Effects of potential factors on changes in surface solar radiation in East China over recent decade

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuyan Wang ◽  
Hua Zhang ◽  
Martin Wild
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Cloud Fraction ◽  
East China ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Low Cloud ◽  
Potential Factors

<p>Previous studies have documented that the surface solar radiation (SSR) over most regions of China has shifted from the ‘global dimming’ since the 1950s to the ‘global brightening’ after 2005. In this paper, the potential factors that affect the annual trends of SSR over East China from 2005 to 2018 based on different satellite-derived products are analyzed. Then, due to the lack of long-term various aerosol species from observation data, the focus of this study is to calculate the contributions from direct effects of different types of cloud fraction on SSR relative to the effects of total cloud fraction over East China during the same period using a BCC_RAD radiative transfer model. The results show that clouds and aerosols are the primary factors that affect the SSR over East China from 2005 to 2018, followed by water vapor and ozone.</p><p>The annual mean all-sky SSR from 2005 to 2018 is significantly increased over the North China Plain, Northeast China, Yunnan, and Eastern Sichuan provinces, with the increases up to 0.6 W m<sup>-2</sup> yr<sup>-1</sup>. This is probably due to the combined reductions of aerosols and clouds during this period, but clouds even play a more important role over Shanxi and northern Shaanxi. Changes in aerosols dominate the increase of SSR over Hunan, Jiangxi, and Fujian provinces, whereas clouds contribute more to the decreases of SSR over Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, and Zhejiang provinces. Meanwhile, the simulations indicate that the marked annual mean decreases in high cloud fraction, especially for low cloud fraction, are the main causes of simulated increases in SSR due to total cloud fraction over most regions of East China, while the increases in high, medium-high, especially for medium-low cloud fraction, play more important roles in reductions of SSR over southern China. Moreover, the direct effects of various types of cloud fraction on changes in SSR for each season are also examined. It seems that the direct effects of low cloud fraction on SSR are likely the strongest among all kinds of clouds. Take southern China as an example, the direct effects of medium-low and low cloud fraction are stronger for spring and autumn, while contributions from low cloud fraction are largest in winter. However, the combined increases in high, medium-high, medium-low cloud fraction exceed decreases in low cloud fraction, thus causing the reduction in SSR in summer. This study highlights that different types of clouds may have different impacts on SSR not only on the annual mean scale but also on seasonal scales.</p><p>Keywords: surface solar radiation, aerosols, different types of cloud fraction</p>

scholarly journals Potential Driving Factors on Surface Solar Radiation Trends over China in Recent Years

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiuyan Wang ◽  
Hua Zhang ◽  
Martin Wild
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Cloud Cover ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Low Cloud ◽  
Low Cloud Cover

<p>The annual mean surface solar radiation (SSR) trends under all-sky, clear-sky, all-sky-no-aerosol, and clear-sky-no-aerosol conditions as well as their possible causes are analyzed during 2005-2018 over China based on different satellite-retrieved datasets to determine the likely drivers of the trends. The results confirm clouds and aerosols as the major contributors to such all-sky SSR trends over China but playing different roles over sub-regions. Aerosol variations during this period result in a widespread brightening, while cloud effects show opposite trends from south to north. Moreover, aerosols contribute more to the increasing all-sky SSR trends over northern China, while clouds dominate the SSR declines over southern China. A radiative transfer model is used to explore the relative contributions of cloud cover from different cloud types to the all-types-of-cloud-cover-induced (ACC-induced) SSR trends during this period in four typical sub-regions over China. The simulations point out that the decreases in low-cloud-cover (LCC) over the North China Plain are the largest positive contributor of all cloud types to the marked annual and seasonal ACC-induced SSR increases, and the positive contributions from both high-cloud-cover (HCC) and LCC declines in summer and winter greatly contribute to the ACC-induced SSR increases over East China. The contributions from medium-low-cloud-cover (mid-LCC) and LCC variations dominate the ACC-caused SSR trends over southwestern and South China all year round, except for the larger HCC contribution in summer.</p>

scholarly journals Potential Driving Factors on Surface Solar Radiation Trends over China in Recent Years

