Improving direct normal irradiance retrieval in cloud-free, but high aerosol load conditions by using aerosol optical depth

Boraiy, Mohamed; Korany, Mohamed; Aoun, Youva; Alfaro, Stéphane C.; El‐Metwally, Mossad; Wahab, M. M. Abdel; Blanc, Philippe; Eissa, Yehia; Ghedira, Hosni; Siour, Guillaume; Hungershoefer, K.; Wald, Lucien

doi:10.1127/metz/2017/0844

Cited by 5 publications

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“…In particular, the direct normal irradiance (DNI) is 2-4 times more sensitive to the presence of aerosol than the global horizontal irradiance (GHI) [20]. The impact of dust aerosols on the DNI has been assessed for several arid and semi-arid sites [21][22][23]. Meanwhile, similar assessments taking into account the biomass burning aerosols are lacking.…”

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confidence: 99%

Numerical Assessment of Downward Incoming Solar Irradiance in Smoke Influenced Regions—A Case Study in Brazilian Amazon and Cerrado

et al. 2021

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Smoke aerosol plumes generated during the biomass burning season in Brazil suffer long-range transport, resulting in large aerosol optical depths over an extensive domain. As a consequence, downward surface solar irradiance, and in particular the direct component, can be significantly reduced. Accurate solar energy assessments considering the radiative contribution of biomass burning aerosols are required to support Brazil’s solar power sector. This work presents the 2nd generation of the radiative transfer model BRASIL-SR, developed to improve the aerosol representation and reduce the uncertainties in surface solar irradiance estimates in cloudless hazy conditions and clean conditions. Two numerical experiments allowed to assess the model’s skill using observational or regional MERRA-2 reanalysis AOD data in a region frequently affected by smoke. Four ground measurement sites provided data for the model output validation. Results for DNI obtained using δ-Eddington scaling and without scaling are compared, with the latter presenting the best skill in all sites and for both experiments. An increase in the relative error of DNI results obtained with δ-Eddington optical depth scaling as AOD increases is evidenced. For DNI, MBD deviations ranged from −2.3 to −0.5%, RMSD between 2.3 and 4.7% and OVER between 0 and 5.3% when using in-situ AOD data. Overall, our results indicate a good skill of BRASIL-SR for the estimation of both GHI and DNI.

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