Estimation of solar radiation and its application to crop simulation models in Greece

Abstract

Lack of data on site-specific daily solar radiation (R g ) is a significant impediment for most crop modeling applications. For this reason, 5 methods for estimating R g were tested: the Ångström-Prescott equation (AP), the Supit -van Kappel formula (SK) and 3 temperature-based methods: Campbell-Donatelli model, Hargreaves equation, and piecewise multiple linear regressions with a breakpoint (PLR). To overcome the lack of long and continuous time series of R g measurements at multiple sites, satellite-derived R g from the HelioClim-1 database were tested against observations from 2 stations, and then interpolated for 12 additional stations. When sunshine duration data were available, the AP equation was best, because it (1) produced intercepts and slopes closest to zero and unity, respectively and (2) had the lowest relative RMSE (9 to 18.6%). When cloud cover observations and data on maximum and minimum temperatures were available, the SK equation was equally effective as AP in most assessment metrics. When the only data for a site were daily maximum and minimum temperatures, the PLR approach with a breakpoint, which reflects the value at which the response of daily R g changes as a function of the extraterrestrial solar radiation R A and the diurnal temperature range, performed best. The mean relative RMSE of the PLR approach was < 3.7% higher than that of AP. The SK equation provided the most suitable simulation of measured R g for the CERES-Wheat crop model, while among the temperature-based methods PLR produced the smallest yield errors. Future validation efforts should explore the validity of the PLR model in other regions and under regimes with greater availability of R g data KEY WORDS: Solar radiation estimation · Crop simulation models · Piecewise multiple linear regression · GreeceResale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

Estimating daily global solar radiation during the growing season in Northeast China using the Ångström–Prescott model

“…Sunshinebased methods generally outperform other variable-based methods (Bakirci 2009;Liu et al 2009;Mavromatis 2008). Particularly, the Ångström-Prescott (AP) equation performs best (Almorox and Hontoria 2004;Fukuda et al 2008;Katiyar and Pandey 2010;Liu et al 2009;Mavromatis 2008;Mubiru and Banda 2007;Trnka et al 2005). The present study focuses on the AP approach to estimate daily solar radiation in Northeast China.…”

“…(Goodin et al 1999;Liu and Scott 2001;Mahmood and Hubbard 2002;Thornton and Running 1999;Weiss et al 2001). Sunshinebased methods generally outperform other variable-based methods (Bakirci 2009;Liu et al 2009;Mavromatis 2008). Particularly, the Ångström-Prescott (AP) equation performs best (Almorox and Hontoria 2004;Fukuda et al 2008;Katiyar and Pandey 2010;Liu et al 2009;Mavromatis 2008;Mubiru and Banda 2007;Trnka et al 2005).…”

“…Liu et al (2009) found that there may be no significant difference in the wellness of a fit using quadratic or linear function. Similarly, Mavromatis (2008) tested five methods for estimating global solar radiation: the linear AP equation, the Supit-van Kappel formula and three temperature-based methods (the Campbell-Donatelli model, the Hargreaves equation, and piecewise multiple linear regressions with a breakpoint). The results showed that when sunshine duration data were available, the linear AP equation was preferred.…”

Estimation of Global Solar Radiation from Temperature Extremes: A Case Study of Hebron City, Palestine

“…The demand for suitable radiation data has in turn led researchers to develop a number of predictive methods for estimating solar radiation. Some of these methods include estimating solar radiation from other available meteorological observations [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. However, those are based on empirical relationships using commonly measured meteorological elements such as air temperature data are attractive due to lower data requirement and computation costs [3,15].…”

Temperature-based solar radiation models for use in simulated soybean potential yield

“…Daily solar radiation incident (Rs) data are used in crop yield simulation (Bellocchi et al, 2003;Abraha and Savage, 2008;Mavromatis, 2008;Borges et al, 2010;Wang et al, 2015) and evapotranspiration requirements (Bandyopadhyay et al, 2008;Conceição, 2010;Carvalho et al, 2011;El Nesr et al, 2011). However, because of instrument cost and calibration requirements (Hossain et al 2014), Rs is not widely measured like commonly used air temperature and rainfall data (Weiss and Hays, 2004).…”