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 704
Author(s):  
Qiuyan Wang ◽  
Hua Zhang ◽  
Su Yang ◽  
Qi Chen ◽  
Xixun Zhou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Cloud Cover ◽  
Southern China ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Clear Sky ◽  
Low Cloud ◽  
Low Cloud Cover

The annual mean surface solar radiation (SSR) trends under all-sky, clear-sky, all-sky-no-aerosol, and clear-sky-no-aerosol conditions as well as their possible causes are analyzed during 2005–2018 across China based on different satellite-retrieved datasets to determine the major drivers of the trends. The results confirm clouds and aerosols as the major contributors to such all-sky SSR trends over China but play differing roles over sub-regions. Aerosol variations during this period result in a widespread brightening, while cloud effects show opposite trends from south to north. Moreover, aerosols contribute more to the increasing all-sky SSR trends over northern China, while clouds dominate the SSR decline over southern China. A radiative transfer model is used to explore the relative contributions of cloud cover from different cloud types to the all-types-of-cloud-cover-induced (ACC-induced) SSR trends during this period in four typical sub-regions over China. The simulations point out that the decreases in low-cloud-cover (LCC) over the North China Plain are the largest positive contributor of all cloud types to the marked annual and seasonal ACC-induced SSR increases, and the positive contributions from both high-cloud-cover (HCC) and LCC declines in summer and winter greatly contribute to the ACC-induced SSR increases over East China. The contributions from medium-low-cloud-cover (mid-LCC) and LCC variations dominate the ACC-caused SSR trends over southwestern and South China all year round, except for the larger HCC contribution in summer.

scholarly journals Effects of Aerosols and Clouds on the Levels of Surface Solar Radiation and Solar Energy in Cyprus

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilias Fountoulakis ◽  
Panagiotis Kosmopoulos ◽  
Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou ◽  
Panagiotis-Ioannis Raptis ◽  
Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Financial Loss ◽  
Low Latitude ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Satellite Retrievals ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Fine Resolution

Cyprus plans to drastically increase the share of renewable energy sources from 13.9% in 2020 to 22.9% in 2030. Solar energy can play a key role in the effort to fulfil this goal. The potential for production of solar energy over the island is much higher than most of European territory because of the low latitude of the island and the nearly cloudless summers. In this study, high quality and fine resolution satellite retrievals of aerosols and dust, from the newly developed MIDAS climatology, as well as information for clouds from CMSAF are used in order to quantify the effects of aerosols, dust, and clouds on the levels of surface solar radiation (SSR) and the corresponding financial loss for different types of installations for production of solar energy. An SSR climatology has been also developed based on the above information. Ground-based measurements were also incorporated to study the contribution of different species to the aerosol mixture and the effects of day-to-day variability of aerosols on SSR. Aerosols attenuate 5 – 10% of annual GHI and 15 – 35% of annual DNI, while clouds attenuate ~25 – 30% and 35 – 50% respectively. Dust is responsible for 30 – 50% of the overall attenuation by aerosols.

scholarly journals On the ability of RegCM4 regional climate model to simulate surface solar radiation patterns over Europe: an assessment using satellite-based observations

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (22) ◽  
pp. 13195-13216 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Alexandri ◽  
A. K. Georgoulias ◽  
P. Zanis ◽  
E. Katragkou ◽  
A. Tsikerdekis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Regional Climate Model ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Asymmetry Factor ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Absolute Deviation ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation

