scholarly journals Satellite Retrieval of Downwelling Shortwave Surface Flux and Diffuse Fraction under All Sky Conditions in the Framework of the LSA SAF Program (Part 2: Evaluation)

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 2630 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominique Carrer ◽  
Suman Moparthy ◽  
Chloé Vincent ◽  
Xavier Ceamanos ◽  
Sandra C. Freitas ◽  
...  

High frequency knowledge of the spatio-temporal distribution of the downwelling surface shortwave flux (DSSF) and its diffuse fraction (fd) at the surface is nowadays essential for understanding climate processes at the surface–atmosphere interface, plant photosynthesis and carbon cycle, and for the solar energy sector. The European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) Satellite Application Facility for Land Surface Analysis operationally delivers estimation of the MDSSFTD (MSG Downwelling Surface Short-wave radiation Fluxes—Total and Diffuse fraction) product with an operational status since the year 2019. The method for retrieval was presented in a companion paper. Part 2 now focuses on the evaluation of the MDSSFTD algorithm and presents a comparison of the corresponding outputs, i.e., total DSSF and diffuse fraction (fd) components, against in situ measurements acquired at four Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) stations over a seven-month period. The validation is performed on an instantaneous basis. We show that the satellite estimates of DSSF and fd meet the target requirements defined by the user community for all-sky (clear and cloudy) conditions. For DSSF, the requirements are 20 Wm−2 for DSSF < 200 Wm−2, and 10% for DSSF ≥ 200 Wm−2. The mean bias error (MBE) and relative mean bias error (rMBE) compared to the ground measurements are 3.618 Wm−2 and 0.252%, respectively. For fd, the requirements are 0.1 for fd < 0.5, and 20% for fd ≥ 0.5. The MBE and rMBE compared to the ground measurements are −0.044% and −17.699%, respectively. The study also provides a separate analysis of the product performances for clear sky and cloudy sky conditions. The importance of representing the cloud–aerosol radiative coupling in the MDSSFTD method is discussed. Finally, it is concluded that the quality of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) forecasts currently available is accurate enough to obtain reliable diffuse solar flux estimates. This quality of AOD forecasts was still a limitation a few years ago.

2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Qin ◽  
Kun Yang ◽  
Shunlin Liang ◽  
Wenjun Tang

AbstractPhotosynthetically active radiation (PAR) is absorbed by plants to carry out photosynthesis. Its estimation is important for many applications such as ecological modeling. In this study, a broadband transmittance scheme for solar radiation at the PAR band is developed to estimate clear-sky PAR values. The influence of clouds is subsequently taken into account through sunshine-duration data. This scheme is examined without local calibration against the observed PAR values under both clear- and cloudy-sky conditions at seven widely distributed Surface Radiation Budget Network (SURFRAD) stations. The results indicate that the scheme can estimate the daily mean PAR at these seven stations under all-sky conditions with root-mean-square error and mean bias error values ranging from 6.03 to 6.83 W m−2 and from −2.86 to 1.03 W m−2, respectively. Further analyses indicate that the scheme can estimate PAR values well with globally available aerosol and ozone datasets. This suggests that the scheme can be applied to regions for which observed aerosol and ozone data are not available.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 1905-1915 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjun Tang ◽  
Kun Yang ◽  
Jun Qin ◽  
Xin Li ◽  
Xiaolei Niu

Abstract. The recent release of the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) HXG cloud products and new ERA5 reanalysis data enabled us to produce a global surface solar radiation (SSR) dataset: a 16-year (2000–2015) high-resolution (3 h, 10 km) global SSR dataset using an improved physical parameterization scheme. The main inputs were cloud optical depth from ISCCP-HXG cloud products; the water vapor, surface pressure and ozone from ERA5 reanalysis data; and albedo and aerosol from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) products. The estimated SSR data were evaluated against surface observations measured at 42 stations of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) and 90 radiation stations of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA). Validation against the BSRN data indicated that the mean bias error (MBE), root mean square error (RMSE) and correlation coefficient (R) for the instantaneous SSR estimates at 10 km scale were −11.5 W m−2, 113.5 W m−2 and 0.92, respectively. When the estimated instantaneous SSR data were upscaled to 90 km, its error was clearly reduced, with RMSE decreasing to 93.4 W m−2 and R increasing to 0.95. For daily SSR estimates at 90 km scale, the MBE, RMSE and R at the BSRN were −5.8 W m−2, 33.1 W m−2 and 0.95, respectively. These error metrics at the CMA radiation stations were 2.1 W m−2, 26.9 W m−2 and 0.95, respectively. Comparisons with other global satellite radiation products indicated that our SSR estimates were generally better than those of the ISCCP flux dataset (ISCCP-FD), the global energy and water cycle experiment surface radiation budget (GEWEX-SRB), and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES). Our SSR dataset will contribute to the land-surface process simulations and the photovoltaic applications in the future. The dataset is available at  https://doi.org/10.11888/Meteoro.tpdc.270112 (Tang, 2019).


