The Tropospheric Aerosol Radiative Forcing Observational Experiment (TARFOX) measured a variety of aerosol radiative effects (including flux changes) while simultaneously measuring the chemical, physical, and optical properties of the responsible aerosol particles. Here we use TARFOX-determined aerosol and surface properties to compute shortwave radiative flux changes for a variety of aerosol situations, with midvisible optical depths ranging from 0.06 to 0.55. We calculate flux changes by several techniques with varying degrees of sophistication, in part to investigate the sensitivity of results to computational approach. We then compare computed flux changes to those determined from aircraft measurements. Calculations using several approaches yield downward and upward flux changes that agree with measurements. The agreement demonstrates closure (i.e. consistency) among the TARFOX-derived aerosol properties, modeling techniques, and radiative flux measurements. Agreement between calculated and measured downward flux changes is best when the aerosols are modeled as moderately absorbing (midvisible single-scattering albedos between about 0.89 and 0.93), in accord with independent measurements of the TARPOX aerosol. The calculated values for instantaneous daytime upwelling flux changes are in the range +14 to +48 W/sq m for midvisible optical depths between 0.2 and 0.55. These values are about 30 to 100 times the global-average direct forcing expected for the global-average sulfate aerosol optical depth of 0.04. The reasons for the larger flux changes in TARFOX include the relatively large optical depths and the focus on cloud-free, daytime conditions over the dark ocean surface. These are the conditions that produce major aerosol radiative forcing events and contribute to any global-average climate effect.

A model for calculating hourly global solar radiation from satellite data in the tropics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Janjai, S.; Pankaew, P.; Laksanaboonsong, J.

2009-01-01

A model for calculating global solar radiation from geostationary satellite data is presented. The model is designed to calculate the monthly average hourly global radiation in the tropics with high aerosol load. This model represents a physical relation between the earth-atmospheric albedo derived from GMS5 satellite data and the absorption and scattering coefficients of various atmospheric constituents. The absorption of solar radiation by water vapour which is important for the tropics, was calculated from ambient temperature and relative humidity. The relationship between the visibility and solar radiation depletion due to aerosols was developed for a high aerosol load environment. This relationship was used to calculate solar radiation depletion by aerosols in the model. The total column ozone from TOMS/EP satellite was employed for the determination of solar radiation absorbed by ozone. Solar radiation from four pyranometer stations was used to formulate the relationship between the satellite band earth-atmospheric albedo and broadband earth-atmospheric albedo required by the model. To test its performance, the model was used to compute the monthly average hourly global radiation at 25 solar radiation monitoring stations in tropical areas in Thailand. It was found that the values of monthly average of hourly global radiations calculated from the model were in good agreement with those obtained from the measurements, with the root mean square difference of 10%. After the validation the model was employed to generate hourly solar radiation maps of Thailand. These maps reveal the diurnal and season variation of solar radiation over the country.

The Ångström formula with coefficients having a physical meaning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hinrichsen, K.

1994-01-01

A new method is proposed to evaluate the coefficients a and b of the Ångström formula H| H 0 = a + b * s/s 0 . Then, a has the physical meaning of the fraction of diffuse radiation, D, to extraterrestrial radiation, H 0 , and b has the meaning of the fraction of direct radiation, I(1), to H 0 . This is possible at sites where measurements with a shadow band pyranometer are available, in addition to measurements of global radiation, H, and sunshine duration, s. The Ångström formula then gives substantial information about the radiation climate of a site. It is feasible to calculate global radiation, H, on tilted surfaces and planes following the sun's disk, which is essential to evaluate the efficiency of solar energy conversion systems at locations where only measurements of the sunshine duration, s, are available. Thus, it is strongly recommended to replace the regression coefficients a′ and b′ presented in the European Solar Radiation Atlas, which were estimated by least squares approximation. For the site of Hamburg, Germany, it is shown that a ten years interval of data records may be too short to give reliable values of climatological means of D, I(1), H, and s. An increase of direct radiation at Hamburg during the last decade can be detected by the proposed method and may be explained by a decreasing amount of optically active constituents in the air, probable a result of the clean air policy in Germany. (author)

A model for calculating hourly global solar radiation from satellite data in the tropics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Janjai, S.; Pankaew, P.; Laksanaboonsong, J. [Solar Energy Research Laboratory, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Silpakorn University, Nakhon Pathom 73000 (Thailand)

2009-09-15

A model for calculating global solar radiation from geostationary satellite data is presented. The model is designed to calculate the monthly average hourly global radiation in the tropics with high aerosol load. This model represents a physical relation between the earth-atmospheric albedo derived from GMS5 satellite data and the absorption and scattering coefficients of various atmospheric constituents. The absorption of solar radiation by water vapour which is important for the tropics, was calculated from ambient temperature and relative humidity. The relationship between the visibility and solar radiation depletion due to aerosols was developed for a high aerosol load environment. This relationship was used to calculate solar radiation depletion by aerosols in the model. The total column ozone from TOMS/EP satellite was employed for the determination of solar radiation absorbed by ozone. Solar radiation from four pyranometer stations was used to formulate the relationship between the satellite band earth-atmospheric albedo and broadband earth-atmospheric albedo required by the model. To test its performance, the model was used to compute the monthly average hourly global radiation at 25 solar radiation monitoring stations in tropical areas in Thailand. It was found that the values of monthly average of hourly global radiations calculated from the model were in good agreement with those obtained from the measurements, with the root mean square difference of 10%. After the validation the model was employed to generate hourly solar radiation maps of Thailand. These maps reveal the diurnal and season variation of solar radiation over the country. (author)

Potential of Solar Energy in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: An Estimate Using a Photovoltaic System Model

Science.gov (United States)

Markos, F. M.; Sentian, J.

2016-04-01

Solar energy is becoming popular as an alternative renewable energy to conventional energy source, particularly in the tropics, where duration and intensity of solar radiation are longer. This study is to assess the potential of solar energy generated from solar for Kota Kinabalu, a rapidly developing city in the State of Sabah, Malaysia. A year data of solar radiation was obtained using pyranometer, which was located at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (6.0367° N, 116.1186° E). It was concluded that the annual average solar radiation received in Kota Kinabalu was 182 W/m2. In estimating the potential energy generated from solar for Kota Kinabalu city area, a photovoltaic (PV) system model was used. The results showed that, Kota Kinabalu is estimated to produce 29,794 kWh/m2 of electricity from the solar radiation received in a year. This is equivalent to 0.014 MW of electricity produced just by using one solar panel. Considering the power demand in Sabah by 2020 is 1,331 MW, this model showed that the solar energy can contribute around 4% of energy for power demand, with 1 MW capacity of the PV system. 1 MW of PV system installation will require about 0.0328% from total area of the city. This assessment could suggest that, exploration for solar power energy as an alternative source of renewable energy in the city can be optimised and designed to attain significant higher percentage of contribution to the energy demand in the state.

Solar Irradiance and Pan Evaporation Estimation from Meteorological Satellite Data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming-Ren Syu

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Knowledge about spatial and temporal variations in surface global solar radiation (GSR and evaporative water loss from the ground are important issues to many researches and applications. In this study empirical relationships suitable for Taiwan were established for GSR retrieval from geostationary satellite images using the Heliosat method for the period from 2011 - 2013. The derived GSR data has been used to generate consecutive maps of 10-day averaged pan evaporation (Epan as the basis to produce regional ET estimation using a strategy that does not require remote sensed land surface temperatures (LST. The retrieved daily GSR and the derived 10-day averaged Epan were validated against pyranometer and class-A pan measurements at selected Central Weather Bureau (CWB stations spread across various climatic regions in Taiwan. Compared with the CWB observed data the overall relative mean bias deviations (MBD% and root mean square differences (RMSD% in daily solar irradiance retrieval were about 5 and 15%, respectively. Seasonally, the largest MBD% and RMSD% of retrieved daily solar irradiance occur in spring (9.5 and 21.3% on average, while the least MBD% (-0.3% on average and RMSD% (9.7% on average occur in autumn and winter, respectively. For 10-day averaged Epan estimation, the mean MBD% and RMSD% for stations located in the coastal plain areas were 0.1 and 16.9%, respectively. However, in mountainous areas the mean MBD% and RMSD% increased to 30.2 and 34.5%, respectively. This overestimation was due mainly to the large differences in surrounding micro-environments between the mountainous and plain areas.

Potential of Solar Energy in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah: An Estimate Using a Photovoltaic System Model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Markos, F M; Sentian, J

2016-01-01

Solar energy is becoming popular as an alternative renewable energy to conventional energy source, particularly in the tropics, where duration and intensity of solar radiation are longer. This study is to assess the potential of solar energy generated from solar for Kota Kinabalu, a rapidly developing city in the State of Sabah, Malaysia. A year data of solar radiation was obtained using pyranometer, which was located at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (6.0367° N, 116.1186° E). It was concluded that the annual average solar radiation received in Kota Kinabalu was 182 W/m 2 . In estimating the potential energy generated from solar for Kota Kinabalu city area, a photovoltaic (PV) system model was used. The results showed that, Kota Kinabalu is estimated to produce 29,794 kWh/m 2 of electricity from the solar radiation received in a year. This is equivalent to 0.014 MW of electricity produced just by using one solar panel. Considering the power demand in Sabah by 2020 is 1,331 MW, this model showed that the solar energy can contribute around 4% of energy for power demand, with 1 MW capacity of the PV system. 1 MW of PV system installation will require about 0.0328% from total area of the city. This assessment could suggest that, exploration for solar power energy as an alternative source of renewable energy in the city can be optimised and designed to attain significant higher percentage of contribution to the energy demand in the state. (paper)

Incorporating GOES Satellite Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) Retrievals to Improve Biogenic Emission Estimates in Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Rui; White, Andrew T.; Pour Biazar, Arastoo; McNider, Richard T.; Cohan, Daniel S.

2018-01-01

This study examines the influence of insolation and cloud retrieval products from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) system on biogenic emission estimates and ozone simulations in Texas. Compared to surface pyranometer observations, satellite-retrieved insolation and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) values tend to systematically correct the overestimation of downwelling shortwave radiation in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The correlation coefficient increases from 0.93 to 0.97, and the normalized mean error decreases from 36% to 21%. The isoprene and monoterpene emissions estimated by the Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature are on average 20% and 5% less, respectively, when PAR from the direct satellite retrieval is used rather than the control WRF run. The reduction in biogenic emission rates using satellite PAR reduced the predicted maximum daily 8 h ozone concentration by up to 5.3 ppbV over the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) region on some days. However, episode average ozone response is less sensitive, with a 0.6 ppbV decrease near DFW and 0.3 ppbV increase over East Texas. The systematic overestimation of isoprene concentrations in a WRF control case is partially corrected by using satellite PAR, which observes more clouds than are simulated by WRF. Further, assimilation of GOES-derived cloud fields in WRF improved CAMx model performance for ground-level ozone over Texas. Additionally, it was found that using satellite PAR improved the model's ability to replicate the spatial pattern of satellite-derived formaldehyde columns and aircraft-observed vertical profiles of isoprene.

The influence of mineral dust particles on the energy output of photovoltaic cells

Science.gov (United States)

Roesch, C.; Eltahir, E. A. B.; Al-awwad, Z.; Alqatari, S.; Cziczo, D. J.; Roesch, M.

2016-12-01

The city of Al Khafji in Saudi Arabia plans to provide a regular supply of desalinated water from the Persian Gulf while simultaneously cutting back on the usage of fossil fuels. The power for the high energy-consuming reverse osmosis (RO) process will be derived from photovoltaic (PV) cells as a cleaner and resource-conserving means of energy production. Numerous sun hours (yearly 3000) makes the Persian Gulf region's geographical location appropriate for applying PV techniques at this scale. A major concern for PV power generation is mineral dust from desert regions accumulating on surfaces and thereby reducing the energy output. This study aims to show the impact of dust particles on the PV energy reduction by examining dust samples from various Persian Gulf regions. Bulk samples were collected at the surface. The experimental setup involved a sealed container with a solar panel unit (SPU), including an adjustable mounting plate, solar cells (amorphous and monocrystalline), and a pyranometer (SMP3, Kipp & Zonen Inc.). A Tungsten Halogen lamp was used as the light source. Dust particles were aerosolized with a shaker (Multi-Wrist shaker, Lab line). Different techniques were applied to characterize each sample: the particle size distributions were measured using an Optical Particle Sizer (OPS, TSI Inc.), the chemical composition was analyzed using the Particle Analysis by Mass Spectrometry (PALMS) instrument, and Transmission Electron Microscope Energy-Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDX) was used to define morphology, size and structure. Preliminary results show that the energy output is affected by aerosol morphology (monodisperse, polydisperse), composition and solar cell type.

NREL Pyrheliometer Comparisons: September 22-26, 2014 (NPC-2014)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reda, I.; Dooraghi, M.; Habte, A.

2014-10-01

Accurate measurements of direct normal (beam) solar irradiance from pyrheliometers are important for developing and deploying solar energy conversion systems, improving our understanding of the Earth's energy budget for climate change studies, and for other science and technology applications involving solar flux. Providing these measurements places many demands on the quality system used by the operator of commercially available radiometers. Maintaining accurate radiometer calibrations that are traceable to an international standard is the first step in producing research-quality solar irradiance measurements. As with all measurement systems, absolute cavity radiometers and other types of pyrheliometers are subject to performance changes over time. NREL has developed and maintained a select group of absolute cavity radiometers with direct calibration traceability to the World Radiometric Reference (WRR), and uses these reference instruments to calibrate pyrheliometers and pyranometers using the ISO 17025 accredited Broadband Outdoor Radiometer Calibration (BORCAL) process. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) pyrheliometer comparisons (NPCs) are held annually at the Solar Radiation Research Laboratory (SRRL) in Golden, Colorado. Open to all pyrheliometer owners and operators, each NPC provides an opportunity to determine the unique WRR transfer factor (WRR-TF) for each participating pyrheliometer. By adjusting all subsequent pyrheliometer measurements by the appropriate WRR-TF, the solar irradiance data are traceable to the WRR. NPC-2014 was held September 22-26, 2014. Participants operated 36 absolute cavity radiometers and 22 conventional thermopile-based pyrheliometers to simultaneously measure clear-sky direct normal solar irradiance during this period, and this report documents the findings.

Development of a scheffler fixed focus concentrator for the processing of medicinal plants and fruits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munir, A.; Hensel, O.

2011-01-01

With the increasing population and industrialization, there is need to cut down the load of fossil fuels and to reduce environmental pollution. A large part of industrial process heat lies from low to medium temperature range which can be supplied by solar energy. Scheffler fixed focus concentrators are successfully used for medium temperature applications in different parts of the world. These concentrators are taken as lateral sections of paraboloids and provide fixed focus away from the path of incident beam radiations throughout the year. The paper presents description and experimental results of medicinal and fruit processing using an 8 m/sup 2/ surface area Scheffler solar concentrator installed at solar campus, university of Kassel, Witzenhausen Germany. The research was focused to promote solar renewable energy in rural and remote locations. The solar system was equipped with Pyranometer and thermocouples to evaluate real time data which was used for performance evaluation of the solar system during processing of different products. In the first phase of the research, several trials were made to evaluate the performance of the system. Within the solar radiations range of 700- 800 W m-2, the receiver temperatures were recorded between 300 - 400 deg. C. The average power was found to be 1.55 kW and system efficiency was found to be 32.34%. Different medicinal plants like Melissa, Peppermint, Rosemary, Cumin, and Cloves buds were successfully processed by using solar energy. Different fruit and vegetables like Apples, Plums, cherries, tomatoes were also processed by using solar energy. Research results have showed that solar energy can be successfully used for the post harvest and fruit processing at rural location. (author)

Lidar studies of extinction in clouds in the ECLIPS project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Martin, C.; Platt, R.; Young, S.A.; Patterson, G.P.

1992-01-01

The Experimental Cloud Lidar Pilot Study (ECLIPS) project has now had two active phases in 1989 and 1991. A number of laboratories around the world have taken part in the study. The observations have yielded new data on cloud height and structure, and have yielded some useful new information on the retrieval of cloud optical properties, together with the uncertainties involved. Clouds have a major impact on the climate of the earth. They have the effect of reducing the mean surface temperature from 30 C for a cloudless planet to a value of about 15 C for present cloud conditions. However, it is not at all certain how clouds would react to a change in the planetary temperature in the event of climate change due to a radiative forcing from greenhouse gases. Clouds both reflect out sunlight (negative feedback) and enhance the greenhouse effect (positive feedback), but the ultimate sign of cloud feedback is unknown. Because of these uncertainties, campaigns to study clouds intensely were initiated. The International Satellite Cloud Climatology (ISCPP) and the FIRE Campaigns (cirrus and stratocumulus) are examples. The ECLIPS was set up similarly to the above experiments to obtain information specifically on cloud base, but also cloud top (where possible), optical properties, and cloud structure. ECLIPS was designed to allow as many laboratories as possible globally to take part to get the largest range of clouds. It involves observations with elastic backscatter lidar, supported by infrared fluxes at the ground and radiosonde data, as basic instrumentation. More complex experiments using beam filter radiometers, solar pyranometers, and satellite data and often associated with other campaigns were also encouraged to join ECLIPS

A closer looking at dimming and brightening in China during 1961–2005

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. Xia

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This study investigates dimming and brightening of surface solar radiation (SSR during 1961–2005 in China as well as its relationships to total cloud cover (TCC. This is inferred from daily ground-based observational records at 45 pyranometer stations. A statistical method is introduced to study contributions of changes in the frequency of TCC categories and their atmospheric transparency to the secular SSR trend. The surface records suggest a renewed dimming beyond 2000 in North China after the stabilization in the 1990s; however, a slight brightening appears beyond 2000 in South China. Inter-annual variability of SSR is negatively correlated with that of TCC, but there is a positive correlation between decadal variability of SSR and TCC in most cases. The dimming during 1961–1990 is exclusively attributable to decreased atmospheric transparency, a portion of which is offset by TCC frequency changes in Northeast and Southwest China. The dimming during 1961–1990 in Northwest and Southeast China primarily results from decreased atmospheric transparency under all sky conditions and the percentage of dimming stemming from TCC frequency changes is 11% in Northwest and 2% in Southeast China. Decreased atmospheric transparencies during 1991–2005 in North China in most cases lead to the dimming. TCC frequency changes also contribute to the dimming during this period in North China. This feature is more pronounced in summer and winter when TCC frequency changes can account for more than 80% of dimming. In South China, increased atmospheric transparencies lead to the brightening during 1991–2005. A substantial contribution by TCC frequency changes to the brightening is also evident in spring and autumn.