Abstract. In this work, we assess the ability of RegCM4 regional climate model to simulate surface solar radiation (SSR) patterns over Europe. A decadal RegCM4 run (2000–2009) was implemented and evaluated against satellite-based observations from the Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF), showing that the model simulates adequately the SSR patterns over the region. The SSR bias between RegCM4 and CM SAF is +1.5 % for MFG (Meteosat First Generation) and +3.3 % for MSG (Meteosat Second Generation) observations. The relative contribution of parameters that determine the transmission of solar radiation within the atmosphere to the deviation appearing between RegCM4 and CM SAF SSR is also examined. Cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties such as cloud fractional cover (CFC), cloud optical thickness (COT) and cloud effective radius (Re) from RegCM4 are evaluated against data from CM SAF. Generally, RegCM4 underestimates CFC by 24.3 % and Re for liquid/ice clouds by 36.1 %/28.3 % and overestimates COT by 4.3 %. The same procedure is repeated for aerosol optical properties such as aerosol optical depth (AOD), asymmetry factor (ASY) and single-scattering albedo (SSA), as well as other parameters, including surface broadband albedo (ALB) and water vapor amount (WV), using data from MACv1 aerosol climatology, from CERES satellite sensors and from ERA-Interim reanalysis. It is shown here that the good agreement between RegCM4 and satellite-based SSR observations can be partially attributed to counteracting effects among the above mentioned parameters. The potential contribution of each parameter to the RegCM4–CM SAF SSR deviations is estimated with the combined use of the aforementioned data and a radiative transfer model (SBDART). CFC, COT and AOD are the major determinants of these deviations on a monthly basis; however, the other parameters also play an important role for specific regions and seasons. Overall, for the European domain, CFC, COT and AOD are the most important factors, since their underestimations and overestimations by RegCM4 cause an annual RegCM4–CM SAF SSR absolute deviation of 8.4, 3.8 and 4.5 %, respectively.

Distinct impact of different types of aerosols on surface solar radiation in China

2016 ◽  
Vol 121 (11) ◽  
pp. 6459-6471 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Yang ◽  
Chuanfeng Zhao ◽  
Lijing Zhou ◽  
Yang Wang ◽  
Xiaohong Liu
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Different Types

scholarly journals Merging ground-based sunshine duration observations with satellite cloud and aerosol retrievals to produce high-resolution long-term surface solar radiation over China

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 907-922
Author(s):  
Fei Feng ◽  
Kaicun Wang
Keyword(s):  
Standard Deviation ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Sunshine Duration ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Cloud Fraction ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. Although great progress has been made in estimating surface solar radiation (Rs) from meteorological observations, satellite retrieval, and reanalysis, getting best-estimated long-term variations in Rs are sorely needed for climate studies. It has been shown that Rs data derived from sunshine duration (SunDu) can provide reliable long-term variability, but such data are available at sparsely distributed weather stations. Here, we merge SunDu-derived Rs with satellite-derived cloud fraction and aerosol optical depth (AOD) to generate high-spatial-resolution (0.1∘) Rs over China from 2000 to 2017. The geographically weighted regression (GWR) and ordinary least-squares regression (OLS) merging methods are compared, and GWR is found to perform better. Based on the SunDu-derived Rs from 97 meteorological observation stations, which are co-located with those that direct Rs measurement sites, the GWR incorporated with satellite cloud fraction and AOD data produces monthly Rs with R2=0.97 and standard deviation =11.14 W m−2, while GWR driven by only cloud fraction produces similar results with R2=0.97 and standard deviation =11.41 W m−2. This similarity is because SunDu-derived Rs has included the impact of aerosols. This finding can help to build long-term Rs variations based on cloud data, such as Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) cloud retrievals, especially before 2000, when satellite AOD retrievals are not unavailable. The merged Rs product at a spatial resolution of 0.1∘ in this study can be downloaded at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.921847 (Feng and Wang, 2020).

Study of distinctive regional features of surface solar radiation in North and East China

2011 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 494-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fulai Guan ◽  
Youfei Zheng ◽  
Ziying Cai ◽  
Changwen Yu ◽  
Nan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
East China ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Regional Features

scholarly journals On the ability of RegCM4 regional climate model to simulate surface solar radiation patterns over Europe: an assessment using satellite-based observations

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (13) ◽  
pp. 18487-18535 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Alexandri ◽  
A. K. Georgoulias ◽  
P. Zanis ◽  
E. Katragkou ◽  
A. Tsikerdekis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Regional Climate Model ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Single Scattering ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Asymmetry Factor ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Microphysical Properties

