Selecting a clear-sky model to accurately map solar radiation from satellite images
Résumé
The HelioClim project aims at mapping solar radiation over a wide area that covers Europe, Africa, and Atlantic Ocean. To achieve this purpose, Meteosat images will be processed with the Heliosat method, which turns images into maps of solar radiation at ground level. One of the inputs of this method is the solar radiation under clear sky. The quality of the estimations strongly depends on the accuracy of the radiative transfer model under clear sky. Therefore several clear-sky models are assessed in this paper. It is found that taking into account the turbidity of the atmosphere, the Linke turbidity factor, TL(AM2), provides better results. The models using TL(AM2) are then compared. Among them, the "ESRA model", set up in the course of the realisation of the 4th edition of the European Solar Radiation Atlas, fits better than the others. Accordingly, this, model is chosen to be used in the Heliosat method.
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