Experimental study of efficiency of solar panel by phase change material cooling

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Nicholas Tan Jian; Nan, Wong Jian; Guiping, Cheng

2017-07-01

The dependence of efficiency of photovoltaic panels on their temperature during operation is a major concern for developers and users. In this paper, a phase change material (PCM) cooling system was designed for a 60W mono-crystalline solar panel. Tealights candle was selected as the cooling medium. The solar irradiance was recorded using Kipp & Zonen CMP3 pyranometer and Meteon data logger. Temperature distribution on the surface of solar panel, output voltage and output current of solar panel were measured. The average irradiance throughout data collection was found to be 705W/m2 and highest irradiance was 1100 W/m2. The average solar panel temperature was 43.6°C and a maximum temperature of 53°C was at the center of solar panel. Results showed that average power output and efficiency of the solar panel were 44.4W and 15%, respectively. It was found that the higher the solar irradiance, the lower the efficiency of solar panel and the higher the temperature and power output of solar panel. This is due to the fact that high irradiance results in high power input and high solar panel temperature. But high PV panel temperature reduces its power output. Therefore, the increase of power input outweighs that of power output, which leads to the decrease of efficiency of solar panel with the increase of solar irradiance. Compared with solar panel without cooling, the power output and efficiency of solar panel did not increase with PCM cooling. It indicates that Tealights candle as PCM cooling is not efficient in improving the efficiency of solar panel in this study.

Impact of the 4 April 2014 Saharan dust outbreak on the photovoltaic power generation in Germany

Science.gov (United States)

Rieger, Daniel; Steiner, Andrea; Bachmann, Vanessa; Gasch, Philipp; Förstner, Jochen; Deetz, Konrad; Vogel, Bernhard; Vogel, Heike

2017-11-01

The importance for reliable forecasts of incoming solar radiation is growing rapidly, especially for those countries with an increasing share in photovoltaic (PV) power production. The reliability of solar radiation forecasts depends mainly on the representation of clouds and aerosol particles absorbing and scattering radiation. Especially under extreme aerosol conditions, numerical weather prediction has a systematic bias in the solar radiation forecast. This is caused by the design of numerical weather prediction models, which typically account for the direct impact of aerosol particles on radiation using climatological mean values and the impact on cloud formation assuming spatially and temporally homogeneous aerosol concentrations. These model deficiencies in turn can lead to significant economic losses under extreme aerosol conditions. For Germany, Saharan dust outbreaks occurring 5 to 15 times per year for several days each are prominent examples for conditions, under which numerical weather prediction struggles to forecast solar radiation adequately. We investigate the impact of mineral dust on the PV-power generation during a Saharan dust outbreak over Germany on 4 April 2014 using ICON-ART, which is the current German numerical weather prediction model extended by modules accounting for trace substances and related feedback processes. We find an overall improvement of the PV-power forecast for 65 % of the pyranometer stations in Germany. Of the nine stations with very high differences between forecast and measurement, eight stations show an improvement. Furthermore, we quantify the direct radiative effects and indirect radiative effects of mineral dust. For our study, direct effects account for 64 %, indirect effects for 20 % and synergistic interaction effects for 16 % of the differences between the forecast including mineral dust radiative effects and the forecast neglecting mineral dust.

A closer looking at dimming and brightening in China during 1961-2005

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xia, X. [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China). LAGEO, Inst. of Atmospheric Physics

2010-07-01

This study investigates dimming and brightening of surface solar radiation (SSR) during 1961-2005 in China as well as its relationships to total cloud cover (TCC). This is inferred from daily ground-based observational records at 45 pyranometer stations. A statistical method is introduced to study contributions of changes in the frequency of TCC categories and their atmospheric transparency to the secular SSR trend. The surface records suggest a renewed dimming beyond 2000 in North China after the stabilization in the 1990s; however, a slight brightening appears beyond 2000 in South China. Inter-annual variability of SSR is negatively correlated with that of TCC, but there is a positive correlation between decadal variability of SSR and TCC in most cases. The dimming during 1961-1990 is exclusively attributable to decreased atmospheric transparency, a portion of which is offset by TCC frequency changes in Northeast and Southwest China. The dimming during 1961-1990 in Northwest and Southeast China primarily results from decreased atmospheric transparency under all sky conditions and the percentage of dimming stemming from TCC frequency changes is 11% in Northwest and 2% in Southeast China. Decreased atmospheric transparencies during 1991- 2005 in North China in most cases lead to the dimming. TCC frequency changes also contribute to the dimming during this period in North China. This feature is more pronounced in summer and winter when TCC frequency changes can account for more than 80% of dimming. In South China, increased atmospheric transparencies lead to the brightening during 1991-2005. A substantial contribution by TCC frequency changes to the brightening is also evident in spring and autumn. (orig.)

Cloud effects on the SW radiation at the surface at a mid-latitude site in southwestern Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Salgueiro, Vanda; João Costa, Maria; Silva, Ana Maria; Lanconelli, Christian; Bortoli, Daniele

2017-04-01

This work presents a study of cloud radiative effects on shortwave (CRESW) radiation at the surface in Évora region (southwestern Europe) during 2015 and a case study is analyzed. CRESW (in Wm-2) is defined as the difference between the net shortwave irradiance (downward minus upward shortwave irradiance) in cloudy and clear sky conditions. This measure is usually used to translate changes in the SW radiation that reaches the surface due to changes in clouds (type and/or cover). The CRESW is obtained using measured SW irradiance recorded with a Kipp&Zonen CM 6B pyranometer (broadband 305 - 2800 nm) during the period from January to December 2015, and is related with the cloud liquid water path (LWP) and with cloud ice water path (IWP) showing the importance of the different type of clouds in attenuating the SW radiation at the surface. The cloud modification factor, also a measure of the cloud radiative effects (CMF; ratio between the measured SW irradiance under cloudy conditions and the estimated SW irradiance in clear-sky conditions) is related with the cloud optical thickness (COT; obtained from satellite data). This relation between CMF and COT is shown for different cloud fractions revealing an exponential decreasing of CMF as COT increases. Reductions in the SW radiation of the order of 80% (CMF = 0.2) as well enhancements in the SW radiation larger than 30% (CMF = 1.3) were found for small COT values and for different cloud fractions. A case study to analyse the enhancement events in a cloudy day was considered and the cloud properties, COT and LWP (from satellite and surface measurements), were related with the CRESW.

Measuring solar reflectance - Part I: Defining a metric that accurately predicts solar heat gain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levinson, Ronnen; Akbari, Hashem; Berdahl, Paul [Heat Island Group, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)

2010-09-15

Solar reflectance can vary with the spectral and angular distributions of incident sunlight, which in turn depend on surface orientation, solar position and atmospheric conditions. A widely used solar reflectance metric based on the ASTM Standard E891 beam-normal solar spectral irradiance underestimates the solar heat gain of a spectrally selective ''cool colored'' surface because this irradiance contains a greater fraction of near-infrared light than typically found in ordinary (unconcentrated) global sunlight. At mainland US latitudes, this metric R{sub E891BN} can underestimate the annual peak solar heat gain of a typical roof or pavement (slope {<=} 5:12 [23 ]) by as much as 89 W m{sup -2}, and underestimate its peak surface temperature by up to 5 K. Using R{sub E891BN} to characterize roofs in a building energy simulation can exaggerate the economic value N of annual cool roof net energy savings by as much as 23%. We define clear sky air mass one global horizontal (''AM1GH'') solar reflectance R{sub g,0}, a simple and easily measured property that more accurately predicts solar heat gain. R{sub g,0} predicts the annual peak solar heat gain of a roof or pavement to within 2 W m{sup -2}, and overestimates N by no more than 3%. R{sub g,0} is well suited to rating the solar reflectances of roofs, pavements and walls. We show in Part II that R{sub g,0} can be easily and accurately measured with a pyranometer, a solar spectrophotometer or version 6 of the Solar Spectrum Reflectometer. (author)

Reflective Polyethylene Mulch Reduces Mexican Bean Beetle (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) Densities and Damage in Snap Beans.

Science.gov (United States)

Nottingham, L B; Kuhar, T P

2016-08-01

Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis Mulsant, is a serious pest of snap beans, Phaseolus vulgaris L., in the eastern United States. These beetles are intolerant to direct sunlight, explaining why individuals are typically found on the undersides of leaves and in the lower portion of the plant canopy. We hypothesized that snap beans grown on reflective, agricultural polyethylene (plastic mulch) would have fewer Mexican bean beetles and less injury than those grown on black plastic or bare soil. In 2014 and 2015, beans were seeded into beds of metallized, white, and black plastic, and bare soil, in field plots near Blacksburg, VA. Mexican bean beetle density, feeding injury, predatory arthropods, and snap bean yield were sampled. Reflected light intensity, temperature, and humidity were monitored using data loggers. Pyranometer readings showed that reflected light intensity was highest over metallized plastic and second highest over white plastic; black plastic and bare soil were similarly low. Temperature and humidity were unaffected by treatments. Significant reductions in Mexican bean beetle densities and feeding injury were observed in both metallized and white plastic plots compared to black plastic and bare soil, with metallized plastic having the fewest Mexican bean beetle life stages and injury. Predatory arthropod densities were not reduced by reflective plastic. Metallized plots produced the highest yields, followed by white. The results of this study suggest that growing snap beans on reflective plastic mulch can suppress the incidence and damage of Mexican bean beetle, and increase yield in snap beans. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Measuring solar reflectance Part I: Defining a metric that accurately predicts solar heat gain

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levinson, Ronnen; Akbari, Hashem; Berdahl, Paul

2010-05-14

Solar reflectance can vary with the spectral and angular distributions of incident sunlight, which in turn depend on surface orientation, solar position and atmospheric conditions. A widely used solar reflectance metric based on the ASTM Standard E891 beam-normal solar spectral irradiance underestimates the solar heat gain of a spectrally selective 'cool colored' surface because this irradiance contains a greater fraction of near-infrared light than typically found in ordinary (unconcentrated) global sunlight. At mainland U.S. latitudes, this metric RE891BN can underestimate the annual peak solar heat gain of a typical roof or pavement (slope {le} 5:12 [23{sup o}]) by as much as 89 W m{sup -2}, and underestimate its peak surface temperature by up to 5 K. Using R{sub E891BN} to characterize roofs in a building energy simulation can exaggerate the economic value N of annual cool-roof net energy savings by as much as 23%. We define clear-sky air mass one global horizontal ('AM1GH') solar reflectance R{sub g,0}, a simple and easily measured property that more accurately predicts solar heat gain. R{sub g,0} predicts the annual peak solar heat gain of a roof or pavement to within 2 W m{sup -2}, and overestimates N by no more than 3%. R{sub g,0} is well suited to rating the solar reflectances of roofs, pavements and walls. We show in Part II that R{sub g,0} can be easily and accurately measured with a pyranometer, a solar spectrophotometer or version 6 of the Solar Spectrum Reflectometer.

Decadal changes in shortwave irradiance at the surface in the period from 1960 to 2000 estimated from Global Energy Balance Archive Data

Science.gov (United States)

Gilgen, H.; Roesch, A.; Wild, M.; Ohmura, A.

2009-05-01

Decadal changes in shortwave irradiance at the Earth's surface are estimated for the period from approximately 1960 through to 2000 from pyranometer records stored in the Global Energy Balance Archive. For this observational period, estimates could be calculated for a total of 140 cells of the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project grid (an equal area 2.5° × 2.5° grid at the equator) using regression models allowing for station effects. In large regions worldwide, shortwave irradiance decreases in the first half of the observational period, recovers from the decrease in the 1980s, and thereafter increases, in line with previous reports. Years of trend reversals are determined for the grid cells which are best described with a second-order polynomial model. This reversal of the trend is observed in the majority of the grid cells in the interior of Europe and in Japan. In China, shortwave irradiance recovers during the 1990s in the majority of the grid cells in the southeast and northeast from the decrease observed in the period from 1960 through to 1990. A reversal of the trend in the 1980s or early 1990s is also observed for two grid cells in North America, and for the grid cells containing the Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Singapore, Casablanca (Morocco), Valparaiso (Chile) sites, and, noticeably, the remote South Pole and American Samoa sites. Negative trends persist, i.e., shortwave radiation decreases, for the observational period 1960 through to 2000 at the European coasts, in central and northwest China, and for three grid cells in India and two in Africa.

Solar intensity measurement using a thermoelectric module; experimental study and mathematical modeling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rahbar, Nader; Asadi, Amin

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Solar intensity could be explained as a linear function of voltage and ambient temperature. • The maximum output voltage is approximately 120 mV which was occurred in midday. • The average value of the heat-sink thermal resistance could be measured with this device. • The average values of total heat transfer coefficients could be measured with this device. • Two correlations were proposed to predict the solar intensity with the accuracy of 10%. - Abstract: The present study is intended to design, manufacture, and modeling an inexpensive pyranometer using a thermoelectric module. The governing equations relating the solar intensity, output voltage, and ambient temperature have been derived by applying the mathematical and thermodynamic models. According to the thermodynamics modeling, the output voltage is a function of solar intensity, ambient temperature, internal parameters of thermoelectric module, convection and radiation coefficients, and geometrical characteristics of the setup. Moreover, the solar intensity can be considered as a linear function of voltage and ambient temperature within an acceptable range of accuracy. The experiments have been carried out on a typical winter day under climatic conditions of Semnan (35°33′N, 53°23′E), Iran. The results also indicated that the output voltage is dependent on the solar intensity and its maximum value was 120 mV. Finally, based on the experimental results, two correlations, with the accuracy of 10%, have been proposed to predict the solar intensity as a function of output voltage and ambient temperature. The average values of total heat transfer coefficient and thermal resistance of the heat-sink have been also calculated according to the thermodynamic modeling and experimental results.

Validation of Environmental Stress Index by Measuring Infrared Radiation as a Substitute for Solar Radiation in Indoor Workplaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peymaneh Habibi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Background The exposure of individuals to heat at different jobs warrants the use of heat stress evaluation indices. Objectives The aim of this study was to validate environmental stress index using an infrared radiation (IR measurement instrument as a substitute for pyranometer in indoor workplaces. Methods This study was conducted on 2303 indoor workstations in different industries in Isfahan, Iran, during July, August, and September in 2012. The intensity of the Infrared Radiation (IR (w/m2 was measured at five-centimeter distances in six different directions, above, opposite, right, left, behind and below the globe thermometer. Then, the dry globe temperature (Ta, wet globe temperature (Tnw, globe temperature (Tg and relative humidity (RH were also simultaneously measured. The data were analyzed using correlation and regression by the SPSS18 software. Results The study results indicate that a high correlation (r = 0.96 exists between the environmental stress index (ESI and the values of wet bulb globe temperature (P < 0.01. According to the following equation, WBGT = 1.086 × ESI - 1.846, the environmental stress index is able to explain 91% (R2 = 0.91 of the WBGT index variations (P < 0.01. Conclusions Based on the results, to study heat stress in indoor workplaces when the WBGT measurement instrument is not available and also in short-term exposures (shorter than 30 minutes when measuring the wet bulb globe temperature shows a considerable error, it is possible to calculate the environmental stress index and accordingly to the WBGT index, by measuring the parameters of dry bulb temperature (Ta, relative humidity (RH, and infrared radiation intensity that can be easily measured in a short time.

Global irradiation on horizontal surface at Hyderabad, Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kalhoro, A.N.

2005-01-01

The measurement of global irradiation on horizontal surface at PCSIR (Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) Laboratories, Hyderabad, Pakistan, for the period of January-June, 2003 is presented in this paper. During six months the total global irradiation received on horizontal surface at Hyderabad Laboratories is 1.80238 MW-h-m2. The daily irradiation data (Watt-h/Sq.m) has been collected on continuous basis by means of EPLAB Pyranometer and EPLAB Electronic Integrator provided with DIGITEC printer system. HPX- Y recorder (potentiometer) is also connected for continuous data recording of solar intensity (m V). The weather effect over the radiation income was observed regularly and proportion of sunny, cloudy, partly cloudy and dusty days is plotted. Monthly mean daily irradiation bifurcated for sunny and cloudy days are also shown separately. To give an overview of sky conditions, the monthly clearness index is calculated. The highest value of average irradiation per day was recorded in June (7.15 kW/m/sup 2/) and minimum recorded in January (4.11 kW/m/sup 2/). The summer season, although rich in radiation with long sunshine duration, brings dust storms along with many partly cloudy or cloudy days, mostly in the month of May and likely in June as well. This could be an additional barrier for solar energy applications especially in desert areas; therefore the study was made for evaluating the effect of dust on the radiation flux. The purpose of the study is the development of rural life in Pakistan such that the inhabitants of rural areas may need not to wait for the connection to national grid. This study will help in improving the efficiency of solar thermal devices, (currently fabricated on theoretical basis at the laboratories), according to experimental data. (author)

Impact of the 4 April 2014 Saharan dust outbreak on the photovoltaic power generation in Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. Rieger

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The importance for reliable forecasts of incoming solar radiation is growing rapidly, especially for those countries with an increasing share in photovoltaic (PV power production. The reliability of solar radiation forecasts depends mainly on the representation of clouds and aerosol particles absorbing and scattering radiation. Especially under extreme aerosol conditions, numerical weather prediction has a systematic bias in the solar radiation forecast. This is caused by the design of numerical weather prediction models, which typically account for the direct impact of aerosol particles on radiation using climatological mean values and the impact on cloud formation assuming spatially and temporally homogeneous aerosol concentrations. These model deficiencies in turn can lead to significant economic losses under extreme aerosol conditions. For Germany, Saharan dust outbreaks occurring 5 to 15 times per year for several days each are prominent examples for conditions, under which numerical weather prediction struggles to forecast solar radiation adequately. We investigate the impact of mineral dust on the PV-power generation during a Saharan dust outbreak over Germany on 4 April 2014 using ICON-ART, which is the current German numerical weather prediction model extended by modules accounting for trace substances and related feedback processes. We find an overall improvement of the PV-power forecast for 65 % of the pyranometer stations in Germany. Of the nine stations with very high differences between forecast and measurement, eight stations show an improvement. Furthermore, we quantify the direct radiative effects and indirect radiative effects of mineral dust. For our study, direct effects account for 64 %, indirect effects for 20 % and synergistic interaction effects for 16 % of the differences between the forecast including mineral dust radiative effects and the forecast neglecting mineral dust.

