Short-Term Solar Irradiance Forecasts Using Sky Images and Radiative Transfer Model

Data from a moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer instrument onboard the Terra satellite along with a radiative transfer model and a machine learning technique were integrated to predict direct solar irradiance on a horizontal surface over the Arabian Peninsula (AP). In preparation for building appropriate residual network (ResNet) prediction models, we conducted some exploratory data analysis (EDA) and came to some conclusions. We noted that aerosols in the atmosphere correlate with solar irradiance in the eastern region of the AP, especially near the coastlines of the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman. We also found low solar irradiance during March 2016 and March 2017 in the central (~20% less) and eastern regions (~15% less) of the AP, which could be attributed to the high frequency of dust events during those months. Compared to other locations in the AP, high solar irradiance was recorded in the Rub Al Khali desert during winter and spring. The effect of major dust outbreaks over the AP during March 2009 and March 2012 was also noted. The EDA indicated a correlation between high aerosol loading and a decrease in solar irradiance. The analysis showed that the Rub Al Khali desert is one of the best locations in the AP to harvest solar radiation. The analysis also showed the ResNet prediction model achieves high test accuracy scores, indicated by a mean absolute error of ~0.02, a mean squared error of ~0.005, and an R2 of 0.99.

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A multi-model benchmarking of direct and global clear-sky solar irradiance predictions at arid sites using a reference physical radiative transfer model

Solar Energy ◽

10.1016/j.solener.2018.06.048 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 171 ◽

pp. 447-465 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Jose A. Ruiz-Arias ◽

Christian A. Gueymard

Keyword(s):

Radiative Transfer ◽

Solar Irradiance ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Clear Sky

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A Radiative Transfer Model for Acoustic Propagation in Ocean Sediment Layers

10.21236/ada531885 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

Lisa M. Zurk

Keyword(s):

Radiative Transfer ◽

Acoustic Propagation ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Ocean Sediment ◽

Sediment Layers

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A Radiative Transfer Model for Acoustic Propagation in Ocean Sediment Layers

10.21236/ada575146 ◽

2012 ◽

Author(s):

Lisa M. Zurk

Keyword(s):

Radiative Transfer ◽

Acoustic Propagation ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Ocean Sediment ◽

Sediment Layers

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Probing clouds in planets with a simple radiative transfer model: the Jupiter case

European Journal of Physics ◽

10.1088/0143-0807/33/6/1611 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 33 (6) ◽

pp. 1611-1624 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Iñigo Mendikoa ◽

Santiago Pérez-Hoyos ◽

Agustín Sánchez-Lavega

Keyword(s):

Radiative Transfer ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Transfer Model

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Mapping barrier island soil moisture using a radiative transfer model of hyperspectral imagery from an unmanned aerial system

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-82783-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Rehman S. Eon ◽

Charles M. Bachmann

Keyword(s):

Soil Moisture ◽

Radiative Transfer ◽

Moisture Content ◽

Layer Thickness ◽

Soil Moisture Content ◽

Hyperspectral Imagery ◽

Barrier Island ◽

Water Layer ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Transfer Model

AbstractThe advent of remote sensing from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) has opened the door to more affordable and effective methods of imaging and mapping of surface geophysical properties with many important applications in areas such as coastal zone management, ecology, agriculture, and defense. We describe a study to validate and improve soil moisture content retrieval and mapping from hyperspectral imagery collected by a UAS system. Our approach uses a recently developed model known as the multilayer radiative transfer model of soil reflectance (MARMIT). MARMIT partitions contributions due to water and the sediment surface into equivalent but separate layers and describes these layers using an equivalent slab model formalism. The model water layer thickness along with the fraction of wet surface become parameters that must be optimized in a calibration step, with extinction due to water absorption being applied in the model based on equivalent water layer thickness, while transmission and reflection coefficients follow the Fresnel formalism. In this work, we evaluate the model in both field settings, using UAS hyperspectral imagery, and laboratory settings, using hyperspectral spectra obtained with a goniometer. Sediment samples obtained from four different field sites representing disparate environmental settings comprised the laboratory analysis while field validation used hyperspectral UAS imagery and coordinated ground truth obtained on a barrier island shore during field campaigns in 2018 and 2019. Analysis of the most significant wavelengths for retrieval indicate a number of different wavelengths in the short-wave infra-red (SWIR) that provide accurate fits to measured soil moisture content in the laboratory with normalized root mean square error (NRMSE)< 0.145, while independent evaluation from sequestered test data from the hyperspectral UAS imagery obtained during the field campaign obtained an average NRMSE = 0.169 and median NRMSE = 0.152 in a bootstrap analysis.