Abstract. In this work, we assess the ability of RegCM4 regional climate model to simulate surface solar radiation (SSR) patterns over Europe. A decadal RegCM4 run (2000–2009) was implemented and evaluated against satellite-based observations from the Satellite Application Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM SAF) showing that the model simulates adequately the SSR patterns over the region. The bias between RegCM4 and CM SAF is +1.54 % for MFG (Meteosat First Generation) and +3.34 % for MSG (Meteosat Second Generation) observations. The relative contribution of parameters that determine the transmission of solar radiation within the atmosphere to the deviation appearing between RegCM4 and CM SAF SSR is also examined. Cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties such as cloud fractional cover (CFC), cloud optical thickness (COT) and cloud effective radius (Re) from RegCM4 are evaluated against data from CM SAF. The same procedure is repeated for aerosol optical properties such as aerosol optical depth (AOD), asymmetry factor (ASY) and single scattering albedo (SSA), as well as other parameters including surface broadband albedo (ALB) and water vapor amount (WV) using data from MACv1 aerosol climatology, from CERES satellite sensors and from ERA-Interim reanalysis. It is shown here that the good agreement between RegCM4 and satellite-based SSR observations can be partially attributed to counteracting effects among the above mentioned parameters. The contribution of each parameter to the RegCM4-CM SAF SSR deviations is estimated with the combined use of the aforementioned data and a radiative transfer model (SBDART). CFC, COT and AOD are the major determinants of these deviations; however, the other parameters also play an important role for specific regions and seasons.

scholarly journals Record high solar irradiance in Western Europe during first COVID-19 lockdown largely due to unusual weather

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiel C. van Heerwaarden ◽  
Wouter B. Mol ◽  
Menno A. Veerman ◽  
Imme Benedict ◽  
Bert G. Heusinkveld ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Sunshine Duration ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
Cloud Fraction ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Radiative Transfer Model ◽  
Transfer Model ◽  
Diffuse Fraction ◽  
Surface Irradiance ◽  
Low Cloud

AbstractSpring 2020 broke sunshine duration records across Western Europe. The Netherlands recorded the highest surface irradiance since 1928, exceeding the previous extreme of 2011 by 13%, and the diffuse fraction of the irradiance measured a record low percentage (38%). The coinciding irradiance extreme and a reduction in anthropogenic pollution due to COVID-19 measures triggered the hypothesis that cleaner-than-usual air contributed to the record. Based on analyses of ground-based and satellite observations and experiments with a radiative transfer model, we estimate a 1.3% (2.3 W m−2) increase in surface irradiance with respect to the 2010–2019 mean due to a low median aerosol optical depth, and a 17.6% (30.7 W m−2) increase due to several exceptionally dry days and a very low cloud fraction overall. Our analyses show that the reduced aerosols and contrails due to the COVID-19 measures are far less important in the irradiance record than the dry and particularly cloud-free weather.

scholarly journals Effects of Aerosols and Clouds on the Levels of Surface Solar Radiation and Solar Energy in Cyprus

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2319
Author(s):  
Ilias Fountoulakis ◽  
Panagiotis Kosmopoulos ◽  
Kyriakoula Papachristopoulou ◽  
Ioannis-Panagiotis Raptis ◽  
Rodanthi-Elisavet Mamouri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Solar Energy ◽  
Energy Surface ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Financial Loss ◽  
Low Latitude ◽  
Surface Solar Radiation ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Main Regulator ◽  
Fine Resolution

Cyprus plans to drastically increase the share of renewable energy sources from 13.9% in 2020 to 22.9% in 2030. Solar energy can play a key role in the effort to fulfil this goal. The potential for production of solar energy over the island is much higher than most of European territory because of the low latitude of the island and the nearly cloudless summers. In this study, high quality and fine resolution satellite retrievals of aerosols and dust, from the newly developed MIDAS climatology, and information for clouds from CM SAF are used in order to quantify the effects of aerosols, dust, and clouds on the levels of surface solar radiation for 2004–2017 and the corresponding financial loss for different types of installations for the production of solar energy. Surface solar radiation climatology has also been developed based on the above information. Ground-based measurements were also incorporated to study the contribution of different species to the aerosol mixture and the effects of day-to-day variability of aerosols on SSR. Aerosols attenuate 5–10% of the annual global horizontal irradiation and 15–35% of the annual direct normal irradiation, while clouds attenuate 25–30% and 35–50% respectively. Dust is responsible for 30–50% of the overall attenuation by aerosols and is the main regulator of the variability of total aerosol. All-sky annual global horizontal irradiation increased significantly in the period of study by 2%, which was mainly attributed to changes in cloudiness.

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