The state of solar energy resource assessment in Chile

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ortega, Alberto; Escobar, Rodrigo [Mechanical and Metallurgical Engineering Department, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Vicuna Mackenna 4860, Macul, Santiago (Chile); Colle, Sergio [Laboratorios de Engenharia de Processos de Conversao e Tecnologia de Energia - LEPTEN, Mechanical Engineering Department, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianopolis (Brazil); de Abreu, Samuel Luna [IFSC - Instituto Federal de Santa Catarina, Campus Sao Jose, Sao Jose - SC (Brazil)

2010-11-15

The Chilean government has determined that a renewable energy quota of up to 10% of the electrical energy generated must be met by 2024. This plan has already sparked interest in wind, geothermal, hydro and biomass power plants in order to introduce renewable energy systems to the country. Solar energy is being considered only for demonstration, small-scale CSP plants and for domestic water heating applications. This apparent lack of interest in solar energy is partly due to the absence of a valid solar energy database, adequate for energy system simulation and planning activities. One of the available solar radiation databases is 20-40 years old, with measurements taken by pyranographs and Campbell-Stokes devices. A second database from the Chilean Meteorological Service is composed by pyranometer readings, sparsely distributed along the country and available from 1988, with a number of these stations operating intermittently. The Chilean government through its National Energy Commission (CNE) has contracted the formulation of a simulation model and also the deployment of network of measurement stations in northern Chile. Recent efforts by the authors have resulted in a preliminary assessment by satellite image processing. Here, we compare the existing databases of solar radiation in Chile. Monthly mean solar energy maps are created from ground measurements and satellite estimations and compared. It is found that significant deviation exists between sources, and that all ground-station measurements display unknown uncertainty levels, thus highlighting the need for a proper, country-wide long-term resource assessment initiative. However, the solar energy levels throughout the country can be considered as high, and it is thought that they are adequate for energy planning activities - although not yet for proper power plant design and dimensioning. (author)

Inverter sizing of grid-connected photovoltaic systems in the light of local solar resource distribution characteristics and temperature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Burger, Bruno [Fraunhofer-Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Department of Electrical Energy Systems, Heidenhofstr. 2, 79110 Freiburg (Germany); Ruether, Ricardo [LABSOLAR-Laboratorio de Energia Solar, LabEEE-Laboratorio de Eficiencia Energetica em Edificacoes, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina/UFSC, Caixa Postal 476, Florianopolis-SC 88040-900 (Brazil)

2006-01-15

Inverter sizing strategies for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems often do not take into account site-dependent peculiarities of ambient temperature, inverter operating temperature and solar irradiation distribution characteristics. The operating temperature affects PV modules and inverters in different ways and PV systems will hardly ever have a DC output equal to or above their STC-rated nominal power. Inverters are usually sized with a nominal AC output power some 30% (sometimes even more) below the PV array nominal power. In this paper, we show that this practice might lead to considerable energy losses, especially in the case of PV technologies with high temperature coefficients of power operating at sites with cold climates and of PV technologies with low temperature coefficients of power operating at sites with warm climates and an energy distribution of sunlight shifted to higher irradiation levels. In energy markets where PV kWh are paid premium tariffs, like in Germany, energy yield optimization might result in a favorable payback of the extra capital invested in a larger inverter. This paper discusses how the time resolution of solar radiation data influences the correct sizing of PV plants. We demonstrate that using instant (10s) irradiation values instead of average hourly irradiation values leads to considerable differences in optimum inverter sizing. When calculating inverter yearly efficiency values using both, hourly averages and 1-min averages, we can show that with increased time resolution of solar irradiation data there are higher calculated losses due to inverter undersizing. This reveals that hourly averages hide important irradiation peaks that need to be considered. We performed these calculations for data sets from pyranometer readings from Freiburg (48{sup o}N, Germany) and Florianopolis (27{sup o}S, Brazil) to further show the peculiarities of the site-dependent distribution of irradiation levels and its effects on inverter sizing

Using Arduinos and 3D-printers to Build Research-grade Weather Stations and Environmental Sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Ham, J. M.

2013-12-01

Many plant, soil, and surface-boundary-layer processes in the geosphere are governed by the microclimate at the land-air interface. Environmental monitoring is needed at smaller scales and higher frequencies than provided by existing weather monitoring networks. The objective of this project was to design, prototype, and test a research-grade weather station that is based on open-source hardware/software and off-the-shelf components. The idea is that anyone could make these systems with only elementary skills in fabrication and electronics. The first prototypes included measurements of air temperature, humidity, pressure, global irradiance, wind speed, and wind direction. The best approach for measuring precipitation is still being investigated. The data acquisition system was deigned around the Arduino microcontroller and included an LCD-based user interface, SD card data storage, and solar power. Sensors were sampled at 5 s intervals and means, standard deviations, and maximum/minimums were stored at user-defined intervals (5, 30, or 60 min). Several of the sensor components were printed in plastic using a hobby-grade 3D printer (e.g., RepRap Project). Both passive and aspirated radiation shields for measuring air temperature were printed in white Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). A housing for measuring solar irradiance using a photodiode-based pyranometer was printed in opaque ABS. The prototype weather station was co-deployed with commercial research-grade instruments at an agriculture research unit near Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. Excellent agreement was found between Arduino-based system and commercial weather instruments. The technology was also used to support air quality research and automated air sampling. The next step is to incorporate remote access and station-to-station networking using Wi-Fi, cellular phone, and radio communications (e.g., Xbee).

A radiation closure study of Arctic stratus cloud microphysical properties using the collocated satellite-surface data and Fu-Liou radiative transfer model

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xiquan; Xi, Baike; Qiu, Shaoyue; Minnis, Patrick; Sun-Mack, Sunny; Rose, Fred

2016-09-01

Retrievals of cloud microphysical properties based on passive satellite imagery are especially difficult over snow-covered surfaces because of the bright and cold surface. To help quantify their uncertainties, single-layered overcast liquid-phase Arctic stratus cloud microphysical properties retrieved by using the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System Edition 2 and Edition 4 (CERES Ed2 and Ed4) algorithms are compared with ground-based retrievals at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement North Slope of Alaska (ARM NSA) site at Barrow, AK, during the period from March 2000 to December 2006. A total of 206 and 140 snow-free cases (Rsfc ≤ 0.3), and 108 and 106 snow cases (Rsfc > 0.3), respectively, were selected from Terra and Aqua satellite passes over the ARM NSA site. The CERES Ed4 and Ed2 optical depth (τ) and liquid water path (LWP) retrievals from both Terra and Aqua are almost identical and have excellent agreement with ARM retrievals under snow-free and snow conditions. In order to reach a radiation closure study for both the surface and top of atmosphere (TOA) radiation budgets, the ARM precision spectral pyranometer-measured surface albedos were adjusted (63.6% and 80% of the ARM surface albedos for snow-free and snow cases, respectively) to account for the water and land components of the domain of 30 km × 30 km. Most of the radiative transfer model calculated SW↓sfc and SW↑TOA fluxes by using ARM and CERES cloud retrievals and the domain mean albedos as input agree with the ARM and CERES flux observations within 10 W m-2 for both snow-free and snow conditions. Sensitivity studies show that the ARM LWP and re retrievals are less dependent on solar zenith angle (SZA), but all retrieved optical depths increase with SZA.

An automatic measuring system for mapping of spectral and angular dependence of direct and diffuse solar radiation; Et automatisk maalesystem for kartlegging av vinkel- og spektralfordeling av direkte og diffus solstraaling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Grandum, Oddbjoern

1997-12-31

In optimizing solar systems, it is necessary to know the spectral and angular dependence of the radiation. The general nonlinear character of most solar energy systems accentuates this. This thesis describes a spectroradiometer that will measure both the direct component of the solar radiation and the angular dependence of the diffuse component. Radiation from a selected part of the sky is transported through a movable set of tube sections on to a stationary set of three monochromators with detectors. The beam transport system may effectively be looked upon as a single long tube aimed at a particular spot in the sky. The half value of the effective opening angle is 1.3{sup o} for diffuse radiation and 2.8{sup o} for direct radiation. The whole measurement process is controlled and operated by a PC and normally runs without manual attention. The instrument is built into a caravan. The thesis describes in detail the experimental apparatus, calibration and measurement accuracies. To map the diffuse radiation, one divides the sky into 26 sectors of equal solid angle. A complete measurement cycle is then made at a random point within each sector. These measurements are modelled by fitting to spherical harmonics, enforcing symmetry around the solar direction and the horizontal plane. The direct radiation is measured separately. Also the circumsolar sector is given special treatment. The measurements are routinely checked against global radiation measured in parallel by a standard pyranometer, and direct solar radiation by a pyrheliometer. An extensive improvement programme is being planned for the instrument, including the use of a photomultiplier tube to measure the UV part of the spectrum, a diode array for the 400-1100 nm range, and use of a Ge diode for the 1000-1900 nm range. 78 refs., 90 figs., 31 tabs.

Long-term uvb forecasting on the basis of spectral and broad-band measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Bérces, A.; Gáspár, S.; Kovács, G.; Rontó, G.

2003-04-01

The stratospheric ozone concentration has been investigated by several methods, e.g. determinations of the ozone layer using a network of ground based spectrophotometers, of the Dobson and the Brewer types. These data indicate significant decrease of the ozone layer superimposed by much larger seasonal changes at specific geographical locations. The stratospheric ozone plays an important role in the attenuation of the short-wavelength components of the solar spectrum, thus the consequence of the decreased ozone layer is an increased UVB level. Various pyranometers measuring the biological effect of environmental UV radiation have been constructed with spectral sensitivities close to the erythema action spectrum defined by the CIE. Using these erythemally weighted broad-band instruments to detect the tendency of UVB radiation controversial data have been found. To quantify the biological risk due to environmental UV radiation it is reasonable to weight the solar spectrum by the spectral sensitivity of the DNA damage taking into account the high DNA-sensitivity at the short wavelength range of the solar spectrum. Various biological dosimeters have been developed e.g. polycrystalline uracil thin layer. These are usually simple biological systems or components of them. Their UV sensitivity is a consequence of the DNA-damage. Biological dosimeters applied for long-term monitoring are promising tools for the assessment of the biological hazard. Simultaneous application of uracil dosimeters and Robertson-Berger meters can be useful to predict the increasing tendency of the biological UV exposure more precisely. The ratio of the biologically effective dose obtained by the uracil dosimeter (a predominately UVB effect) and by the Robertson-Berger meter (insensitive to changes below 300 nm) is a sensitive method for establishing changes in UVB irradiance due to changes in ozone layer.

FIGIFIGO as a tool to characterize and identify planetary analogue sites

Science.gov (United States)

Gritsevich, M.; Peltoniemi, J.; Hakala, T.; Muinonen, K.

2014-07-01

We present an overview of the Finnish Geodetic Institute's field goniospectrometer (FIGIFIGO) and highlight its usability to study extraterrestrial analogues on the Earth. The design concept of this custom-made instrument has been proved to have a number of advantages, such as a well-adopted user-friendly interface, a high level of automation, and excellent suitability for field measurements within a wide range of weather conditions. It is perfect for collection of reference data on a given target in natural undisturbed (and well-recorded for further data interpretation) conditions. The instrument communicates via a controlled computer with an implemented simple and user-friendly interface. This allows users to easily set up optional parameters at the beginning of the measurement series. Thus a number of details may be modified, such as the initial position of the sensor, the range and speed of further automated zenith turns, and length of the turnable arm holding the selected optics (including an option for a computer-turned linear polarizer) above the target. The assembly and operation of the instrument are fast and efficient in both laboratory and field conditions. It is battery powered and easily portable, including possible transportation by plane, car, boat, or sledge. The system includes a sky camera to detect the goniometer orientation and a pyranometer to monitor the actual illumination conditions. A fine-tune mirror is used for spatial correction of the optics footprint. Recent calibration of the system has significantly increased the measurement robustness and data reliability, and has provided the operators with information on how to operate the instrument in the most efficient and accurate way. Measurement campaigns are organized frequently and significant amount of reference data has been already collected. The identification of new planetary analogue sites and characterization of known ones using FIGIFIGO could offer new possibilities and provide

The influence of urban area opacity on biologically active UV-B irradiance

Science.gov (United States)

Chubarova, Nataly; Rozental', Victor

2013-04-01

The study of UV irradiance changes in urban area is an essential problem due to the significant effect of UV irradiance on human health which can be positive (vitamin D synthesis) and negative (erythema, skin cancer, eye damage). According to the results of several experiments within the Moscow megacity we studied the effects of urban area opacity on the different types of biologically active UV-B irradiance on the base of a specially developed mobile photometric complex snd additional measurements of the urban opacity by Nikon Fisheye Converter FC-E8. We analyzed both the level of erythemally-active irradiance and the UV eye damaging radiation using the broadband UVB-1 YES pyranometer calibrated against ultraviolet spectroradiometer Bentham DTM-300 of the Medical University of Innsbruck (courtesy of Dr. M.Blumthaler). In order to estimate the effects of the urban opacity the measurements were normalized on similar measurements at the Meteorological Observatory of Moscow State University with zero opacity. This ratio is defined as an urban radiative transmittance (URT). Different atmospheric conditions were considered. In cloudy conditions the effect of opacity on URT is much less than that in conditions when the sun disk is open from clouds. We revealed some spectral features in transmittance of biologically active UV-B irradiance which is characterized by higher URT variations in overcast cloudy conditions due to more intensive scattering and smaller direct solar radiation component. In the absence of cloudiness the effect of opacity was studied for open and screening solar disk conditions. We obtained much higher URT in UVB spectral region compared with that for total solar irradiance for screening solar disk conditions with a significant URT dependence on the opacity only in UVB spectral region. No URT dependence was obtained for total solar irradiance in these conditions. Some model calculations were fulfilled to match the experimental results.

Validation of a Meteosat Second Generation solar radiation dataset over the northeastern Iberian Peninsula

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Cristóbal

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Solar radiation plays a key role in the Earth's energy balance and is used as an essential input data in radiation-based evapotranspiration (ET models. Accurate gridded solar radiation data at high spatial and temporal resolution are needed to retrieve ET over large domains. In this work we present an evaluation at hourly, daily and monthly time steps and regional scale (Catalonia, NE Iberian Peninsula of a satellite-based solar radiation product developed by the Land Surface Analysis Satellite Application Facility (LSA SAF using data from the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI. Product performance and accuracy were evaluated for datasets segmented into two terrain classes (flat and hilly areas and two atmospheric conditions (clear and cloudy sky, as well as for the full dataset as a whole. Evaluation against measurements made with ground-based pyranometers yielded good results in flat areas with an averaged model RMSE of 65 W m⁻² (19%, 34 W m⁻² (9.7% and 21 W m⁻² (5.6%, for hourly, daily and monthly-averaged solar radiation and including clear and cloudy sky conditions and snow or ice cover. Hilly areas yielded intermediate results with an averaged model RMSE (root mean square error of 89 W m⁻² (27%, 48 W m⁻² (14.5% and 32 W m⁻² (9.3%, for hourly, daily and monthly time steps, suggesting the need of further improvements (e.g., terrain corrections required for retrieving localized variability in solar radiation in these areas. According to the literature, the LSA SAF solar radiation product appears to have sufficient accuracy to serve as a useful and operative input to evaporative flux retrieval models.

Observations of the transmittance in two solar ponds

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Almanza, R.; Bryant, M.C.

1983-11-01

A NaCl salt gradient solar pond has been in continuous operation at the University of New Mexico since the fall of 1975; a smaller pond, using KNO/sub 3/ to produce the salinity gradient, was commissioned in the fall of 1981. The distribution of absorbed radiation in the ponds is of key importance in the determination of their efficiencies for collecting and storing solar energy. The absorption coefficient of light in an aqueous solution is very dependent upon wavelength; the spectral distribution of sunlight shifts toward the blue and the amount of solar energy absorbed per unit length of path declines with depth of penetration. The presence of suspended solids and bioforms further complicate the transmittance of sun light through the pond, specially since this contamination tends to vary strongly with depth. Because of its importance to the phytoplankton population , considerable work has been done by oceanographers on the absorption and scattering of light for different wavelengths. However, in a solar pond the big question is the amount of energy reaching the lower convective layer (storage). Several attempts have been made to measure the transmittance in solar ponds, mainly NaCl but the problem is to find a temperature-insensitive submersible pyranometer. Convenient formulas have been offered for the attenuation of solar radiation in pond water by considering it to be divided into spectral bands, or by fitting simple analytical functions, or specifying the extintion coefficient. (For the first method, it is necessary to know the absorption and scattering of light for different lambda.) In this paper some measurements of transmittance in the UNM ponds, are presented thereby exhibiting a simple procedure which may be of interest to others in this field.

Surface radiation changes and their impact on climate in Central Europe[Dissertation 17578

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ruckstuhl, Ch.