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The radiative transfer model for the greenhouse effect

SeMA Journal ◽

10.1007/s40324-021-00265-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Claude Bardos ◽

Olivier Pironneau

Keyword(s):

Radiative Transfer ◽

Greenhouse Effect ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Transfer Model

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Potential of Hyperspectral Thermal Infrared Spaceborne Measurements to Retrieve Ice Cloud Physical Properties: Case Study of IASI and IASI-NG

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13010116 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

pp. 116

Author(s):

Lucie Leonarski ◽

Laurent C.-Labonnote ◽

Mathieu Compiègne ◽

Jérôme Vidot ◽

Anthony J. Baran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Radiative Transfer ◽

Signal To Noise Ratio ◽

Thermal Infrared ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Retrieval Algorithm ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Water Path ◽

Ice Cloud ◽

Ice Water Path ◽

Ice Water

The present study aims to quantify the potential of hyperspectral thermal infrared sounders such as the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) and the future IASI next generation (IASI-NG) for retrieving the ice cloud layer altitude and thickness together with the ice water path. We employed the radiative transfer model Radiative Transfer for TOVS (RTTOV) to simulate cloudy radiances using parameterized ice cloud optical properties. The radiances have been computed from an ice cloud profile database coming from global operational short-range forecasts at the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) which encloses the normal conditions, typical variability, and extremes of the atmospheric properties over one year (Eresmaa and McNally (2014)). We performed an information content analysis based on Shannon’s formalism to determine the amount and spectral distribution of the information about ice cloud properties. Based on this analysis, a retrieval algorithm has been developed and tested on the profile database. We considered the signal-to-noise ratio of each specific instrument and the non-retrieved atmospheric and surface parameter errors. This study brings evidence that the observing system provides information on the ice water path (IWP) as well as on the layer altitude and thickness with a convergence rate up to 95% and expected errors that decrease with cloud opacity until the signal saturation is reached (satisfying retrievals are achieved for clouds whose IWP is between about 1 and 300 g/m2).

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Fast Hyper-Spectral Radiative Transfer Model Based on the Double Cluster Low-Streams Regression Method

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13030434 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 434

Author(s):

Ana del Águila ◽

Dmitry S. Efremenko

Keyword(s):

Radiative Transfer ◽

Single Scattering ◽

Atmospheric Composition ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Transfer Model ◽

Absorption Bands ◽

Acceleration Techniques ◽

Scattering Approximation ◽

Fine Resolution ◽

Single Scattering Approximation

Fast radiative transfer models (RTMs) are required to process a great amount of satellite-based atmospheric composition data. Specifically designed acceleration techniques can be incorporated in RTMs to simulate the reflected radiances with a fine spectral resolution, avoiding time-consuming computations on a fine resolution grid. In particular, in the cluster low-streams regression (CLSR) method, the computations on a fine resolution grid are performed by using the fast two-stream RTM, and then the spectra are corrected by using regression models between the two-stream and multi-stream RTMs. The performance enhancement due to such a scheme can be of about two orders of magnitude. In this paper, we consider a modification of the CLSR method (which is referred to as the double CLSR method), in which the single-scattering approximation is used for the computations on a fine resolution grid, while the two-stream spectra are computed by using the regression model between the two-stream RTM and the single-scattering approximation. Once the two-stream spectra are known, the CLSR method is applied the second time to restore the multi-stream spectra. Through a numerical analysis, it is shown that the double CLSR method yields an acceleration factor of about three orders of magnitude as compared to the reference multi-stream fine-resolution computations. The error of such an approach is below 0.05%. In addition, it is analysed how the CLSR method can be adopted for efficient computations for atmospheric scenarios containing aerosols. In particular, it is discussed how the precomputed data for clear sky conditions can be reused for computing the aerosol spectra in the framework of the CLSR method. The simulations are performed for the Hartley–Huggins, O2 A-, water vapour and CO2 weak absorption bands and five aerosol models from the optical properties of aerosols and clouds (OPAC) database.

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