Search results for "cloud cover"
showing 10 items of 48 documents
A study of solar panel efficiency in Latvian climate conditions
2020
With solar panels increasingly used in nearly zero energy building solutions it is important to clarify if the panels can achieve the efficiency indicators specified by their producers in real operation conditions. To determine the efficiency of poly- and monocrystalline panels depending on their spatial orientation and the seasons a set of test panels was installed in 2018 in Riga, Latvia for long-term monitoring of the amount of generated power and produced energy. Here we summarize the results of the first year of monitoring. Data indicate that orientation has high significance, very small amounts of energy are generated in autumn/winter and that there is a good correspondence of the act…
Comparative assessment of RAMS and WRF short-term forecasts over Eastern Iberian Peninsula using various in-situ observations, remote sensing product…
2018
The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) and the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) mesoscale models are being used for weather and air quality studies as well as forecasting tools in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) systems. In the current study, we perform a comparative assessment of these models under distinct typical atmospheric conditions, classified according to the dominant wind flow and cloudiness, over Eastern Iberian Peninsula. This study is focused on the model representation of key physical processes in terms of meteorology and surface variables during a 7-days period in summer 2011. The hourly outputs produced by these two models are compared not only with observed…
Measurements of total ozone amount over Badajoz (Southwestern Spain) by means of a GUV multiband radiometer
2012
This paper presents the first measurements of total ozone amount performed at the radiometric station of Badajoz (Spain) by means of a multichannel radiometer GUV-2511. The retrieval of total ozone amount from GUV measurements of solar ultraviolet irradiance is performed with the support of look-up tables calculated using the SBDART radiation transfer code. This methodology is based on the different absorption by ozone suffered by the radiation at two certain near wavelengths. In this case the pair 305, 340 nm was chosen because of its better performance than the pair 305, 320 nm. The look-up table contains the ratio between irradiances at the mentioned wavelengths calculated under differen…
Vegetation index retrieval by coupling optical and SAR images
2012
Monitoring spatial and temporal variability of Vegetation Indices (VIs) is important to manage land and water resources, with significant impact on the sustainability of modern agriculture Although algorithms based on optical data give accurate products, cloud cover dramatically reduces the temporal resolution of these outputs. The launch of new Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellations such as COSMO-Skymed opened new opportunities to develop agro-hydrological applications. Indeed, these satellites may represent a suitable source of data for operational applications due to their high spatial and temporal resolutions (10 m in StripMap PingPong acquisition mode, best revisit time with 4 s…
UV Index Experimental Values During the Years 2000 and 2001 from the Spanish Broadband UV-B Radiometric Network¶
2007
An analysis is made of experimental ultraviolet erythemal solar radiation data measured during the years 2000 and 2001 by the Spanish UV-B radiation evaluation and prediction network. This network consists of 16 Robertson-Berger type pyranometers for evaluating solar erythemal radiation and five Brewer spectroradiometers for evaluating the stratospheric ozone. On the basis of these data the Ultraviolet Index (UVI) was evaluated for the measuring stations that are located either in coastal regions or in the more densely populated regions inland on the Iberian Peninsula. It has been checked that in most cases the maximum irradiance values corresponded to solar noon, although there were except…
Flux retrieval optimization with a nonscanner along-track broadband radiometer
2003
[1] The theoretical behavior of broadband flux retrieval is analyzed with the aid of a radiance field database. Several angular inversion models are developed for different viewing configurations, with special emphasis in a nonscanner along-track design concept. Results show that the performance of these angular models depends on the viewing zenith angle (VZA). When cloud cover is predominant within the observed scene, VZAs around 55° (shortwave) and 50° (longwave) minimize the error when deriving fluxes. These results might help in the design of future missions where the main idea is to obtain accurate instantaneous measurements of top of atmosphere reflected and emitted fluxes. Such measu…
Intercomparison of remote-sensing based evapotranspiration algorithms over amazonian forests
2019
Abstract Evapotranspiration (ET) is considered a key variable in the understanding of the Amazonian tropical forests and their response to climate change. Remote-Sensing (RS) based evapotranspiration models are presented as a feasible means in order to provide accurate spatially-distributed ET estimates over this region. In this work, the performance of four commonly used ET RS models was evaluated over Amazonia using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. RS models included i) Priestley-Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PT-JPL), ii) Penman-Monteith MODIS operative parametrization (PM-Mu), iii) Surface Energy Balance System (SEBS), and iv) Satellite Application Facility…
A Study for Cloud Parameter Retrieval from the IR Cloud Cameras of the AUGER Observatory
2009
The Pierre Auger Observatory operative in Argentina, studies the ultra-high energy cosmic rays with energies above 1018eV. The atmosphere is also monitored by a collection of different instruments. In this paper we present a study on the retrieval of the cloud coverage from the atmospheric monitoring data collected by the four IR cloud cameras placed in the sites of the Observatory. We discuss two different algorithms that supply pixel by pixel cloudiness information in the form of binary masks. The final objective of the study is collecting different algorithms to obtain a reliable set that allow to overcome most of the more frequent ambiguities due to particular cloud configurations and a…
A flux retrieval error behavior with CERES/TRMM data
2003
With the aid of CERES/TRMM (Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System/Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) data, sampling problems that may impact the construction of anisotropic models have been investigated. We show the influence of the sun-orbit geometry, which causes a lack of measurements in forward and backward scattering directions at large viewing zenith angles, and how cloud properties retrieval algorithms as obtained from the Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS) also affect sampling. We have also focused our attention on the dependency of the cloud cover retrieval algorithm with respect to the viewing zenith angle (VZA), showing that the shape of the cloud cover probability density …
A statistical subgrid-scale algorithm for precipitation formation in stratiform clouds in the ECHAM5 single column model
2011
Abstract. Cloud properties are usually assumed to be homogeneous within the cloudy part of the grid-box, i.e. subgrid-scale inhomogeneities in cloud cover and/or microphysical properties are often neglected. However, precipitation formation is initiated by large particles. Thus mean values are not representative and could lead to a delayed onset of precipitation. For a more physical description of the subgrid-scale structure of clouds we introduce a new statistical sub-column algorithm to study the impact of cloud inhomogeneities on stratiform precipitation. Each model column is divided into N independent sub-columns with sub-boxes in each layer, which are completely clear or cloudy. The cl…