2008-07-01

forcing on surface temperature, direct aerosol forcing is found to be about five times larger than the forcing due to changing clouds. First order estimates using mean climate sensitivity factors indicate that with the observed strong aerosol decline the direct and the indirect aerosol and cloud forcing combined may have produced about one third of the recent rapid temperature increase observed in Central Europe since the 1980s. The observed relation of decreasing AOD and consequently increasing solar radiation under cloud-free skies has been confirmed by MODTRAN (MODerate spectral resolution atmospheric TRANsmittance algorithm and computer model) calculations. MODTRAN calculations further indicate that the observed increase in water vapor has at least a five times smaller impact on solar irradiance transmission under cloud-free skies than the measured aerosol optical depth decline has. For the conducted analysis of solar radiation under cloud-free skies, a new method has been developed to automatically detect cloud-free skies. The method is based on sunshine duration measurements and the variability of the atmospheric transmission derived from global solar irradiance measurements. This new method presents the advantage to use standard solar radiation parameters that are usually measured at advanced meteorological stations. To validate state-of-the-art radiometers a one year radiometer comparison campaign has been performed at the Payerne Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) site. The comparison has shown that state-of-the-art Kipp and Zonen pyranometers measure global solar irradiance within 1.6%, and if a field adjustment is performed the uncertainty even reduces to 1.0% on monthly means. If Eppley PSP pyranometers are also considered, the uncertainties are about twice as large. In order to explore the total surface radiation budget, a parameterization has been derived to estimate longwave downward radiation (LDR) from surface humidity and column integrated water

Proxy-based reconstruction of erythemal UV doses over Estonia for 1955–2004

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Eerme

2006-08-01

Full Text Available A proxy-based reconstruction of the erythemally-weighted UV doses for 1955-2004 has been performed for the Tartu-Tõravere Meteorological Station (58°16' N, 26°28' E, 70 m a.s.l. site. The pyrheliometer-measured daily sum of direct irradiance on partly cloudy and clear days, and the pyranometer-measured daily sum of global irradiance on overcast days were used as the cloudiness influence related proxies. The TOMS ozone data have been used for detecting the daily deviations from the climatic value (averaged annual cycle. In 1998–2004, the biases between the measured and reconstructed daily doses in 55.5% of the cases were within ±10% and in 83.5% of the cases within ±20%, on average. In the summer half-year these amounts were 62% and 88%, respectively. In most years the results for longer intervals did not differ significantly, if no correction was made for the daily deviations of total ozone from its climatic value. The annual and summer half-yearly erythemal doses (contributing, on average, 89% of the annual value agreed within ±2%, except for the years after major volcanic eruptions and one extremely fine weather year (2002. Using the daily relative sunshine duration as a proxy without detailed correction for atmospheric turbidity results in biases of 2–4% in the summer half-yearly dose in the years after major volcanic eruptions and a few other years of high atmospheric turbidity. The year-to-year variations of the summer half-yearly erythemal dose in 1955–2004 were found to be within 92–111% relative to their average value. Exclusion of eight extreme years reduces this range for the remaining to 95–105.5%. Due to the quasi-periodic alternation of wet and dry periods, the interval of cloudy summers 1976–1993 regularly manifests summer half-yearly erythemal dose values lower than the 1955–2004 average. Since 1996/1997 midwinters have been darker than on average.

Observation and calculation of the solar radiation on the Tibetan Plateau

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Jiandong; Liu Jingmiao; Linderholm, Hans W.; Chen Deliang; Yu Qiang; Wu Dingrong; Haginoya, Shigenori

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Five years of continuous solar-radiation observations on the Tibetan Plateau were analyzed. ► Eight solar models were calibrated and validated in this highland region. ► A strategy for calculating solar radiation on the Tibetan Plateau was presented. - Abstract: Distribution of solar radiation is vital to locate the most suitable regions for harvesting solar energy, but solar radiation is only observed at few stations due to high costs and difficult maintenance. From 2001 to 2005, a set of pyranometer instruments were set up in Gaize, on the Tibetan Plateau, to test the hypothesis of high solar-radiation levels in this region, and find a suitable method for estimating the radiation. Over the 5-year observation period, the average daily radiation was 21 MJ m −2 day −1 with maximum daily values of 27 MJ m −2 day −1 occurring in June and minimum values of 14 MJ m −2 day −1 in December, which is much higher than those measured in other regions at similar latitudes. The observational data were used to validate a set of radiation models: five sunshine based and three temperature based. The results showed that of the five sunshine-based models, a newly developed “comprehensive” model performed the best, but that the “vapor revised Angstrom model” was recommended to use for its simplicity and easy operation. The temperature-based models performed worse than the sunshine-based ones, where the Wu model is to be preferred if a temperature-based model is the only option. Moreover, it was shown that when estimating the solar radiation based on time-dependent coefficients, consideration of the seasonal variation of the coefficients has little predictive value and is thus unnecessary. Based on the results of this study, a strategy for the calculation of solar radiation on the Tibetan Plateau was made for potential users.

Proxy-based reconstruction of erythemal UV doses over Estonia for 1955–2004

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Eerme

2006-08-01

Full Text Available A proxy-based reconstruction of the erythemally-weighted UV doses for 1955-2004 has been performed for the Tartu-Tõravere Meteorological Station (58°16' N, 26°28' E, 70 m a.s.l. site. The pyrheliometer-measured daily sum of direct irradiance on partly cloudy and clear days, and the pyranometer-measured daily sum of global irradiance on overcast days were used as the cloudiness influence related proxies. The TOMS ozone data have been used for detecting the daily deviations from the climatic value (averaged annual cycle. In 1998–2004, the biases between the measured and reconstructed daily doses in 55.5% of the cases were within ±10% and in 83.5% of the cases within ±20%, on average. In the summer half-year these amounts were 62% and 88%, respectively. In most years the results for longer intervals did not differ significantly, if no correction was made for the daily deviations of total ozone from its climatic value. The annual and summer half-yearly erythemal doses (contributing, on average, 89% of the annual value agreed within ±2%, except for the years after major volcanic eruptions and one extremely fine weather year (2002. Using the daily relative sunshine duration as a proxy without detailed correction for atmospheric turbidity results in biases of 2–4% in the summer half-yearly dose in the years after major volcanic eruptions and a few other years of high atmospheric turbidity. The year-to-year variations of the summer half-yearly erythemal dose in 1955–2004 were found to be within 92–111% relative to their average value. Exclusion of eight extreme years reduces this range for the remaining to 95–105.5%. Due to the quasi-periodic alternation of wet and dry periods, the interval of cloudy summers 1976–1993 regularly manifests summer half-yearly erythemal dose values lower than the 1955–2004 average. Since 1996/1997 midwinters have been darker than on average.

Downwelling radiation at the sea surface in the central Mediterranean: one year of shortwave and longwave irradiance measurements on the Lampedusa buoy

Science.gov (United States)

di Sarra, Alcide; Bommarito, Carlo; Anello, Fabrizio; Di Iorio, Tatiana; Meloni, Daniela; Monteleone, Francesco; Pace, Giandomenico; Piacentino, Salvatore; Sferlazzo, Damiano

2017-04-01

An oceanographic buoy has been developed and deployed in August 2015 about 3.3 miles South West of the island of Lampedusa, at 35.49°N, 12.47°E, in the central Mediterranean Sea. The buoy was developed within the Italian RITMARE flagship project, and contributes to the Italian fixed-point oceanographic observation network. The buoy is an elastic beacon type and is intended to study air-sea interactions, propagation of radiation underwater, and oceanographic properties. The buoy measurements complement the atmospheric observations carried out at the long-term Station for Climate Observations on the island of Lampedusa (www.lampedusa.enea.it; 35.52°N, 12.63°E), which is located about 15 km E-NE of the buoy. Underwater instruments and part of the atmospheric sensors are presently being installed on the buoy. Measurements of downwelling shortwave, SW, and longwave, LW, irradiance, have been made since September 2015 with a Kipp and Zonen CMP21 pyranometer and a Kipp and Zonen CGR4 pyrgeometer, respectively. The radiometers are mounted on a small platform at about 7 m above sea level, on an arm protruding southward of the buoy. High time resolution data, at 1 Hz, have been acquired since December 2015, together with the sensors' attitude. Data from the period December 2015-December 2016 are analyzed and compared with measurements made on land at the Station for Climate Observations at 50 m above mean sea level. This study aims at deriving high quality determinations of the downwelling radiation over sea in the central Mediterranean. The following aspects will be discussed: - representativeness of time averaging of irradiance measurements over moving platforms; - comparison of downwelling irradiance measurements made over land and over ocean, and identification of possible correction strategies to infer irradiances over the ocean from close by measurements made over land; - influence of dome cleaning on the quality of measurements; - envisaging possible corrections

Vertical profiles of aerosol optical properties and the solar heating rate estimated by combining sky radiometer and lidar measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Kudo, Rei; Nishizawa, Tomoaki; Aoyagi, Toshinori

2016-07-01

retrievals was compared with pyranometer measurement. The results showed good agreements: the columnar values of the SKYLIDAR retrievals agreed with reliable SKYRAD.PACK retrievals, and the SKYLIDAR retrievals were sufficiently accurate to evaluate the surface solar irradiance.

Buoy observation for typhoon in southeast of Taiwan during summers of 2015 and 2016

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, C. Y.; Yang, Y. J.; Chang, M. H.; Chang, H. I.; Jan, S.; Wei, C. L.

2016-12-01

The western North Pacific is the most active area for the typhoon in the world, and typhoon caused disasters in this area. The marine observations are very important for the typhoon prediction. National Taiwan University (NTU) was developed a real-time data buoy system for typhoon observation. This buoy not only collected meteorological data, but also measured the temperature and salinity profiles of ocean's upper 500 m. The buoys, NTU1 and NTU2, were moored about 375 km and 175 km, respectively, from the southernmost tip of Taiwan. In summer of 2015, NTU1 buoy equipped with temperature and humidity probes, wind sensor, pyranometer, barometer, conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) recorders, and temperature-pressure recorders. In summer of 2016, NTU1 and NTU2 buoys installed more instruments, such as rain gauge, net radiometer, and current meter, etc. During the observation period, there were three typhoons (Chan-hom, Soudler, and Goni) in 2015 and one typhoon (Nepartak) in 2016 approached buoy. Goni passed south and west side of NTU1 and the air pressure dropped around 25 hPa. Nepartak passed north side of NTU1 and south side of NTU2. The minimum distance between center of typhoon and NTU1 and NTU2 were about 11.48 km and 4.85 km, respectively. The NTU2 buoy recorded a maximum wind gust of 44 m/s, thickness of mixed layer increased to 120 m, and sea-surface temperature dropped 3 °C. In addition, the typhoon induced the near inertial internal motion for a couple of days. Applied the in-situ data to derive the net heat flux and its variations were from 600 W/m2 to -1000W/m2 during typhoon period. It indicate that the ocean provide energy to typhoon around this area. Moreover, the sum of sensible and latent heat flux calculated from observation data was 4.5 times than satellite-based products.

Spatial and Temporal Variabilities of Solar and Longwave Radiation Fluxes below a Coniferous Forest in the French Alps

Science.gov (United States)

Sicart, J. E.; Ramseyer, V.; Lejeune, Y.; Essery, R.; Webster, C.; Rutter, N.

2017-12-01

At high altitudes and latitudes, snow has a large influence on hydrological processes. Large fractions of these regions are covered by forests, which have a strong influence on snow accumulation and melting processes. Trees absorb a large part of the incoming shortwave radiation and this heat load is mostly dissipated as longwave radiation. Trees shelter the snow surface from wind, so sub-canopy snowmelt depends mainly on the radiative fluxes: vegetation attenuates the transmission of shortwave radiation but enhances longwave irradiance to the surface. An array of 13 pyranometers and 11 pyrgeometers was deployed on the snow surface below a coniferous forest at the CEN-MeteoFrance Col de Porte station in the French Alps (1325 m asl) during the 2017 winter in order to investigate spatial and temporal variabilities of solar and infrared irradiances in different meteorological conditions. Sky view factors measured with hemispherical photographs at each radiometer location were in a narrow range from 0.2 to 0.3. The temperature of the vegetation was measured with IR thermocouples and an IR camera. In clear sky conditions, the attenuation of solar radiation by the canopy reached 96% and its spatial variability exceeded 100 W m-2. Longwave irradiance varied by 30 W m-2 from dense canopy to gap areas. In overcast conditions, the spatial variabilities of solar and infrared irradiances were reduced and remained closely related to the sky view factor. A simple radiative model taking into account the penetration through the canopy of the direct and diffuse solar radiation, and isotropic infrared emission of the vegetation as a blackbody emitter, accurately reproduced the dynamics of the radiation fluxes at the snow surface. Model results show that solar transmissivity of the canopy in overcast conditions is an excellent proxy of the sky view factor and the emitting temperature of the vegetation remained close to the air temperature in this typically dense Alpine forest.

Validation of OMI erythemal doses with multi-sensor ground-based measurements in Thessaloniki, Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Zempila, Melina Maria; Fountoulakis, Ilias; Taylor, Michael; Kazadzis, Stelios; Arola, Antti; Koukouli, Maria Elissavet; Bais, Alkiviadis; Meleti, Chariklia; Balis, Dimitrios

2018-06-01

The aim of this study is to validate the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) erythemal dose rates using ground-based measurements in Thessaloniki, Greece. In the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, a Yankee Environmental System UVB-1 radiometer measures the erythemal dose rates every minute, and a Norsk Institutt for Luftforskning (NILU) multi-filter radiometer provides multi-filter based irradiances that were used to derive erythemal dose rates for the period 2005-2014. Both these datasets were independently validated against collocated UV irradiance spectra from a Brewer MkIII spectrophotometer. Cloud detection was performed based on measurements of the global horizontal radiation from a Kipp & Zonen pyranometer and from NILU measurements in the visible range. The satellite versus ground observation validation was performed taking into account the effect of temporal averaging, limitations related to OMI quality control criteria, cloud conditions, the solar zenith angle and atmospheric aerosol loading. Aerosol optical depth was also retrieved using a collocated CIMEL sunphotometer in order to assess its impact on the comparisons. The effect of total ozone columns satellite versus ground-based differences on the erythemal dose comparisons was also investigated. Since most of the public awareness alerts are based on UV Index (UVI) classifications, an analysis and assessment of OMI capability for retrieving UVIs was also performed. An overestimation of the OMI erythemal product by 3-6% and 4-8% with respect to ground measurements is observed when examining overpass and noontime estimates respectively. The comparisons revealed a relatively small solar zenith angle dependence, with the OMI data showing a slight dependence on aerosol load, especially at high aerosol optical depth values. A mean underestimation of 2% in OMI total ozone columns under cloud-free conditions was found to lead to an overestimation in OMI erythemal

Glacial Lake Outburst Flood Risk in Nepal and Their Mitigation Practices in Nepal

Science.gov (United States)

Gurung, S.

2017-12-01

Glacial lakes in Nepal face a huge risk of Glacial Lake Outburst Flood (GLOF) due to the ongoing effects of climate change leading to considerable amount of snow and glacier melt thus weakening the natural barriers holding these high altitude glacial lakes. Nepal is at an ever growing risk every year and always waiting for an inevitable natural disaster. Since GLOF can cause extreme huge loss of human lives and physical properties, it has now become very important to design a proper mechanism which helps in reducing hazards from such events. There is little we can do to stop natural disasters, but we can implement pro-active control measures to minimize the loss. Early Warning System is the provision of timely and effective information, which allows individuals exposed to hazards to take action, avoid or reduce risk to life and property and prepare for effective response. The basic idea behind Early Warning System is that, the earlier and more accurately we are able to predict potential risks associated with natural hazards especially flood, the more likely we will be able to manage and mitigate the disasters' impact on society, economies and environment. We are currently focused on the development of early warning system for Imja Glacial Lake. The objective of developing early warning system for Imja GLOF is to help reduce economic losses and mitigate the number of injuries or deaths by providing information that allows individuals and communities downstream of Imja Lake to protect their lives and properties by using the latest and most advanced technology available. We have installed one Automatic Weather Station near the left lateral moraine of Imja Lake to study the effects of different meteorological parameters so as to predict occurrence of any GLOF event. The sensor includes pluviometer, pyranometer, temperature and humidity sensor, wind sensor, Snowdepth sensor. Two radar level sensors are installed at the outlet of Imja Lake and downstream of Imja river

Spatio Temporal Variability of the Global Transmittance During the Arctic POLARSTERN Expedition 106/1 Ice Floe Station

Science.gov (United States)

Barrientos Velasco, C.; Macke, A.; Griesche, H.; Engelmann, R.; Deneke, H.; Seifert, P.

2017-12-01

The Arctic is warming at a higher rate than the rest of the planet. This has been leading to a dramatically decrease of snow coverage and sea ice thickness in recent years and several studies have suggested that a similar trend is expected in the upcoming years. Large uncertainties in predicting the Arctic climate arise from our lack of understanding the role clouds play in sea ice / atmosphere interaction. During summer the shortwave radiation dominates and clouds have a net cooling effect at the surface. The strength of this cooling critically depends on cloud phase, composition and height. Clouds interactions with aerosols, and its sensitivity to surface properties further complicates their role in the Arctic system. Scattering between the surface and cloud layers amplifies the cloud shortwave contribution, especially over a highly reflective surface such as snow or ice. Therefore, to comprehend how the Arctic's surface is significantly modulated by solar radiation is necessary to more clearly understand the cloud-induced spatio-temporal variability at process relevant scales. Irradiance variability may also have an effect on the biological productivity of various plankton species below the ice. The present study provides an overview of spatio-temporal variability at spatial scales ranging from several decameters to 1 kilometer of the global transmittance derived from 15 pyranometer stations installed at an ice floe station (June 4-16 2017) during the POLARSTERN expedition PS106/1. Specific irradiance statistics under clear sky, broken clouds and overcast conditions will be described considering the combination of a Cloud Radar Mira 35 and a Polly Raman polarization Lidar. Ultimately, radiative closure studies will be performed to quantify our abilities to reproduce realistic cloud solar radiative forcing under Arctic conditions. Acknowledgements. This research is funded by Deutsche Forschunsgemeinschaft (DFG) and involves the active participation of Leibniz

The De-Icing Comparison Experiment (D-ICE): A campaign for improving data retention rates of radiometric measurements under icing conditions in cold regions

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, C. J.; Morris, S. M.