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jin Ma ◽  
Ji Zhou

&lt;p&gt;As an important indicator of land-atmosphere energy interaction, land surface temperature (LST) plays an important role in the research of climate change, hydrology, and various land surface processes. Compared with traditional ground-based observation, satellite remote sensing provides the possibility to retrieve LST more efficiently over a global scale. Since the lack of global LST before, Ma et al., (2020) released a global 0.05 &amp;#215;0.05&amp;#160; long-term (1981-2000) LST based on NOAA-7/9/11/14 AVHRR. The dataset includes three layers: (1) instantaneous LST, a product generated based on an ensemble of several split-window algorithms with a random forest (RF-SWA); (2) orbital-drift-corrected (ODC) LST, a drift-corrected version of RF-SWA LST at 14:30 solar time; and (3) monthly averages of ODC LST. To meet the requirement of the long-term application, e.g. climate change, the period of the LST is extended from 1981-2000 to 1981-2020 in this study. The LST from 2001 to 2020 are retrieved from NOAA-16/18/19 AVHRR with the same algorithm for NOAA-7/8/11/14 AVHRR. The train and test results based on the simulation data from SeeBor and TIGR atmospheric profiles show that the accuracy of the RF-SWA method for the three sensors is consistent with the previous four sensors, i.e. the mean bias error and standard deviation less than 0.10 K and 1.10 K, respectively, under the assumption that the maximum emissivity and water vapor content uncertainties are 0.04 and 1.0 g/cm&lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;, respectively. The preliminary validation against &lt;em&gt;in-situ&lt;/em&gt; LST also shows a similar accuracy, indicating that the accuracy of LST from 1981 to 2020 are consistent with each other. In the generation code, the new LST has been improved in terms of land surface emissivity estimation, identification of cloud pixel, and the ODC method in order to generate a more reliable LST dataset. Up to now, the new version LST product (1981-2020) is under generating and will be released soon in support of the scientific research community.&lt;/p&gt;


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 1499-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Foyo-Moreno ◽  
I. Alados ◽  
L. Alados-Arboledas

Abstract. In this work we adapt an empirical model to estimate ultraviolet erythemal irradiance (UVER) using experimental measurements carried out at seven stations in Spain during four years (2000–2003). The measurements were taken in the framework of the Spanish UVB radiometric network operated and maintained by the Spanish Meteorological Institute. The UVER observations are recorded as half hour average values. The model is valid for all-sky conditions, estimating UVER from the ozone columnar content and parameters usually registered in radiometric networks, such as global broadband hemispherical transmittance and optical air mass. One data set was used to develop the model and another independent set was used to validate it. The model provides satisfactory results, with low mean bias error (MBE) for all stations. In fact, MBEs are less than 4% and root mean square errors (RMSE) are below 18% (except for one location). The model has also been evaluated to estimate the UV index. The percentage of cases with differences of 0 UVI units is in the range of 61.1% to 72.0%, while the percentage of cases with differences of ±1 UVI unit covers the range of 95.6% to 99.2%. This result confirms the applicability of the model to estimate UVER irradiance and the UV index at those locations in the Iberian Peninsula where there are no UV radiation measurements.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 949-969
Author(s):  
Fugen Li ◽  
Xiaozhou Xin ◽  
Zhiqing Peng ◽  
Qinhuo Liu

