Evaluation and Regional Calibration of Solar Radiation Prediction Models in Southern Spain
Publication: Journal of Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
Volume 138, Issue 10
Abstract
Solar radiation () is a very important variable in agricultural meteorology, but it is measured at a very limited number of weather stations. In addition, data are usually low quality because of to sensor failure or lack of calibration. can be predicted from other meteorological measurements (e.g., air temperature), but the accuracy of these methods needs to be tested. In this work, the mechanistic model of Hargreaves-Samani, three modified versions of this model, a modified Bristow-Campbell equation, and the Mahmood-Hubbard model were evaluated at 56 sites in the Andalusian region in southern Spain. All of these methods use the daily temperature range of the air () to estimate . The estimated values of were compared with measurements of to check their suitability. The accuracy of the methods was primarily affected by the magnitude of , with larger resulting in a greater accuracy. Finally, the parameter of the Hargreaves-Samani equation () was adjusted to regional conditions using , improving the estimations of incoming solar radiation for a wide range.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the National Research Institute of Agriculture and Food Technology (INIA) under the Project RTA2008-00006-CO2-01.
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© 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Jan 16, 2012
Accepted: Apr 23, 2012
Published online: Apr 25, 2012
Published in print: Oct 1, 2012
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