2017-12-01

Longwave and shortwave radiative fluxes are fundamental quantities regularly observed globally using broadband radiometers. In cold climates, frost, rime, snow and ice (collectively, "icing") frequently builds up on sensor windows, contaminating measurements. Since icing occurs under particular meteorological conditions, associated data losses constitutes a climatological bias. Furthermore, the signal caused by ice is difficult to distinguish from that of clouds, hampering efforts to identify contaminated from real data in post-processing. Because of the sensitivity of radiometers to internal temperature instabilities, there are limitations to using heat as a de-icing method. The magnitude of this problem is indicated by the large number of research institutions and commercial vendors that have developed various de-icing strategies. The D-ICE campaign has been designed to bring together a large number of currently available systems to quantitatively evaluate and compare ice-migration strategies and also to characterize the potentially adverse effects of the techniques themselves. For D-ICE, a variety of automated approaches making use of ventilation, heating, modified housings and alcohol spray are being evaluated alongside standard units operating with only the regularly scheduled manual cleaning by human operators at the NOAA Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) station in Utqiaġvik (formerly Barrow), Alaska. Previous experience within the BSRN community suggests that aspiration of ambient air alone may be sufficient to maintain ice-free radiometers without increasing measurement uncertainty during icing conditions, forming the main guiding hypothesis of the experiment. Icing on the sensors is monitored visually using cameras recording images every 15 minutes and quantitatively using an icing probe and met station. The effects of applied heat on infrared loss in pyranometers will be analyzed and the integrated effect of icing on monthly averages will be

NREL Pyrheliometer Comparisons: September 25-October 6, 2017 (NPC-2017)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reda, Ibrahim M. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Dooraghi, Michael R. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Andreas, Afshin M. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Habte, Aron M. [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-11-07

Accurate measurements of direct normal (beam) solar irradiance from pyrheliometers are important for developing and deploying solar energy conversion systems, improving our understanding of the Earth's energy budget for climate change studies, and for other science and technology applications involving solar flux. Providing these measurements places many demands on the quality system used by the operator of commercially available radiometers. Maintaining accurate radiometer calibrations that are traceable to an international standard is the first step in producing research-quality solar irradiance measurements. In 1977, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) established the World Radiometric Reference (WRR) as the international standard for the measurement of direct normal solar irradiance (Frohlich 1991). The WRR is an internationally recognized, detector-based measurement standard determined by the collective performance of six electrically self-calibrated absolute cavity radiometers comprising the World Standard Group (WSG). Various countries, including the United States, have contributed these specialized radiometers to the Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos - World Radiation Center (PMOD/WRC) to establish the WSG. As with all measurement systems, Absolute Cavity Radiometers (ASR) are subject to performance changes over time. Therefore, every five years the PMOD/WRC in Davos, Switzerland, hosts an International Pyrheliometer Comparison (IPC) for transferring the WRR to participating radiometers. NREL has represented the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in each IPC since 1980. As a result, NREL has developed and maintained a select group of absolute cavity radiometers with direct calibration traceability to the WRR, and uses these reference instruments to calibrate pyrheliometers and pyranometers using the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 17025 accredited Broadband Outdoor Radiometer Calibration (BORCAL) process (Reda

Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing and Forcing Efficiencies at Surface from the shortwave Irradiance Measurements in Abu Dhabi, UAE

Science.gov (United States)

Beegum S, N.; Ben Romdhane, H.; Ghedira, H.

2013-12-01

Atmospheric aerosols are known to affect the radiation balance of the Earth-Atmospheric system directly by scattering and absorbing the solar and terrestrial radiation, and indirectly by affecting the lifetime and albedo of the clouds. Continuous and simultaneous measurements of short wave global irradiance in combination with synchronous spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements (from 340 nm to 1640 nm in 8 channels), for a period of 1 year from June 2012 to May 2013, were used for the determination of the surface direct aerosol radiative forcing and forcing efficiencies under cloud free conditions in Abu Dhabi (24.42°N, 54.61o E, 7m MSL), a coastal location in United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the Arabian Peninsula. The Rotating Shadow band Pyranometer (RSP, LI-COR) was used for the irradiance measurements (in the spectral region 400-1100 nm), whereas the AOD measurements were carried out using CIMEL Sunphotometer (CE 318-2, under AERONET program). The differential method, which is neither sensitive to calibration uncertainties nor model assumptions, has been employed for estimating forcing efficiencies from the changes in the measured fluxes. The forcing efficiency, which quantifies the net change in irradiance per unit change in AOD, is an appropriate parameter for the characterization of the aerosol radiative effects even if the microphysical and optical properties of the aerosols are not completely understood. The corresponding forcing values were estimated from the forcing efficiencies. The estimated radiative forcing and forcing efficiencies exhibited strong monthly variations. The forcing efficiencies (absolute magnitudes) were highest during March, and showed continuous decrease thereafter to reach the lowest value during September. In contrast, the forcing followed a slightly different pattern of variability, with the highest solar dimming during April ( -60 W m-2) and the minimum during February ( -20 W m-2). The results indicate that the aerosol

Experimental and model analysis of evapotranspiration and percolation losses in present and future rainfall scenarios in seasonally dry tropics

Science.gov (United States)

Lima, J. D.; Gondim, P. S.; Silva, R. A.; Gomes, C. A.; Souza, E. S.; Vico, G.; Soares, W. A.; Feng, X.; Montenegro, S. M.; Antonino, A. C.; Porporato, A.

2013-12-01

Evapotranspiration losses with their link to the surface energy balance are a major determinant of the ecohydrological conditions of vegetation, especially in semi-arid ecosystems and crops. Grassland ecosystems account for approximately 32% of global natural vegetation, and cover 170 million ha in Brazil, with 2.5 million ha in the Pernambuco State of the semiarid-NE Brazil. The water balance (WB) and Bowen ratio - energy balance (EB) methods were used in conjunction to lysimeters and eddy covariance methods to come up with reliable estimates for water fluxes in the conditions of extreme seasonal and interannual variability of NE Brazil. The SiSPAT (Simple Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Transfer Model) model was also used to help quantify the seasonal and diurnal variations in energy and water vapour exchanges over grasslands. The ET estimates were obtained with WB and EB methods during the wet and dry season in a grassland in NE Brazil, using a rain gauge, a pyranometer, a net radiometer and sensors for measuring air temperature and relative humidity at two levels, as well as automated sensors for measuring soil water content at depths of 0.10, 0.20, 0.30 and 0.40 m. During the dry period, the low stored soil water limited the grass production and LAI, and as a consequence most of the net radiation (62%) was consumed in sensible heat flux (H) compared to during the wet period (52%). In both seasons, the water flow in the lower limit of soil (z = 0.30 m) occurred only in the downward direction, losing 23.68 mm by drainage in wet period and only 0.19 mm in dry period. The best results for evapotranspiration were obtained with the EB method and the SiSPAT model. These results were then used to estimate the hydrologic partitioning in future climatic conditions where seasonal and interannual rainfall variability is predicted to increase.

Modelling 1-minute directional observations of the global irradiance.

Science.gov (United States)

Thejll, Peter; Pagh Nielsen, Kristian; Andersen, Elsa; Furbo, Simon

2016-04-01

Direct and diffuse irradiances from the sky has been collected at 1-minute intervals for about a year from the experimental station at the Technical University of Denmark for the IEA project "Solar Resource Assessment and Forecasting". These data were gathered by pyrheliometers tracking the Sun, as well as with apertured pyranometers gathering 1/8th and 1/16th of the light from the sky in 45 degree azimuthal ranges pointed around the compass. The data are gathered in order to develop detailed models of the potentially available solar energy and its variations at high temporal resolution in order to gain a more detailed understanding of the solar resource. This is important for a better understanding of the sub-grid scale cloud variation that cannot be resolved with climate and weather models. It is also important for optimizing the operation of active solar energy systems such as photovoltaic plants and thermal solar collector arrays, and for passive solar energy and lighting to buildings. We present regression-based modelling of the observed data, and focus, here, on the statistical properties of the model fits. Using models based on the one hand on what is found in the literature and on physical expectations, and on the other hand on purely statistical models, we find solutions that can explain up to 90% of the variance in global radiation. The models leaning on physical insights include terms for the direct solar radiation, a term for the circum-solar radiation, a diffuse term and a term for the horizon brightening/darkening. The purely statistical model is found using data- and formula-validation approaches picking model expressions from a general catalogue of possible formulae. The method allows nesting of expressions, and the results found are dependent on and heavily constrained by the cross-validation carried out on statistically independent testing and training data-sets. Slightly better fits -- in terms of variance explained -- is found using the purely

Reflectance and Polarization Characteristics of Various Vegetation Types: an Advanced Experimental Approach using the FIGIFIGO Goniospectrometer

Science.gov (United States)

Gritsevich, M.; Peltoniemi, J.; Zubko, N.; Pisek, J.

2016-12-01

To reduce data acquired by Earth Observation projects and for collecting more accurate knowledge on the Earth, universe, and environment one needs to provide a set of reliable references carefully gathered by measuring various known, well characterized targets. We present an overview of the Finnish Geodetic Institute's field goniospectrometer, FIGIFIGO, and highlight its capabilities for spectropolarimetric measurements of various samples, both under actual field conditions and in the laboratory. The design concept of this custom made instrument has proven to have a number of advantages, such as a well designed, user friendly interface, a high level of automation, and an excellent adaptability to a wide range of weather conditions during field measurements. The instrument communicates via a control computer which has a simple user-friendly interface. It is battery powered and very portable, making it feasible to transport it by plane, car, boat, or sledge. The system includes a sky camera to detect the orientation of the goniometer and a pyranometer to monitor the synchronous illumination conditions. The instrument's mirror can be finely adjusted to apply small spatial corrections to the optical chain. The foreoptics is connected to an ASD FieldSpec Pro FR 350-2500 nm spectroradiometer by an optical fiber. A calcite Glan-Thompson prism is used as a polarizer, covering the full spectral range with better than 1% accuracy.FIGIFIGO has been used to measure the reflectance properties of hundreds of different targets, including various vegetation types. In particular, it has been shown that directional and polarization signals vary largely between different species, and provide information about the leaf surface and orientation. The measurement data are stored in the FGI's Reflectance Library and new specific measurements are made upon request. The potential use of the results from these measurements are diverse; including their use as ground truth references for Earth

Long-term variations of the UV-B radiation over Central Europe as derived from the reconstructed UV time series

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. W. Krzyscin

2004-04-01

Full Text Available The daily doses of the erythemally weighted UV radiation are reconstructed for three sites in Central Europe: Belsk-Poland (1966–2001, Hradec Kralove-Czech Republic (1964–2001, and Tõravere-Estonia (1967–2001 to discuss the UV climatology and the long-term changes of the UV-B radiation since the mid 1960s. Various reconstruction models are examined: a purely statistical model based on the Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS methodology, and a hybrid model combining radiative transfer model calculations with empirical estimates of the cloud effects on the UV radiation. Modeled long-term variations of the surface UV doses appear to be in a reasonable agreement with the observed ones. A simple quality control procedure is proposed to check the homogeneity of the biometer and pyranometer data. The models are verified using the results of UV observations carried out at Belsk since 1976. MARS provides the best estimates of the UV doses, giving a mean difference between the modeled and observed monthly means equal to 0.6±2.5%. The basic findings are: similar climatological forcing by clouds for all considered stations (~30% reduction in the surface UV, long-term variations in UV monthly doses having the same temporal pattern for all stations with extreme low monthly values (~5% below overall mean level at the end of the 1970s and extreme high monthly values (~5% above overall mean level in the mid 1990s, regional peculiarities in the cloud long-term forcing sometimes leading to extended periods with elevated UV doses, recent stabilization of the ozone induced UV long-term changes being a response to a trendless tendency of total ozone since the mid 1990s. In the case of the slowdown of the total ozone trend over Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes it seems that clouds will appear as the most important modulator of the UV radiation both in long- and short-time scales over next decades. Key words. Atmospheric composition and structure

Spatiotemporal variability and modeling of the solar irradiance transmissivity through a boreal forest

Science.gov (United States)

Nadeau, D.; Isabelle, P. E.; Asselin, M. H.; Parent, A. C.; Jutras, S.; Anctil, F.

2017-12-01

Solar irradiance is the largest driver of land-surface exchanges of energy, water and trace gases. Its absorption by a forest canopy generates considerable sensible and latent heat fluxes as well as tree temperature changes. A fraction of the irradiance gets transmitted through the canopy and powers another layer of energy fluxes, which can reach substantial values. Transmitted radiation is also of particular relevance to understory vegetation photosynthesis, snowpack energetics and soil temperature dynamics. Boreal forest canopy transmissivity needs to be quantified to properly reproduce land-atmosphere interactions in the circumpolar boreal biome, but its high spatiotemporal variability makes it a challenging task. The objective of this study is to characterize the spatiotemporal variability in under-canopy radiation and to evaluate the performance of various models in representing plot-scale observations. The study site is located in Montmorency Forest (47°N, 71°W), in southern Quebec, Canada. The vegetation includes mostly juvenile balsam firs, up to 6 to 8 m tall. Since January 2016, a 15-m flux tower measures the four components of radiation, as well as other relevant fluxes and meteorological variables, on a ≈10° northeast-facing slope. In summer 2016, 20 portable weather stations were mounted in a 150 m x 200 m grid around the flux tower. These stations were equipped with silicon-cell pyranometers and provided measurements of downwelling irradiance at a height of 2 m. This setup allowed us to compute irradiance transmissivity and to assess its spatiotemporal variability at the site. First, we show that the average of daily incoming energy varies tremendously across the sites, from 1 MJ/m2 to nearly 9 MJ/m2, due to large variations in canopy structure over short distances. Using a regression tree analysis, we show that transmissivity mostly depends on sun elevation, diffuse fraction of radiation, sky and sun view fraction and wind speed above canopy. We

Implementation of a subcanopy solar radiation model on a forested headwater basin in the Southern Appalachians to estimate riparian canopy density and stream insolation for stream temperature models

Science.gov (United States)

Belica, L.; Petras, V.; Iiames, J. S., Jr.; Caldwell, P.; Mitasova, H.; Nelson, S. A. C.

2016-12-01

Water temperature is a key aspect of water quality and understanding how the thermal regimes of forested headwater streams may change in response to climatic and land cover changes is increasingly important to scientists and resource managers. In recent years, the forested mountain watersheds of the Southeastern U.S. have experienced changing climatic patterns as well as the loss of a keystone riparian tree species and anticipated hydrologic responses include lower summer stream flows and decreased stream shading. Solar radiation is the main source of thermal energy to streams and a key parameter in heat-budget models of stream temperature; a decrease in flow volume combined with a reduction in stream shading during summer have the potential to increase stream temperatures. The high spatial variability of forest canopies and the high spatio-temporal variability in sky conditions make estimating the solar radiation reaching small forested headwater streams difficult. The Subcanopy Solar Radiation Model (SSR) (Bode et al. 2014) is a GIS model that generates high resolution, spatially explicit estimates of solar radiation by incorporating topographic and vegetative shading with a light penetration index derived from leaf-on airborne LIDAR data. To evaluate the potential of the SSR model to provide estimates of stream insolation to parameterize heat-budget models, it was applied to the Coweeta Basin in the Southern Appalachians using airborne LIDAR (NCALM 2009, 1m resolution). The LIDAR derived canopy characteristics were compared to current hyperspectral images of the canopy for changes and the SSR estimates of solar radiation were compared with pyranometer measurements of solar radiation at several subcanopy sites during the summer of 2016. Preliminary results indicate the SSR model was effective in identifying variations in canopy density and light penetration, especially in areas associated with road and stream corridors and tree mortality. Current LIDAR data and

Long-term variations of the UV-B radiation over Central Europe as derived from the reconstructed UV time series

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. W. Krzyscin

2004-04-01

Full Text Available The daily doses of the erythemally weighted UV radiation are reconstructed for three sites in Central Europe: Belsk-Poland (1966–2001, Hradec Kralove-Czech Republic (1964–2001, and Tõravere-Estonia (1967–2001 to discuss the UV climatology and the long-term changes of the UV-B radiation since the mid 1960s. Various reconstruction models are examined: a purely statistical model based on the Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines (MARS methodology, and a hybrid model combining radiative transfer model calculations with empirical estimates of the cloud effects on the UV radiation. Modeled long-term variations of the surface UV doses appear to be in a reasonable agreement with the observed ones. A simple quality control procedure is proposed to check the homogeneity of the biometer and pyranometer data. The models are verified using the results of UV observations carried out at Belsk since 1976. MARS provides the best estimates of the UV doses, giving a mean difference between the modeled and observed monthly means equal to 0.6±2.5%. The basic findings are: similar climatological forcing by clouds for all considered stations (~30% reduction in the surface UV, long-term variations in UV monthly doses having the same temporal pattern for all stations with extreme low monthly values (~5% below overall mean level at the end of the 1970s and extreme high monthly values (~5% above overall mean level in the mid 1990s, regional peculiarities in the cloud long-term forcing sometimes leading to extended periods with elevated UV doses, recent stabilization of the ozone induced UV long-term changes being a response to a trendless tendency of total ozone since the mid 1990s. In the case of the slowdown of the total ozone trend over Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes it seems that clouds will appear as the most important modulator of the UV radiation both in long- and short-time scales over next decades.

Key words. Atmospheric composition and

Serum 25(OH)D seasonality in urologic patients from central Italy.

Science.gov (United States)

Calgani, Alessia; Iarlori, Marco; Rizi, Vincenzo; Pace, Gianna; Bologna, Mauro; Vicentini, Carlo; Angelucci, Adriano

2016-09-01

Hypovitaminosis D is increasingly recognized as a cofactor in several diseases. In addition to bone homeostasis, vitamin D status influences immune system, muscle activity and cell differentiation in different tissues. Vitamin D is produced in the skin upon exposure to UVB rays, and sufficient levels of serum 25(OH)D are dependent mostly on adequate sun exposure, and then on specific physiologic variables, including skin type, age and Body Mass Index (BMI). In contrast with common belief, epidemiologic data are demonstrating that hypovitaminosis D must be a clinical concern not only in northern Countries. In our study, we investigated vitamin D status in a male population enrolled in a urology clinic of central Italy. In addition, we evaluated the correlation between vitamin D status and UVB irradiance measured in our region. The two principal pathologies in the 95 enrolled patients (mean age 66years) were benign prostate hypertrophy and prostate carcinoma. >50% of patients had serum 25(OH)D values in the deficient range (pyranometer in our region (Abruzzo, central Italy) revealed a large difference during the year, with winter months characterized by an UV irradiance about tenfold lower than summer months. Then we applied a mathematical model in order to evaluate the expected vitamin D production according to the standard erythemal dose measured in the different seasons. In winter months, the low available UVB radiation and the small exposed skin area resulted not sufficient to obtain the recommended serum doses of vitamin D. Although in summer months UVB irradiance was largely in excess to produce vitamin D in the skin, serum vitamin D resulted sufficient in September only in those patients who declared an outdoor time of at least 3h per day in the previous summer. In conclusion, hypovitaminosis D is largely represented in elderly persons in our region. Seasonal fluctuation in serum 25(OH)D was explained by a reduced availability of UVB in winter and by

Investigation of the spatio-temporal variability of atmospheric boundary layer depths over mountainous terrain observed with a suite of ground-based and airborne instruments during the MATERHORN field experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Pal, S.; De Wekker, S.; Emmitt, G. D.

