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

Martínez-Durbán, M.; Zarzalejo, Luis F.; Bosch, J.L.; Rosiek, Sabina; Polo, Jesús; Batlles, F.J.

doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2009.05.009

Cited by 30 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Urban region of Cuiabá city varied in altitude between 146 to 250 m, exhibiting strong trends with the lowest values of Rg at the lowest altitudes with different slopes (0 to 18.4%) (Figure 6(a)). [28] reported higher levels of solar radiation (calculated Rg) at both lower and higher altitudesites, with insignificant effects of horizon.…”

Section: Spatial Distribution Of Calculated Solar Radiationmentioning

confidence: 88%

Effects of Sky Conditions Measured by the Clearness Index on the Estimation of Solar Radiation Using a Digital Elevation Model

Alves¹,

Sanches²,

Nogueira³

et al. 2013

ACS

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This study evaluated the effects of sky conditions (measured by the clearness index, K T) on the estimation of solar radiation and its components. Solar radiation was calculated by a digital elevation model derived from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). The calculated radiation was parameterized and validated with measured solar radiation from two stations inside the urban perimeter of the city of Cuiabá, Brazil, during 2006 to 2008. The measured solar radiation varied seasonally, with the highest values in December-March and the lowest in June-September. Comparisons between calculated and measured values for two sites in Cuiabá demonstrate that the model is accurate for daily Rg estimates under clear sky conditions based on Root Mean Square Error, Mean Bias Error and Willmott's index. However, under partially cloudy and cloudy sky conditions the model was not able to provide robust estimates. Spatially, the highest values of incident Rg occurred on strands with North, Northeast and Northwest orientations and were lowest on those oriented to the South, Southeast and Southwest.

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Section: Spatial Distribution Of Calculated Solar Radiationmentioning

confidence: 88%

Effects of Sky Conditions Measured by the Clearness Index on the Estimation of Solar Radiation Using a Digital Elevation Model

Alves¹,

Sanches²,

Nogueira³

et al. 2013

ACS

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“…The sensor was placed on a horizontal surface, partially surrounded by higher ground to the north but completely exposed to the south. Even though the measurements at weather stations constitute a point source of information, for the purposes of these studies, those records can be assumed to constitute representative average values for the cell on which they are located (Batllés et al, 2008;Martínez-Durbán et al, 2009). …”

Section: Study Area and Data Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Topographic effects on solar radiation distribution in mountainous watersheds and their influence on reference evapotranspiration estimates at watershed scale

Aguilar¹,

Herrero

Polo³

2010

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

114

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Abstract. Distributed energy and water balance models require time-series surfaces of the climatological variables involved in hydrological processes. Among them, solar radiation constitutes a key variable to the circulation of water in the atmosphere. Most of the hydrological GIS-based models apply simple interpolation techniques to data measured at few weather stations disregarding topographic effects. Here, a topographic solar radiation algorithm has been included for the generation of detailed time-series solar radiation surfaces using limited data and simple methods in a mountainous watershed in southern Spain. The results show the major role of topography in local values and differences between the topographic approximation and the direct interpolation to measured data (IDW) of up to +42% and −1800% in the estimated daily values. Also, the comparison of the predicted values with experimental data proves the usefulness of the algorithm for the estimation of spatiallydistributed radiation values in a complex terrain, with a good fit for daily values (R 2 = 0.93) and the best fits under cloudless skies at hourly time steps. Finally, evapotranspiration fields estimated through the ASCE-Penman-Monteith equation using both corrected and non-corrected radiation values address the hydrologic importance of using topographicallycorrected solar radiation fields as inputs to the equation over uniform values with mean differences in the watershed of 61 mm/year and 142 mm/year of standard deviation. High speed computations in a 1300 km 2 watershed in the south of Spain with up to a one-hour time scale in 30 × 30 m 2 cells can be easily carried out on a desktop PC.

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“…GIS-based models calibrated with station data have been widely applied to Downloaded by [McMaster University] at 12:34 09 December 2014 model the spatial solar radiation (Mckenney 1999, Wang et al 2006, Batlles et al 2008, Martnez-Durbn et al 2009, Ruiz-Arias et al 2009), but these methods always require station observed radiation data, which limit the transferability of these models in ungauged basins, or they calculate only potential values. Approaches for modelling spatial actual solar radiation in complex terrain with generally available data for hydrological applications are investigated in this article, with the focus on the issue of topography-induced spatial radiation variability.…”

Section: The Heliosat-2 and Ap Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

GIS-based modelling of topography-induced solar radiation variability in complex terrain for data sparse region

Liu

Bàrdossy

et al. 2012

International Journal of Geographical Information Science

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Solar radiation not only sustains the lives on the Earth, but also creates spatial and temporal variations of hydrological ingredients, such as vegetation, soil moisture, and snow. Precise quantification of spatial solar radiation incident on the Earth's surface which accounts for the topographic modulation, especially in complex terrain, underpins the study of many catchment hydro-meteorological and hydro-ecological processes. Topography is a key parameter that affects the spatial solar radiation pattern across different scales. This article addresses the issue of modelling spatial variability of actual solar radiation caused by topography from the hydrological perspective. Models with different algorithms and different complexities, from the simple empirical equations to process-based physical approach, have been developed to parameterize and calculate the potential radiation (under clear-sky condition) and the actual radiation (under overcast cloudy condition). Based on a review of the general steps of solar radiation modelling and the corresponding models for each step, two models with easily or globally available data for spatial solar radiation modelling in complex terrain, namely, the physically parameterized, remote-sensing-oriented Heliosat-2 model and the sunshine duration-based Angström-Prescott regression model are selected and implemented in a GIS framework. The capability of both models for simulation of cloudy-sky radiation on horizontal surfaces has been verified against observed station data showing an R 2 greater than 0.9. The validity of the models for modelling inclined surface is tested by comparing against each other, which has shown a satisfactory agreement and demonstrated that the simple Angström-Prescott method performed reasonably well compared with the more elaborate Heliosat-2 method. Scale sensitivity of the models and the shading effect are examined with different digital elevation model (DEM) resolutions from 30 to 500 m and reveal the existence of a threshold grid size to resolve the topography-induced spatial solar radiation variability. Spatial mapping of potential solar radiation and actual solar radiation has been demonstrated in a small catchment in Southern Germany, with a spatial difference up to 30% in winter and 5% in summer. This may lead to a significant difference for the energy-limited hydrological processes, such as snowmelt, and evapotranspiration.

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

Cited by 30 publications

References 24 publications

Effects of Sky Conditions Measured by the Clearness Index on the Estimation of Solar Radiation Using a Digital Elevation Model

Effects of Sky Conditions Measured by the Clearness Index on the Estimation of Solar Radiation Using a Digital Elevation Model

Topographic effects on solar radiation distribution in mountainous watersheds and their influence on reference evapotranspiration estimates at watershed scale

GIS-based modelling of topography-induced solar radiation variability in complex terrain for data sparse region

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