Abstract. Currently, applications of remote sensing evapotranspiration (ET) products are limited by the coarse resolution of satellite remote sensing data caused by land surface heterogeneities and the temporal-scale extrapolation of the instantaneous latent heat flux (LE) based on satellite overpass time. This study proposes a simple but efficient model (EFAF) for estimating the daily ET of remotely sensed mixed pixels using a model of the evaporative fraction (EF) and area fraction (AF) to increase the accuracy of ET estimate over heterogeneous land surfaces. To accomplish this goal, we derive an equation for calculating the EF of mixed pixels based on two key hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 states that the available energy (AE) of each sub-pixel is approximately equal to that of any other sub-pixels in the same mixed pixel within an acceptable margin of error and is equivalent to the AE of the mixed pixel. This approach simplifies the equation, and uncertainties and errors related to the estimated ET values are minor. Hypothesis 2 states that the EF of each sub-pixel is equal to that of the nearest pure pixel(s) of the same land cover type. This equation is designed to correct spatial-scale errors for the EF of mixed pixels; it can be used to calculate daily ET from daily AE data. The model was applied to an artificial oasis located in the midstream area of the Heihe River using HJ-1B satellite data with a 300 m resolution. The results generated before and after making corrections were compared and validated using site data from eddy covariance systems. The results show that the new model can significantly improve the accuracy of daily ET estimates relative to the lumped method; the coefficient of determination (R2) increased to 0.82 from 0.62, the root mean square error (RMSE) decreased to 1.60 from 2.47 MJ m−2(decreased approximately to 0.64 from 0.99 mm) and the mean bias error (MBE) decreased from 1.92 to 1.18 MJ m−2 (decreased from approximately 0.77 to 0.47 mm). It is concluded that EFAF can reproduce daily ET with reasonable accuracy; can be used to produce the ET product; and can be applied to hydrology research, precision agricultural management and monitoring natural ecosystems in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (19) ◽  
pp. 3967 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuzhang Che ◽  
Lewei Chen ◽  
Jiafeng Zheng ◽  
Liang Yuan ◽  
Feng Xiao

Day-ahead forecasting of solar radiation is essential for grid balancing, real-time unit dispatching, scheduling and trading in the solar energy utilization system. In order to provide reliable forecasts of solar radiation, a novel hybrid model is proposed in this study. The hybrid model consists of two modules: a mesoscale numerical weather prediction model (WRF: Weather Research and Forecasting) and Kalman filter. However, the Kalman filter is less likely to predict sudden changes in the forecasting errors. To address this shortcoming, we develop a new framework to implement a Kalman filter based on the clearness index. The performance of this hybrid model is evaluated using a one-year dataset of solar radiation taken from a photovoltaic plant located at Maizuru, Japan and Qinghai, China, respectively. The numerical results reveal that the proposed hybrid model performs much better in comparison with the WRF-alone forecasts under different sky conditions. In particular, in the case of clear sky conditions, the hybrid model can improve the forecasting accuracy by 95.7% and 90.9% in mean bias error (MBE), and 42.2% and 26.8% in root mean square error (RMSE) for Maizuru and Qinghai sites, respectively.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 1398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Di Paola ◽  
Elisabetta Ricciardelli ◽  
Domenico Cimini ◽  
Angela Cersosimo ◽  
Arianna Di Paola ◽  
...  

A new algorithm for the estimation of atmospheric temperature (T) and water vapor (WV) vertical profiles in nonprecipitating conditions is presented. The microwave random forest temperature and water vapor (MiRTaW) profiling algorithm is based on the random forest (RF) technique and it uses microwave (MW) sounding from the Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder (ATMS) onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) satellite. Three different data sources were chosen for both training and validation purposes, namely, the ERA-Interim from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer Atmospheric Temperature Water Vapour and Surface Skin Temperature (IASI L2 v6) from the Meteorological Operational satellites of the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), and the radiosonde observations from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA). The period from 2012 to 2016 was considered in the training dataset; particular attention was paid to the instance selection procedure, in order to reduce the full training dataset with negligible information loss. The out-of-bag (OOB) error was computed and used to select the optimal RF parameters. Different RFs were trained, one for each vertical level: 32 levels for T (within 10–1000 hPa) and 23 levels for WV (200–1000 hPa). The validation of the MiRTaW profiling algorithm was conducted on a dataset from 2017. The mean bias error (MBE) of T vertical profiles ranges within about (−0.4–0.4) K, while for the WV mixing ratio, the MBE starts at ~0.5 g/kg near the surface and decreases to ~0 g/kg at 200 hPa level, in line with the expectations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 2111 ◽  
Author(s):  
Borde ◽  
Carranza ◽  
Hautecoeur ◽  
Barbieux

