Estimating Solar Radiation from Temperature with Spatial and Temporal Calibration
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 11
Abstract
A procedure is introduced to estimate daily solar radiation from maximum and minimum temperatures for areas where solar radiation is either unavailable or unreliable. The procedure uses historical temperature data for spatial and temporal self-calibration. The results from the self-calibrated procedure are compared with measured solar radiation data in one coastal and two interior regions. The self-calibrated procedure is also compared with an equation presented by Thornton and Running that also uses historical maximum and minimum temperature to estimate solar radiation. The comparison between measured and predicted solar radiation values for several years shows that the self-calibrated method can predict solar radiation with error ranging from 0–3%. The error from the Thornton and Running equation ranges from 7–11%. In general, the Thornton and Running equation tends to overestimate solar radiation especially for overcast sky conditions such as monsoon season.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 11 • November 2011
Pages: 692 - 696
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 12, 2010
Accepted: Jan 21, 2011
Published online: Jan 24, 2011
Published in print: Nov 1, 2011
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