2013-12-01

We present first results of the spatio-temporal variability of atmospheric boundary layer depths obtained with a suite of ground-based and airborne instruments deployed during the first field phase of The Mountain Terrain Atmospheric Modeling and Observations (MATERHORN) Program (http://www3.nd.edu/~dynamics/materhorn/index.php) at Dugway Proving Ground (DPG, Utah, USA) in Fall 2012. We mainly use high-resolution data collected on selected intensive observation periods obtained by Doppler lidars, ceilometer, and in-situ measurements from an unmanned aerial vehicle for the measurements of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) depths. In particular, a Navy Twin Otter aircraft flew 6 missions of about 5 hours each during the daytime, collecting remotely sensed (Doppler lidar, TODWL) wind data in addition to in-situ turbulence measurements which allowed a detailed investigation of the spatial heterogeneity of the convective boundary layer turbulence features over a steep isolated mountain of a horizontal and vertical scale of about 10 km and 1 km, respectively. Additionally, we use data collected by (1) radiosonde systems at two sites of Granite Mountain area in DPG (Playa and Sagebrush), (2) sonic anemometers (CSAT-3D) for high resolution turbulence flux measurements near ground, (3) Pyranometer for incoming solar radiation, and (4) standard meteorological measurements (PTU) obtained near the surface. In this contribution, we discuss and address (1) composites obtained with lidar, ceilometer, micro-meteorological measurements, and radiosonde observations to determine the quasi-continuous regime of ABL depths, growth rates, maximum convective boundary layer (CBL) depths, etc., (2) the temporal variability in the ABL depths during entire diurnal cycle and the spatial heterogeneity in the daytime ABL depths triggered by the underlying orography in the experimental area to investigate the most possible mechanisms (e.g. combined effect of diurnal cycle and orographic trigger

Relationship between the NO2 photolysis frequency and the solar global irradiance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Fan

2009-11-01

Full Text Available Representative values of the atmospheric NO2 photolysis frequency j(NO2 are required for the adequate calculation and interpretation of NO and NO2 concentrations and exchange fluxes near the surface. Direct measurements of j(NO2 at ground level are often not available in field studies. In most cases, modeling approaches involving complex radiative transfer calculations are used to estimate j(NO2 and other photolysis frequencies for air chemistry studies. However, important input parameters for accurate modeling are often missing, most importantly with regard to the radiative effects of clouds. On the other hand, solar global irradiance ("global radiation", G is nowadays measured as a standard parameter in most field experiments and in many meteorological observation networks around the world. Previous studies mainly reported linear relationships between j(NO2 and G. We have measured j(NO2 using spectro- or filter radiometers and G using pyranometers side-by-side at several field sites. Our results cover a solar zenith angle range of 0–90°, and are based on nine field campaigns in temperate, subtropical and tropical environments during the period 1994–2008. We show that a second-order polynomial function (intercept = 0: j(NO2=(1+α× (B1×G+B2×G2, with α defined as the site-dependent UV-A surface albedo and the polynomial coefficients: B1=(1.47± 0.03×10-5 W−1 m2 s−1 and B2=(-4.84±0.31×10-9 W−2 m4 s−1 can be used to estimate ground-level j(NO2 directly from G, independent of solar zenith angle under all atmospheric conditions. The absolute j(NO2 residual of the empirical function is ±6×10-4 s−1(2σ. The relationship is valid for sites below 800 m a.s.l. and with low surface albedo (α<0.2. It is not valid in high mountains, above snow or ice and sandy or dry soil surfaces.

How do environmental and behavioral factors impact ultraviolet radiation effects on health: the RISC-UV Project

Science.gov (United States)

Correa, M. P.; Godin-Beekmann, S.; Haeffelin, M.; Saiag, P.; Mahe, E.; Brogniez, C.; Dupont, J. C.; Pazmiño, A.; Auriol, F.; Bonnel, B.

2009-04-01

UV radiation data obtained at various spatial scales (satellite, ground-based and spot measurements) by a variety of measuring systems. Moreover a set of atmospheric parameters (total ozone column, the vertical profile and optical thickness of aerosols, cloud cover and solar albedo) related to UV radiation is also collected. Material: The instrumental set consisted of several instruments for: 1) UV radiation measurements (a spectroradiometer, UV-A, UV-B, Erythemal UV and broadband solar pyranometers); 2) cloud, ozone and aerosol observations (photometer, Lidar and radiometers); and 3) personal monitors for UV index measurements, as handhelds, watches and mini-station. Results: Measurements performed in cloudy and sunny days around noon local time (± 1h) showed mean values of 3.3 ± 1.0 UVI, and the maximum UVI was 5.5 at noon on a clear sky day (September 14). The influence of cirrus clouds and aerosols radiation attenuation is currently studied on several case studies. From the mean UVI values, we estimated the time of necessary exposure for the induction of erythema of the skin and for the synthesis 1000 UI of vitamin D per day (1000 UI). (McKenzie et al., 2008). Preliminary results show that around solar noon (between 9 and 12 UTC that is 11 and 14 local time), on the one hand, about 45 min of exposure is required to cause skin redness and consequently lead to harmful effects on the human health. On the other hand, this exposure can be insufficient to lead to beneficial effects if we consider only the generally exposed parts of the body, as the hands and the face. It is only in the extreme conditions - exposure of the whole body - that the synthesis of the vitamin D can be done in 10 to 20 minutes. Otherwise an exposure during several hours is necessary. These results are particularly interesting with respect to possible problems of lack of vitamin D in the French population, mainly rickets (children) and osteosporosis (old persons), as well as other diseases

Thermal performance of climber greenwalls: Effects of solar irradiance and orientation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jim, C.Y.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Field experiment tested solar irradiance effect on greenwall thermal performance. • Climber greenwalls were planted on four orientations of circular concrete tank. • High solar-energy input had high bare-surface temperature but maximum cooling. • Threshold solar intensity of 300 Wm −2 was needed for effective greenwall cooling. • Transpiration cooled anterior air better than shading and thermal insulation. - Abstract: Thermal performance of greenwalls, a critical and common concern, is regulated by solar irradiance vis-à-vis orientation and shading. A field experiment was conducted in humid-tropical Hong Kong to address the research question under typical summer-weather scenarios: sunny, cloudy and rainy. On a large circular concrete tank, climber-greenwall experimental plots were established with duplication in four cardinal compass directions. Air and infrared-radiometer surface temperature sensors monitored at different greenwall positions: ambient-air (control), bare-concrete-surface (control), vegetation-surface, behind-mesh-airgap, and behind-mesh-concrete surface. Pyranometers were installed vertically at four orientations and horizontally at tank-top (control) to monitor solar-energy input. Habitat verticality induces notable variations in solar-energy capture at four orientations by daily total, peak level, intensity, duration and timing. On sunny day, solar fraction reaching east side was only 37.1% of tank-top. Early morning sunshine striking east side nearly perpendicularly brings maximum intensity. South side facing the sun but at tangential incident angle has only 23.3% reception. Strong irradiance drives high control-surface temperature, but also induces notable vegetation-surface and adjacent ambient-air cooling by transpiration. A threshold solar intensity of about 300 Wm −2 is necessary to impart notable cooling-effect. Summer-sunny day and rainy-day sunshine-burst episodes could satisfy this condition; cloudy day and

Irradiação global, direta e difusa, para a região de Cascavel, Estado do Paraná = Global, direct and diffuse irradiation in the region of Cascavel, Paraná State

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patricia Aparecida de Oliveira Drechmer

2006-01-01

Full Text Available O presente trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre os níveis das irradiações global, direta e difusa incidentes na superfície terrestre, a irradiação incidente no topo da atmosfera e a insolação relativa mensal, para a cidade de Cascavel-PR. As componentes da radiação solar foram monitoradas entre janeiro de 2001 e fevereiro de 2003 na Estação Experimental Agrometeorológica da Unioeste, Cascavel, Estado do Paraná. Na medição da radiação global foi utilizado um piranômetro KIPP & ZONEN-CM3 e para medir a componente direta foiutilizado um pireliômetro EPPLEY-NIP acoplado a um rastreador solar. A radiação difusa foi calculada pela diferença entre as radiações global e direta. Os níveis médios mensais das irradiações global, direta e difusa, foram respectivamente, 51,8%, 31,7% e 20,17% dairradiação incidente no topo da atmosfera. O índice de insolação relativa apresentou valor máximo em agosto (61,43% e mínimo em fevereiro (34,35%, períodos caracterizados respectivamente por dias de céu limpo e nublados no hemisfério sul.This paper reports a study about the diffuse, direct and global radiation levels on surface of earth, the irradiation over the top of atmosphere and the monthly relative sunstroke in the city of Cascavel, State of Paraná, southern Brazil. The solar radiation components were monitored from January, 2001 to February, 2003 at Estação Experimental Agrometeorológica of Unioeste, Cascavel, Parana State. Global radiation was monitored by a pyranometer KIPP & ZONEN-CM3 and direct radiation was monitored by a pyrheliometer EPPLEY-NIP coupled to a solar tracer. The diffuse radiation wasmonitored through the difference between global and direct radiation. Monthly average levels of global, direct and diffuse irradiations were 51.8%, 31.7% and 20.17% of the irradiation in the top of atmosphere. The relative isolation index showed the maximum value in August (61.43% and the minimum in February (34.35%. These

The 2015 Indonesian biomass-burning season with extensive peat fires: Remote sensing measurements of biomass burning aerosol optical properties from AERONET and MODIS satellite data

Science.gov (United States)

Eck, T. F.; Holben, B. N.; Giles, D. M.; Smirnov, A.; Slutsker, I.; Sinyuk, A.; Schafer, J.; Sorokin, M. G.; Reid, J. S.; Sayer, A. M.; Hsu, N. Y. C.; Levy, R. C.; Lyapustin, A.; Wang, Y.; Rahman, M. A.; Liew, S. C.; Salinas Cortijo, S. V.; Li, T.; Kalbermatter, D.; Keong, K. L.; Elifant, M.; Aditya, F.; Mohamad, M.; Mahmud, M.; Chong, T. K.; Lim, H. S.; Choon, Y. E.; Deranadyan, G.; Kusumaningtyas, S. D. A.

2016-12-01

was very high ranging from 0.96 to 0.98 (spectrally flat), indicative of dominant smoldering phase combustion which produces very little black carbon. Additionally, we have analyzed measured (pyranometer) and modeled total solar flux at ground level for these extremely high aerosol loadings that resulted in significant attenuation of downwelling solar energy.

A Climatology of Midlatitude Continental Clouds from the ARM SGP Central Facility. Part II; Cloud Fraction and Radiative Forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xiquan; Xi, Baike; Minnis, Patrick

2006-01-01

Data collected at the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) central facility are analyzed for determining the variability of cloud fraction and radiative forcing at several temporal scales between January 1997 and December 2002. Cloud fractions are estimated for total cloud cover and for single-layer low (0-3 km), middle (3-6 km), and high clouds (greater than 6 km) using ARM SGP ground-based paired lidar-radar measurements. Shortwave (SW), longwave (LW), and net cloud radiative forcings (CRF) are derived from up- and down-looking standard precision spectral pyranometers and precision infrared radiometer measurements. The annual averages of total, and single-layer, nonoverlapped low, middle and high cloud fractions are 0.49, 0.11, 0.03, and 0.17, respectively. Total and low cloud amounts were greatest from December through March and least during July and August. The monthly variation of high cloud amount is relatively small with a broad maximum from May to August. During winter, total cloud cover varies diurnally with a small amplitude, mid-morning maximum and early evening minimum, and during summer it changes by more than 0.14 over the daily cycle with a pronounced early evening minimum. The diurnal variations of mean single-layer cloud cover change with season and cloud height. Annual averages of all-sky, total, and single-layer high, middle, and low LW CRFs are 21.4, 40.2, 16.7, 27.2, and 55.0 Wm(sup -2), respectively; and their SW CRFs are -41.5, -77.2, -37.0, -47.0, and -90.5 Wm(sup -2). Their net CRFs range from -20 to -37 Wm(sup -2). For all-sky, total, and low clouds, the maximum negative net CRFs of -40.1, -70, and -69.5 Wm(sup -2), occur during April; while the respective minimum values of -3.9, -5.7, and -4.6 Wm(sup -2), are found during December. July is the month having maximum negative net CRF of -46.2 Wm(sup -2) for middle clouds, and May has the maximum value of -45.9 Wm(sup -2) for high clouds. An

Radiative budget and cloud radiative effect over the Atlantic from ship-based observations

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J. Kalisch

2012-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to determine cloud-type resolved cloud radiative budgets and cloud radiative effects from surface measurements of broadband radiative fluxes over the Atlantic Ocean. Furthermore, based on simultaneous observations of the state of the cloudy atmosphere, a radiative closure study has been performed by means of the ECHAM5 single column model in order to identify the model's ability to realistically reproduce the effects of clouds on the climate system.

An extensive database of radiative and atmospheric measurements has been established along five meridional cruises of the German research icebreaker Polarstern. Besides pyranometer and pyrgeometer for downward broadband solar and thermal radiative fluxes, a sky imager and a microwave radiometer have been utilized to determine cloud fraction and cloud type on the one hand and temperature and humidity profiles as well as liquid water path for warm non-precipitating clouds on the other hand.

Averaged over all cruise tracks, we obtain a total net (solar + thermal radiative flux of 144 W m⁻² that is dominated by the solar component. In general, the solar contribution is large for cirrus clouds and small for stratus clouds. No significant meridional dependencies were found for the surface radiation budgets and cloud effects. The strongest surface longwave cloud effects were shown in the presence of low level clouds. Clouds with a high optical density induce strong negative solar radiative effects under high solar altitudes. The mean surface net cloud radiative effect is −33 W m⁻².

For the purpose of quickly estimating the mean surface longwave, shortwave and net cloud effects in moderate, subtropical and tropical climate regimes, a new parameterisation was created, considering the total cloud amount and the solar zenith angle.

The ECHAM5 single column model provides a surface net cloud effect that is more

Experiences of a grid connected solar array energy production

Science.gov (United States)

Hagymássy, Zoltán; Vántus, András

2015-04-01

Solar energy possibilities of Hungary are higher than in Central Europe generally. The Institute for Land Utilisation, Technology and Regional Development of the University of Debrecen installed a photovoltaic (PV) system. The PV system is structured into 3 subsystems (fields). The first subsystem has 24 pieces of Kyocera KC 120 W type modules, the second subsystem has 72 pieces of Siemens ST 40W, and the remaining has 72 pieces of Dunasolar DS 40W In order to be operable independently of each other three inverter modules (SB 2500) had been installed. The recorder can be connected directly to a desktop PC. Operating and meteorological dates are recorded by MS Excel every 15 minutes. The power plant is connected to a weather station, which contents a PT 100 type temperature and humidity combined measuring instrument, a CM 11 pyranometer, and a wind speed measuring instrument. The produced DC, and AC power, together with the produced energy are as well, and the efficiency can be determined for each used PV technology. The measured operating and meteorological dates are collected by Sunny Boy Control, produced by the SMA. The energy productions of the subsystems are measured continually and the subsystems are measured separately. As an expected, the produced energy of polycrystalline -Si PV module and monocrystalline -Si PV was higher than amorphous-Si PV module. It is well known that energy analysis is more suitable for energy balance when we design a system. The air temperature and the temperature of the panels and the global irradiation conditions were measured. In summertime the panel temperature reaches 60-80 degrees in a sunny day. The panel temperatures are in a spring sunny day approximately 30-40 degrees. It can be concluded that the global irradiation is a major impact feature to influence the amount of energy produced. The efficiency depends on several parameters (spectral distribution of the incoming light, temperature values, etc.). The energy efficiency

Study of an experimental methodology for thermal properties diagnostic of building envelop

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Yingying; Sempy, Alain; Vogt Wu, Tingting; Sommier, Alain; Dumoulin, Jean; Batsale, Jean Christophe

2017-04-01

The building envelope plays a critical role in determining levels of comfort and building efficiency. Its real thermal properties characterization is of major interest to be able to diagnose energy efficiency performance of buildings (new construction and retrofitted existing old building). Research and development on a possible methodology for energy diagnostic of the building envelop is a hot topic and necessary trend. Many kinds of sensors and instruments are used for the studies. The application of infrared (IR) thermography in non-destructive evaluation has been widely employed for qualitative evaluations for building diagnostics; meanwhile, the IR thermography technology also has a large potentiality for the evaluation of the thermal characteristics of the building envelope. Some promising recent research studies have been carried out with such contactless measurement technique. Nevertheless, research efforts are still required for in situ measurements under natural environmental conditions. In order to develop new solutions for non-intrusive evaluation of local thermal performance, enabling quantitative assessment of thermal properties of buildings and materials, experiments were carried out on a multi-layer pratical scale wall fixed on a caisson placed in a climatic chamber. Six halogen lamps (1.5 kW for each lamp) placed in front of objective wall were used to emulate sunny conditions. The radiative heat flux emitted was monitored and modulated with time according to typical weather data set encountered in France. Both steady state and transient regime heat transfer were studied during these experiments. Contact sensors (thermocouples, heat flux meters, Peltier sensors) and non-contact sensors (thermal IR camera, pyranometer) were used to measure the temperatures and heat flux density evolution. It has to be noticed that the Peltier sensors have been tuned and used with a specific processing to set them compliant for heat flux density measurements. The

