Assessment of the performance of ground-based and SARAH-3 solar radiation data over Eastern Africa

IF 4.4 2区 地球科学 Q1 METEOROLOGY & ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES
Donath Uwanyirigira , Béatrice Morel , Chao Tang , Jörg Trentmann , Jean Uwamahoro , Innocent Nkurikiyimfura , Fabien Habyarimana
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Abstract

Solar radiation can be a potential source of cost-effective and sustainable energy, offering the promise of a clean and safe environment in the East African region. However, reliable solar radiation data remain limited, hindering accurate assessment of the available solar potential and characterisation of the local and regional climate. To address this issue, this study used in situ measurements from 11 ground-based meteorological stations to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the satellite-derived solar radiation product, SARAH-3, across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda. Statistical distribution, degree of linear association, explanatory strength, infra-daily, daily, and seasonal cycles were used to assess the degree of similarity. Our findings revealed a significant agreement between surface reference data and SARAH-3 Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI) data and a significant linear association between bias and the Orographic Complexity Index (OCI) of the neighbour area of the observation points with Pearson’s correlation coefficients (R) of −0.53. At half-hour resolution, in situ measurements and satellite-based solar radiation data revealed high R values, ranging from 0.70 to 0.92, with significant explanatory capacity between 54% and 86%. Percentage bias (PB) was markedly lower than 5% for most stations, except in Rwanda, where PB reached 25%. The distributions of the data sets were generally skewed in the same direction, with a slight difference. Linear association and explanatory capacity improved significantly on the daily time scale, with R exceeding 0.90 and coefficients of determination greater than 78% at all stations. Furthermore, PB and Mean Absolute Error (MAE) were generally low on the monthly scale, except in Rwanda, particularly in Mukarange, where they reached 24.61% and 42.92, respectively. SARAH-3 successfully reproduces infra-daily, daily, and cycles, although its spatial performance is strongly influenced by terrain complexity. These findings confirm the potential of SARAH-3 for solar energy production and climate-related studies in the East African region.
评估东非地面和SARAH-3太阳辐射数据的性能
太阳辐射可以成为具有成本效益和可持续能源的潜在来源,为东非区域提供清洁和安全的环境带来希望。然而,可靠的太阳辐射数据仍然有限,妨碍了对现有太阳潜力的准确评估和对当地和区域气候的特征描述。为了解决这一问题,本研究使用了11个地面气象站的现场测量数据,对肯尼亚、坦桑尼亚、乌干达和卢旺达的卫星衍生太阳辐射产品SARAH-3的性能进行了综合评估。采用统计分布、线性关联程度、解释强度、日内周期、日周期和季节周期来评估相似性程度。我们的研究结果表明,地表参考数据与SARAH-3全球水平辐照度(GHI)数据之间存在显著的一致性,偏差与观测点邻近区域的地形复杂性指数(OCI)之间存在显著的线性关联,Pearson相关系数(R)为- 0.53。在半小时分辨率下,现场测量和卫星太阳辐射数据显示高R值,范围在0.70至0.92之间,解释能力在54%至86%之间。大多数监测站的偏差百分比(PB)明显低于5%,但卢旺达的偏差百分比达到25%。数据集的分布总体上向同一方向倾斜,略有差异。在日时间尺度上,各站点的线性关联和解释能力显著提高,R均大于0.90,决定系数均大于78%。此外,PB和平均绝对误差(MAE)在月尺度上普遍较低,但在卢旺达,特别是穆卡朗热,它们分别达到24.61%和42.92。SARAH-3成功地再现了日下、日和周期,尽管其空间性能受到地形复杂性的强烈影响。这些发现证实了SARAH-3在东非区域太阳能生产和与气候有关的研究方面的潜力。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Atmospheric Research
Atmospheric Research 地学-气象与大气科学
CiteScore
9.40
自引率
10.90%
发文量
460
审稿时长
47 days
期刊介绍: The journal publishes scientific papers (research papers, review articles, letters and notes) dealing with the part of the atmosphere where meteorological events occur. Attention is given to all processes extending from the earth surface to the tropopause, but special emphasis continues to be devoted to the physics of clouds, mesoscale meteorology and air pollution, i.e. atmospheric aerosols; microphysical processes; cloud dynamics and thermodynamics; numerical simulation, climatology, climate change and weather modification.
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