EUMETSAT, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, is one of the key contributors to global atmospheric motion vector (AMV) production around the world. Its current contribution includes geostationary satellites at 0.0 and 41.5 degrees east, and several products extracted from the Metop low-orbit satellites. These last ones mainly cover high-latitude regions completing the observations from the geostationary ring. In the upcoming years, EUMETSAT will launch a new generation of geostationary and low-orbit satellites. The imager instruments Flexible Combined Imager (FCI) and METImage will take over the nominal AMV production at EUMETSAT around 2022 and 2024. The enhanced characteristics of these new-generation instruments are expected to increase AMV production and to improve the quality of the products. This paper presents an overview of the current EUMETSAT AMV operational production, together with a roadmap of the preparation activities for the new generation of satellites. The characteristics of the upcoming AMV products are described and compared to the current operational AMV products. This paper also presents a recent investigation into AMV extraction using the Sentinel-3 Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) instrument, as well as the retrieval of wind profiles from infrared sounders.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (9) ◽  
pp. 2403-2418 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lefèvre ◽  
A. Oumbe ◽  
P. Blanc ◽  
B. Espinar ◽  
B. Gschwind ◽  
...  

Abstract. A new fast clear-sky model called McClear was developed to estimate the downwelling shortwave direct and global irradiances received at ground level under clear skies. It is a fully physical model replacing empirical relations or simpler models used before. It exploits the recent results on aerosol properties, and total column content in water vapour and ozone produced by the MACC project (Monitoring Atmosphere Composition and Climate). It accurately reproduces the irradiance computed by the libRadtran reference radiative transfer model with a computational speed approximately 105 times greater by adopting the abaci, or look-up table, approach combined with interpolation functions. It is therefore suited for geostationary satellite retrievals or numerical weather prediction schemes with many pixels or grid points, respectively. McClear irradiances were compared to 1 min measurements made in clear-sky conditions at several stations within the Baseline Surface Radiation Network in various climates. The bias for global irradiance comprises between −6 and 25 W m−2. The RMSE ranges from 20 W m−2 (3% of the mean observed irradiance) to 36 W m−2 (5%) and the correlation coefficient ranges between 0.95 and 0.99. The bias for the direct irradiance comprises between −48 and +33 W m−2. The root mean square error (RMSE) ranges from 33 W m−2 (5%) to 64 W m−2 (10%). The correlation coefficient ranges between 0.84 and 0.98. This work demonstrates the quality of the McClear model combined with MACC products, and indirectly the quality of the aerosol properties modelled by the MACC reanalysis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 1984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang ◽  
Gao ◽  
Li ◽  
Jia ◽  
Jiang

The accurate prediction of surface solar irradiance is of great significance for the generation of photovoltaic power. Surface solar irradiance is affected by many random mutation factors, which means that there are great challenges faced in short-term prediction. In Northwest China, there are abundant solar energy resources and large desert areas, which have broad prospects for the development of photovoltaic (PV) systems. For the desert areas in Northwest China, where meteorological stations are scarce, satellite remote sensing data are extremely precious exploration data. In this paper, we present a model using FY-4A satellite images to forecast (up to 15–180 min ahead) global horizontal solar irradiance (GHI), at a 15 min temporal resolution in desert areas under different sky conditions, and compare it with the persistence model (SP). The spatial resolution of the FY-4A satellite images we used was 1 km × 1 km. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to derive the cloud motion vector (CMV) field from the satellite cloud images. The accuracy of the forecast model was evaluated by the ground observed GHI data. The results showed that the normalized root mean square error (nRMSE) ranged from 18.9% to 21.6% and the normalized mean bias error (nMBE) ranged from 3.2% to 4.9% for time horizons from 15 to 180 min under all sky conditions. Compared with the SP model, the nRMSE value was reduced by about 6%, 8%, and 14% with the time horizons of 60, 120, and 180 min, respectively.


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