Modeling the relationship between photosynthetically active radiation and global horizontal irradiance using singular spectrum analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zempila, Melina-Maria; Taylor, Michael; Bais, Alkiviadis; Kazadzis, Stelios

2016-01-01

We report on the construction of generic models to calculate photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) from global horizontal irradiance (GHI), and vice versa. Our study took place at stations of the Greek UV network (UVNET) and the Hellenic solar energy network (HNSE) with measurements from NILU-UV multi-filter radiometers and CM pyranometers, chosen due to their long (≈1 M record/site) high temporal resolution (≈1 min) record that captures a broad range of atmospheric environments and cloudiness conditions. The uncertainty of the PAR measurements is quantified to be ±6.5% while the uncertainty involved in GHI measurements is up to ≈±7% according to the manufacturer. We show how multi-linear regression and nonlinear neural network (NN) models, trained at a calibration site (Thessaloniki) can be made generic provided that the input–output time series are processed with multi-channel singular spectrum analysis (M-SSA). Without M-SSA, both linear and nonlinear models perform well only locally. M-SSA with 50 time-lags is found to be sufficient for identification of trend, periodic and noise components in aerosol, cloud parameters and irradiance, and to construct regularized noise models of PAR from GHI irradiances. Reconstructed PAR and GHI time series capture ≈95% of the variance of the cross-validated target measurements and have median absolute percentage errors <2%. The intra-site median absolute error of M-SSA processed models were ≈8.2±1.7 W/m"2 for PAR and ≈9.2±4.2 W/m"2 for GHI. When applying the models trained at Thessaloniki to other stations, the average absolute mean bias between the model estimates and measured values was found to be ≈1.2 W/m"2 for PAR and ≈0.8 W/m"2 for GHI. For the models, percentage errors are well within the uncertainty of the measurements at all sites. Generic NN models were found to perform marginally better than their linear counterparts. - Highlights: • Generic linear regression and nonlinear neural network

Foehn-induced effects on dust pollution, frontal clouds and solar radiation in the Dead Sea valley

Science.gov (United States)

Kishcha, Pavel; Starobinets, Boris; Alpert, Pinhas; Kaplan, Michael

2017-04-01

The significant drying up of the Dead Sea over the past 40 years has led to an increase in an exposed area contributing to local dust pollution. Measurements show that, sometimes, in the Dead Sea valley, dust pollution can reach extreme concentrations up to several thousands of micrograms per cubic meters. Our analysis of a meteorological situation shows that a foehn phenomenon can be a causal factor for the aforementioned extreme local dust concentration. This foehn phenomenon creates strong warm and dry winds, which are accompanied by air turbulence and temperature inversion. In our study, foehn-induced effects on dust pollution, frontal clouds and solar radiation were analyzed over the Judean Mountains ( 1000 m) and over the Dead Sea valley (-420 m), using high-resolution numerical simulations and in-situ observations at meteorological stations located across the mountain ridge. An extreme dust episode occurring on March 22, 2013, was analyzed, which was characterized by measured surface dust concentrations of up to 7000 µg m-3 in the Dead Sea valley. We simulated this foehn phenomenon with the 3-km resolution COSMO-ART model. Our analysis has shown that the foehn phenomenon could be observed even over the relatively low Judean Mountains. This analysis was based on various meteorological, pyranometer, radar, and aerosol measurements together with high-resolution model data. In the Dead Sea valley, the maximum aerosol optical depth (AOD) did not coincide with the maximum surface dust concentration. This lack of coincidence indicates difficulties in using satellite-based AOD for initializing dust concentration within numerical forecast systems over this region with complex terrain. In the western Dead Sea valley, strong foehn winds of over 20 m/s were accompanied by maximal air turbulence leading to maximal local dust emissions. Thus, the model showed that, by creating significant turbulence, the foehn phenomenon intensified the saltation (bombardment) mechanism

A Climatology of Midlatitude Continental Clouds from the ARM SGP Site. Part I; Low-Level Cloud Macrophysical, Microphysical, and Radiative Properties

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Xiquan; Minnis, Patrick; Xi, Baike

2005-01-01

A record of single-layer and overcast low cloud (stratus) properties has been generated using approximately 4000 hours of data collected from January 1997 to December 2002 at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains Central Facility (SCF). The cloud properties include liquid-phase and liquid-dominant, mixed-phase, low cloud macrophysical, microphysical, and radiative properties including cloud-base and -top heights and temperatures, and cloud physical thickness derived from a ground-based radar and lidar pair, and rawinsonde sounding; cloud liquid water path (LWP) and content (LWC), and cloud-droplet effective radius (r(sub e)) and number concentration (N) derived from the macrophysical properties and radiometer data; and cloud optical depth (tau), effective solar transmission (gamma), and cloud/top-of-atmosphere albedos (R(sub cldy)/R(sub TOA)) derived from Eppley precision spectral pyranometer measurements. The cloud properties were analyzed in terms of their seasonal, monthly, and hourly variations. In general, more stratus clouds occur during winter and spring than in summer. Cloud-layer altitudes and physical thicknesses were higher and greater in summer than in winter with averaged physical thicknesses of 0.85 km and 0.73 km for day and night, respectively. The seasonal variations of LWP, LWC, N. tau, R(sub cldy), and R(sub TOA) basically follow the same pattern with maxima and minima during winter and summer, respectively. There is no significant variation in mean r(sub e), however, despite a summertime peak in aerosol loading, Although a considerable degree of variability exists, the 6-yr average values of LWP, LWC, r(sub e), N, tau, gamma, R(sub cldy) and R(sub TOA) are 150 gm(exp -2) (138), 0.245 gm(exp -3) (0.268), 8.7 micrometers (8.5), 213 cm(exp -3) (238), 26.8 (24.8), 0.331, 0.672, 0.563 for daytime (nighttime). A new conceptual model of midlatitude continental low clouds at the ARM SGP site has been developed from this study

Quality assurance and quality control methodologies used within the austrian UV monitoring network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mario, B.

2004-01-01

The Austrian UVB monitoring network is operational since 1997. Nine detectors for measuring erythemally weighted solar UV irradiance are distributed over Austria in order to cover the main populated areas as well as different levels of altitude. The detectors are calibrated to indicate the UV-Index, the internationally agreed unit for erythemally weighted solar UV irradiance. Calibration is carried out in the laboratory for determination of spectral sensitivity of each detector, and under the sun for absolute comparison with a well-calibrated, double-monochromator spectro-radiometer. For the conversion from detector-weighted units to erythemally weighted units a lookup table is used, which is calculated using a radiative transfer model and which reflects the dependence of the conversion on the solar zenith angle and total ozone content of the atmosphere. The uncertainty of the calibration is about ±7%, dominated by the uncertainty of the calibration lamp for the spectro-radiometer (±4%). The long-term stability of this type of detectors has been found to be not satisfactory. Therefore, routinely every year all detectors are completely re-calibrated. Variations of the calibration factors up to ±10% are found. Thus, during routine operation, several measures take place for quality control. The measured data are compared to results of model calculations with a radiative transfer model, where clear sky and an aerosol-free atmosphere are assumed. At each site, the UV data are also compared with data from a co-located pyrano-meter measuring total solar irradiance. These two radiation quantities are well correlated, especially on clear days and when the ozone content is taken into account. If suspicious measurements are found for one detector in the network, a well-calibrated travelling reference detector of the same type is set up side-by-side, allowing the identification of relative differences of ∼3%. If necessary, a recalibration is carried out. As the main aim

Effects of airborne black carbon pollution on maize

Science.gov (United States)

Illes, Bernadett; Anda, Angela; Soos, Gabor

2013-04-01

The black carbon (BC) changes the radiation balance of the Earth and contributes to global warming. The airborne BC deposited on the surface of plant, changing the radiation balance, water balance and the total dry matter (TDM) content of plant. The objective of our study was to investigate the impact of soot originated from motor vehicle exhaust on maize. The field experiment was carried out in Keszthely Agrometeorological Research Station (Hungary) in three consecutive years (2010, 2011, 2012) of growing season. The test plant was the maize hybrid Sperlona (FAO 340) with short growing season. The BC was chemically "pure", which means that it is free any contaminants (e.g. heavy metals). The BC was coming from the Hankook Tyre Company (Dunaújváros, Hungary), where used that for improve the wear resistance of tires. We used a motorised sprayer of SP 415 type to spray the BC onto the leaf surface. The leaf area index (LAI) was measured each week on the same 12 sample maize in each treatment using an LI 3000A automatic planimeter (LI-COR, Lincoln, NE). Albedo was measured by pyranometers of the CMA-11 type (Kipp & Zonen, Vaisala), what we placed the middle of the plot of 0.3 ha. The effects of BC were studied under two different water supplies: evapotranspirometers of Thornthwaite type were used for "ad libitum" treatment and rainfed treatment in field plots. In 2010 and 2012, a big difference was not observed in the case of LAI in the effects of BC. However, in 2011 there was a significant difference. The LAI of the BC polluted maize was higher (10-15%, P<0.05), than the LAI of the control maize in the rainfed plot and in the ET chambers, respectively. The albedo of the BC contaminated maize decreased (15-30%, P<0.05) in all three years. We also detected that the green plant surface of maize increased on BC contaminated treatment. These results may suggest that the plant is able to absorb the additional carbon source through the leaves. The albedo decreased

Estudo da radiação solar global e do índice de transmissividade (kt, externo e interno, em uma floresta de mangue em Alagoas - Brasil Study of the global solar radiation and the internal and external transmissivity index in a mangrove forest in Alagoas - Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Alexandre Santos Querino

2011-06-01

máximos alcançados pelo Rg, devido às variações das condições de transmissividade atmosférica. Internamente observou-se a grande dependência que a penetração dos raios solares tem do ângulo zenital solar (Z com as estações do ano, onde se constatou uma redução de até 66% entre os períodos seco e chuvoso. Verificou-se também, que até 35% da radiação incidente na copa atingiu a superfície interna do mangue, e que esse valor reduziu-se para apenas 15% no período chuvoso.Mangrove forests are of extreme social, economic and environmental importance, because they sustain a rich fauna and flora. Brazil possesses one of the largest mangrove areas in the world, which extends from the extreme north to the southern regions of the country, covering the entire coast. Due to such vast expanse, altering the state of the mangrove forests has a direct influence on the microclimate of the region. From the meteorological perspective, it is necessary to limit the exploitation of this ecosystem because the destruction of the mangrove forests exposes the surface area to direct solar radiation, thus changing the total net radiation. Therefore, one of the prime factors in understanding the availability of energy to the diverse processes of the system is knowing how the Solar Global Radiation (Rg and its components, Diffuse Radiation (Rd and Direct Radiation (R D, behave in the forest. The main objective of this research was to evaluate and compare the behavior of the Rg and it components, inside and above the mangrove forest. The solar radiation measurements are from a micrometeorological tower installed inside a mangrove forest, located at the Marechal Deodoro municipal district (15 km from Maceió, Alagoas in an environmentally protected area (APA called APA de Santa Rita. The tower was situated at 9° 42'18''S and 35°48'32"W coordinates, and operating from October 2004 to September 2005. The Rd data were collected with a CM5 Kipp and Zonnen pyranometer, which

A Lookup-Table-Based Approach to Estimating Surface Solar Irradiance from Geostationary and Polar-Orbiting Satellite Data

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Hailong Zhang

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Incoming surface solar irradiance (SSI is essential for calculating Earth’s surface radiation budget and is a key parameter for terrestrial ecological modeling and climate change research. Remote sensing images from geostationary and polar-orbiting satellites provide an opportunity for SSI estimation through directly retrieving atmospheric and land-surface parameters. This paper presents a new scheme for estimating SSI from the visible and infrared channels of geostationary meteorological and polar-orbiting satellite data. Aerosol optical thickness and cloud microphysical parameters were retrieved from Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES system images by interpolating lookup tables of clear and cloudy skies, respectively. SSI was estimated using pre-calculated offline lookup tables with different atmospheric input data of clear and cloudy skies. The lookup tables were created via the comprehensive radiative transfer model, Santa Barbara Discrete Ordinate Radiative Transfer (SBDART, to balance computational efficiency and accuracy. The atmospheric attenuation effects considered in our approach were water vapor absorption and aerosol extinction for clear skies, while cloud parameters were the only atmospheric input for cloudy-sky SSI estimation. The approach was validated using one-year pyranometer measurements from seven stations in the SURFRAD (SURFace RADiation budget network. The results of the comparison for 2012 showed that the estimated SSI agreed with ground measurements with correlation coefficients of 0.94, 0.69, and 0.89 with a bias of 26.4 W/m2, −5.9 W/m2, and 14.9 W/m2 for clear-sky, cloudy-sky, and all-sky conditions, respectively. The overall root mean square error (RMSE of instantaneous SSI was 80.0 W/m2 (16.8%, 127.6 W/m2 (55.1%, and 99.5 W/m2 (25.5% for clear-sky, cloudy-sky (overcast sky and partly cloudy sky, and all-sky (clear-sky and cloudy-sky conditions, respectively. A comparison with other state

Partitioning of radiation and energy balance components in an inhomogeneous desert valley

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malek, E.; Bingham, G.E.

1997-01-01

radiation and energy balance components are also reported. Using just one pyranometer and these relationships, one can estimate the daily, monthly, and annual values of R so , R n , R ln , LE, H, and G surf . We have made a major step toward being able to estimate net radiation of heterogeneous desert landscape based on vegetation cover and irradiance levels. The results can be applied to any similar closed desert basin in Australia, the Great Basin in the U.S.A., the Middle East, and North Africa. (author)

Chemical, microphysical and optical properties of the aerosols during foggy and nonfoggy day over a typical location in Indo-Gangetic Plain

Science.gov (United States)

Kaul, D. S.; Tripathi, S. N.; Gupta, T.

2012-04-01

An extensive experimental measurement was carried out from January 16, 2010 to February 20, 2010 at Kanpur to study the chemical, microphysical and optical properties of the aerosols. A Micro-Pulse Lidar Network (MPLNET), a part of National Aeronautic Space Administration (NASA), was used for identification of fog duration. PM1 samples and fogwater were collected to examine the organic and inorganic species of aerosol and fogwater. Organic Carbon (OC), Elemental Carbon (EC) and water soluble organic carbon analysis were carried out by an EC-OC analyzer and a TOC analyzer, respectively. Trace gases and solar flux measurement were carried out by gas analyzers and a pyranometer (a part of NASA Aeronet), respectively, to identify the photo-chemical activity. Meteorological data were measured by atmospheric weather station. The microphysical properties such as aerosol size distribution were measured using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). Optical properties were measured by a photo-acoustic soot spectrometer (PASS). Organic and inorganic species are processed by fog droplets such as production of secondary organic aerosol through aqueous mechanism (Kaul et al., 2011) and scavenging of various water soluble species. The concentrations of almost all the ionic species and organic carbon were higher in aerosols during foggy day. Presence of numerous ionic species and organic carbon in the fogwater indicates their wet scavenging and removal from the atmosphere by the fog droplets. Most of the aerosol is composed of inorganic component, ~80% during foggy day and ~85.5 % during clear day. Biomass burning contribution to PM1 mass concentration was considerably higher during clear days and lower during foggy days; lower concentration during foggy day could be due to wet scavenging of biomass generated aerosols. The study average higher number concentration of aerosol during foggy day during late evening and overnight was due to lower boundary layer height and subsequent

Comparison of several databases of downward solar daily irradiation data at ocean surface with PIRATA measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Trolliet, Mélodie; Wald, Lucien

2017-04-01

The solar radiation impinging at sea surface is an essential variable in climate system. There are several means to assess the daily irradiation at surface, such as pyranometers aboard ship or on buoys, meteorological re-analyses and satellite-derived databases. Among the latter, assessments made from the series of geostationary Meteosat satellites offer synoptic views of the tropical and equatorial Atlantic Ocean every 15 min with a spatial resolution of approximately 5 km. Such Meteosat-derived databases are fairly recent and the quality of the estimates of the daily irradiation must be established. Efforts have been made for the land masses and must be repeated for the Atlantic Ocean. The Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic (PIRATA) network of moorings in the Tropical Atlantic Ocean is considered as a reference for oceanographic data. It consists in 17 long-term Autonomous Temperature Line Acquisition System (ATLAS) buoys equipped with sensors to measure near-surface meteorological and subsurface oceanic parameters, including downward solar irradiation. Corrected downward solar daily irradiation from PIRATA were downloaded from the NOAA web site and were compared to several databases: CAMS RAD, HelioClim-1, HelioClim-3 v4 and HelioClim-3 v5. CAMS-RAD, the CAMS radiation service, combines products of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) on gaseous content and aerosols in the atmosphere together with cloud optical properties deduced every 15 min from Meteosat imagery to supply estimates of the solar irradiation. Part of this service is the McClear clear sky model that provides estimates of the solar irradiation that should be observed in cloud-free conditions. The second and third databases are HelioClim-1 and HelioClim-3 v4 that are derived from Meteosat images using the Heliosat-2 method and the ESRA clear sky model, based on the Linke turbidity factor. HelioClim-3 v5 is the fourth database and differs from v4 by the

Performance Evaluation of Radiation Sensors for the Solar Energy Sector

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laurent Vuilleumier

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Rotating Shadowband Irradiometers (RSI and SPN1 Sunshine Pyranometers allow determining the diffuse and direct components of solar radiation without sun trackers; they can be deployed in networks for continuous field operation with modest maintenance. Their performances are evaluated here by analyzing their errors with respect to well characterized references. The analysis is based on 1‑minute data recorded over a 15‑month period at the Payerne BSRN station in Switzerland. The analysis was applied both to the whole dataset and data subsets reflecting particular conditions to allow a better understanding of how instrument performance depends on such conditions.The overall performance for measuring global horizontal irradiance (GHI is satisfactory with deviations compatible with an expanded uncertainty of ±25 Wm−2 (±10 %. For diffuse horizontal irradiance (DfHI, RSIs exhibited errors on the order of ±20 Wm−2 (±13 % with some of them being affected by small systematic negative biases on the order of −5 Wm−2 (median. SPN1s underestimate DfHI by about −10 Wm−2 (median with a relatively large range of the expanded error distribution between −45 Wm−2 and 20 Wm−2 (−35 % to 13 %. For direct normal irradiance (DNI, the extended error range for RSIs is on the order of ±40 Wm−2 (±5–6 % with some instruments presenting no bias while others are affected by median biases up to −15 Wm−2. SPN1s exhibit a relatively large median bias of 40 Wm−2, and an extended range of the error distribution between −45 Wm−2 and 125 Wm−2 (−6 % to 19 %. Typical errors on the integrated yearly energy per unit surface area are on the order of a few percent or less (< 5 % for RSI with negligible errors on DNI for some RSI instruments. SPN1 integrated errors are negligible for GHI, but on the order of −8 % for DfHI, and between 9 % and 11 % for DNI.For RSIs, GHI and DfHI errors showed

New gridded database of clear-sky solar radiation derived from ground-based observations over Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Bartok, Blanka; Wild, Martin; Sanchez-Lorenzo, Arturo; Hakuba, Maria Z.

2017-04-01

surface meteorological elements developed at the Hungarian Meteorological Service (Szentimrey 2007). In this way new gridded database of clear-sky solar radiation is created suitable for further investigations regarding the role of aerosols in the energy budget, and also for validations of climate model outputs. References 1. Long CN, Ackerman TP. 2000. Identification of clear skies from broadband pyranometer measurements and calculation of downwelling shortwave cloud effects, J. Geophys. Res., 105(D12), 15609-15626, doi:10.1029/2000JD900077. 2. Mueller R, Matsoukas C, Gratzki A, Behr H, Hollmann R. 2009. The CM-SAF operational scheme for the satellite based retrieval of solar surface irradiance - a LUT based eigenvector hybrid approach, Remote Sensing of Environment, 113 (5), 1012-1024, doi:10.1016/j.rse.2009. 01.012 3. Szentimrey T. 2014. Multiple Analysis of Series for Homogenization (MASHv3.03), Hungarian Meteorological Service, https://www.met.hu/en/omsz/rendezvenyek/homogenization_and_interpolation/software/ 4. Szentimrey T. Bihari Z. 2014: Meteorological Interpolation based on Surface Homogenized Data Basis (MISHv1.03) https://www.met.hu/en/omsz/rendezvenyek/homogenization_and_interpolation/software/

Engaging secondary students in geoscience investigations through the use of low-cost instrumentation

Science.gov (United States)

Dunn, A. L.; Hansen, W.; Healy, S.

2010-12-01

to the geosciences, such as solar and wind power, water and soil quality, and assessing land-use change through remote sensing and geospatial tools. The goal of the workshop was to give the teachers tools to engage students in investigating these concepts in the classroom, thereby stimulating an interest in geosciences that would carry over into undergraduate education. As part of the workshop, we provided a low-cost set of tools to give to the teachers for hands-on use in the classroom. We developed a compact, rugged system for measuring solar insolation and temperature, and combined it with a datalogger to collect a continuous timeseries of data. We also built a standalone anemometer for measuring wind speed. These instruments offer entry points for multiple types of classroom investigations into weather, climate, and renewable energy potential. They also provide a platform for practicing mathematical and computer skills such as timeseries graphing, data analysis, spreadsheet use, etc. The cost of the pyranometer, datalogger, and anemometer setup was $229 per user. Feedback from workshop participants was very positive, and the teachers were confident that the instrumentation would give them a new way to engage students in geoscience topics.

A Climatology of Midlatitude Continental Clouds from the ARM SGP Site. Part II; Cloud Fraction and Surface Radiative Forcing

Science.gov (United States)

Xi, B.; Minnis, P.

2006-01-01

Data collected at the Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) Central Facility (SCF) are analyzed to determine the monthly and hourly variations of cloud fraction and radiative forcing between January 1997 and December 2002. Cloud fractions are estimated for total cloud cover and for single-layered low (0-3 km), middle (3-6 km), and high clouds (more than 6 km) using ARM SCG ground-based paired lidar-radar measurements. Shortwave (SW) and longwave (LW) fluxes are derived from up- and down-looking standard precision spectral pyranometers and precision infrared radiometer measurements with uncertainties of approximately 10 Wm(exp -2). The annual averages of total, and single-layered low, middle and high cloud fractions are 0.49, 0.11, 0.03, and 0.17, respectively. Both total and low cloud amounts peak during January and February and reach a minimum during July and August, high clouds occur more frequently than other types of clouds with a peak in summer. The average annual downwelling surface SW fluxes for total and low clouds (151 and 138 Wm(exp-2), respectively) are less than those under middle and high clouds (188 and 201 Wm(exp -2), respectively), but the downwelling LW fluxes (349 and 356 Wm(exp -2)) underneath total and low clouds are greater than those from middle and high clouds (337 and 333 Wm(exp -2)). Low clouds produce the largest LW warming (55 Wm(exp -2) and SW cooling (-91 Wm(exp -2)) effects with maximum and minimum absolute values in spring and summer, respectively. High clouds have the smallest LW warming (17 Wm(exp -2)) and SW cooling (-37 Wm(exp -2)) effects at the surface. All-sky SW CRF decreases and LW CRF increases with increasing cloud fraction with mean slopes of -0.984 and 0.616 Wm(exp -2)%(exp -1), respectively. Over the entire diurnal cycle, clouds deplete the amount of surface insolation more than they add to the downwelling LW flux. The calculated CRFs do not appear to be significantly

TEMIS UV product validation using NILU-UV ground-based measurements in Thessaloniki, Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Zempila, Melina-Maria; van Geffen, Jos H. G. M.; Taylor, Michael; Fountoulakis, Ilias; Koukouli, Maria-Elissavet; van Weele, Michiel; van der A, Ronald J.; Bais, Alkiviadis; Meleti, Charikleia; Balis, Dimitrios

2017-06-01

This study aims to cross-validate ground-based and satellite-based models of three photobiological UV effective dose products: the Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE) erythemal UV, the production of vitamin D in the skin, and DNA damage, using high-temporal-resolution surface-based measurements of solar UV spectral irradiances from a synergy of instruments and models. The satellite-based Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service (TEMIS; version 1.4) UV daily dose data products were evaluated over the period 2009 to 2014 with ground-based data from a Norsk Institutt for Luftforskning (NILU)-UV multifilter radiometer located at the northern midlatitude super-site of the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (LAP/AUTh), in Greece. For the NILU-UV effective dose rates retrieval algorithm, a neural network (NN) was trained to learn the nonlinear functional relation between NILU-UV irradiances and collocated Brewer-based photobiological effective dose products. Then the algorithm was subjected to sensitivity analysis and validation. The correlation of the NN estimates with target outputs was high (r = 0. 988 to 0.990) and with a very low bias (0.000 to 0.011 in absolute units) proving the robustness of the NN algorithm. For further evaluation of the NILU NN-derived products, retrievals of the vitamin D and DNA-damage effective doses from a collocated Yankee Environmental Systems (YES) UVB-1 pyranometer were used. For cloud-free days, differences in the derived UV doses are better than 2 % for all UV dose products, revealing the reference quality of the ground-based UV doses at Thessaloniki from the NILU-UV NN retrievals. The TEMIS UV doses used in this study are derived from ozone measurements by the SCIAMACHY/Envisat and GOME2/MetOp-A satellite instruments, over the European domain in combination with SEVIRI/Meteosat-based diurnal cycle of the cloud cover fraction per 0. 5° × 0. 5° (lat × long) grid cells. TEMIS

Aerosol radiative forcing during African desert dust events (2005–2010 over Southeastern Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Valenzuela

2012-11-01

Full Text Available The daily (24 h averages of the aerosol radiative forcing (ARF at the surface and the top of the atmosphere (TOA were calculated during desert dust events over Granada (southeastern Spain from 2005 to 2010. A radiative transfer model (SBDART was utilized to simulate the solar irradiance values (0.31–2.8 μm at the surface and TOA, using as input aerosol properties retrieved from CIMEL sun photometer measurements via an inversion methodology that uses the sky radiance measurements in principal plane configuration and a spheroid particle shape approximation. This inversion methodology was checked by means of simulated data from aerosol models, and the derived aerosol properties were satisfactorily compared against well-known AERONET products. Good agreement was found over a common spectral interval (0.2–4.0 μm between the simulated SBDART global irradiances at surface and those provided by AERONET. In addition, simulated SBDART solar global irradiances at the surface have been successfully validated against CM-11 pyranometer measurements. The comparison indicates that the radiative transfer model slightly overestimates (mean bias of 3% the experimental solar global irradiance. These results show that the aerosol optical properties used to estimate ARF represent appropriately the aerosol properties observed during desert dust outbreak over the study area. The ARF mean monthly values computed during desert dust events ranged from −13 ± 8 W m⁻² to −34 ± 15 W m⁻² at surface, from −4 ± 3 W m⁻² to −13 ± 7 W m⁻² at TOA and from +6 ± 4 to +21 ± 12 W m⁻² in the atmosphere. We have checked if the differences found in aerosol optical properties among desert dust sectors translate to differences in ARF. The mean ARF at surface (TOA were −20 ± 12 (−5 ± 5 W m⁻², −21 ± 9 (−7 ± 5 W m⁻² and −18 ± 9 (−6 ± 5 W m⁻² for sector A

TEMIS UV product validation using NILU-UV ground-based measurements in Thessaloniki, Greece

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M.-M. Zempila

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This study aims to cross-validate ground-based and satellite-based models of three photobiological UV effective dose products: the Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage (CIE erythemal UV, the production of vitamin D in the skin, and DNA damage, using high-temporal-resolution surface-based measurements of solar UV spectral irradiances from a synergy of instruments and models. The satellite-based Tropospheric Emission Monitoring Internet Service (TEMIS; version 1.4 UV daily dose data products were evaluated over the period 2009 to 2014 with ground-based data from a Norsk Institutt for Luftforskning (NILU-UV multifilter radiometer located at the northern midlatitude super-site of the Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (LAP/AUTh, in Greece. For the NILU-UV effective dose rates retrieval algorithm, a neural network (NN was trained to learn the nonlinear functional relation between NILU-UV irradiances and collocated Brewer-based photobiological effective dose products. Then the algorithm was subjected to sensitivity analysis and validation. The correlation of the NN estimates with target outputs was high (r = 0. 988 to 0.990 and with a very low bias (0.000 to 0.011 in absolute units proving the robustness of the NN algorithm. For further evaluation of the NILU NN-derived products, retrievals of the vitamin D and DNA-damage effective doses from a collocated Yankee Environmental Systems (YES UVB-1 pyranometer were used. For cloud-free days, differences in the derived UV doses are better than 2 % for all UV dose products, revealing the reference quality of the ground-based UV doses at Thessaloniki from the NILU-UV NN retrievals. The TEMIS UV doses used in this study are derived from ozone measurements by the SCIAMACHY/Envisat and GOME2/MetOp-A satellite instruments, over the European domain in combination with SEVIRI/Meteosat-based diurnal cycle of the cloud cover fraction per 0. 5° × 0. 5�

Cloud2IR: Infrared thermography and environmental sensors integrated in an autonomoussystem for long term monitoring of structures

Science.gov (United States)

Crinière, Antoine; Dumoulin, Jean; Mevel, Laurent; Andrade-Barroso, Guillermo

2016-04-01

Since late 2014, the project Cloud2SM aims to develop a robust information system able to assess the long term monitoring of civil engineering structures as well as interfacing various sensors and data. Cloud2SM address three main goals, the management of distributed data and sensors network, the asynchronous processing of the data through network and the local management of the sensors themselves [1]. Integrated to this project Cloud2IR is an autonomous sensor system dedicated to the long term monitoring of infrastructures. Past experimentations have shown the need as well as usefulness of such system [2]. Before Cloud2IR an initially laboratory oriented system was used, which implied heavy operating system to be used [3]. Based on such system Cloud2IR has benefited of the experimental knowledge acquired to redefine a lighter architecture based on generics standards, more appropriated to autonomous operations on field and which can be later included in a wide distributed architecture such as Cloud2SM. The sensor system can be divided in two parts. The sensor side, this part is mainly composed by the various sensors drivers themselves as the infrared camera, the weather station or the pyranometers and their different fixed configurations. In our case, as infrared camera are slightly different than other kind of sensors, the system implement in addition an RTSP server which can be used to set up the FOV as well as other measurement parameter considerations. The second part can be seen as the data side, which is common to all sensors. It instantiate through a generic interface all the sensors and control the data access loop (not the requesting). This side of the system is weakly coupled (see data coupling) with the sensor side. It can be seen as a general framework able to aggregate any sensor data, type or size and automatically encapsulate them in various generic data format as HDF5 or cloud data as OGC SWE standard. This whole part is also responsible of the

Solar radiation in the Brazilian northeast

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tiba, Chigueru [Federal University of Pernambuco, Pernambuco (Brazil)

2000-07-01

The significant increase in recent years of the number of rural electrification systems (some thousands of them do exist) using photovoltaic technology installed in the Northeast of Brazil (1,500,000 km{sup 2}, approximately 42 million people) used for illumination or water pumping, calls for an improvement on the design procedures in order to reduce the burden of capital costs per unit of generated power. Such objective can be accomplished as long as a better knowledge about the solar resource is achieved, considering how much these applications depend on it. The sources of information on solar radiation in Brazil are quite varied at both institutional and publication level. At institutional Meteorology (INMET), State Departments of Agriculture, research institute, universities and electric power generation and distribution utilities. Progress reports or scientific and technical journals are the main publishing vehicles where this information can be found. This way, data quality varies considerably, showing, spatial and temporal discontinuities, in addition to the fact that measurement instruments and physical units of registered data are not standardized. The Solarimetric Atlas of Brazil was recently published and it contains that information, which is grouped, evaluated, qualified, and presented in a standardized way. It is one of the best currently existing sources of information, and in certainly consists of almost the entirety of the existing information on the solar resource (data on solar radiation and sunshine hours) in Brazil. By using this database, simultaneous records of solar radiation (measured with pyranoghaps or pyranometers) and sunshine hours with heliographs were obtained in 35 different places in the Northeast region. Coefficients a and b were calculated for those different places using Angstrom's correlation. Using the geostatistical interpolation method known as kriging, the values of a and b were placed on contour maps, the coverage of

Comparison of several methods to calculate sunshine hours from global radiation; Vergelijking van diverse methodes voor de berekening van zonneschijnduur uit globale straling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schipper, J.

2004-07-01

A formal definition of sunshine duration by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has allowed the development of automatic instruments for measuring sunshine hours. This defines sunshine hours as the sum of the time intervals (in hours) during which the direct (normal) solar irradiance exceeds a threshold of 120W{sup m-2} . The most complex (and most accurate) of these instruments are tracking pyrheliometers, where a collimated sensor automatically moves to track the movement of the sun. This reads the direct beam radiation only. Any reading over 120Wm{sup -2} is defined as being sunshine. However, as this type of sensor does not truly track the sun it requires regular adjustment to take into account the seasonal changes in solar declination. Also, this sensor is relatively expensive and has moving parts requiring extra power. A much simpler approach is to try to estimate sunshine hours from the single pyranometer/solarimeter of the type normally installed on most weather stations. As these sensors measure total global radiation the normal definition of 'sunshine' cannot be used. Simple fixed thresholds, as often used in low grade weather stations, do not give reliable answers either, as diffuse radiation from a completely cloudy sky in the summer will often exceed direct beam radiation in the winter. An alternative algorithm has been suggested by workers at the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (KNMI). They have proposed and tested an algorithm (Slob-algorithm) which defines sunshine as being when the measured global radiation (G) is greater than 0.4 times the potential solar radiation outside the earth's atmosphere on a horizontal surface (G{sub 0}). One long term test of this algorithm showed that estimates of sunshine hours were on average within 0.9 hours of the daily total. While this might appear to give rather poor accuracy compared to that one would expect for totalised solar radiation, they consider it accurate enough for normal

Characterisation of advanced windows. Determination of thermal properties by measurements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duer, K.

2001-04-01

optically inhomogeneous materials). Therefor an outdoor test facility has been constructed in order to facilitate the measurement of direct solar transmittance of optically inhomogeneous samples under natural solar radiation and under any chosen angle of incidence. The test facility is based on a scanning pyranometer mounted in a tracking device. Utilising the equipment and the procedures for measurements and data treatment described in this report will in most cases allow a full thermal characterisation of advanced windows and glazings to be carried out by measurements and with good accuracy. As an example of this the thermal and optical properties of a prototypical aerogel glazing have been determined by means of measurements. (au)

A Public-Private-Acadmic Partnership to Advance Solar Power Forecasting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haupt, Sue Ellen [National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States)

2016-04-19

minutes and forecasts that currently go out to about 15 min. This project has facilitated research in improving the hardware and software so that the new high definition cameras deployed at multiple nearby locations allow discernment of the clouds at varying levels and advection according to the winds observed at those levels. Improvements over “smart persistence” are about 29% for even these very short forecasts. StatCast is based on pyranometer data measured at the site as well as concurrent meteorological observations and forecasts. StatCast is based on regime-dependent artificial intelligence forecasting techniques and has been shown to improve on “smart persistence” forecasts by 15-50%. A second category of short-range forecasting systems employ satellite imagery and use that information to discern clouds and their motion, allowing them to project the clouds, and the resulting blockage of irradiance, in time. CIRACast (the system produced by the Cooperative Institute for Atmospheric Research [CIRA] at Colorado State University) was already one of the more advanced cloud motion systems, which is the reason that team was brought to this project. During the project timeframe, the CIRA team was able to advance cloud shadowing, parallax removal, and implementation of better advecting winds at different altitudes. CIRACast shows generally a 25-40% improvement over Smart Persistence between sunrise and approximately 1600 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) . A second satellite-based system, MADCast (Multi-sensor Advective Diffusive foreCast system), assimilates data from multiple satellite imagers and profilers to assimilate a fully three-dimensional picture of the cloud into the dynamic core of WRF. During 2015, MADCast (provided at least 70% improvement over Smart Persistence, with most of that skill being derived during partly cloudy conditions. That allows advection of the clouds via the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model dynamics directly. After WRF