Current Issues in Terrestrial Solar Radiation Instrumentation for Energy, Climate and Space Applications.

摘要

Reductions of uncertainty in terrestrial solar radiation measurements are needed to validate the Earth's radiation balance derived from satellite data. Characterization of solar energy resources for renewable technologies requires greater time and spatial resolution for economical technology deployment. Solar radiation measurement research at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory addresses calibrations, operational characteristics, and corrections for terrestrial solar radiation measurements. We describe progress in measurements of broadband diffuse-sky radiation, and characterization of field instrument thermal offsets and spectral irradiance. The need and prospects for absolute references for diffuse and long wave terrestrial solar radiation measurements are discussed. Reductions in uncertainty of broadband irradiance measurements from tens of watts per square meter to a few (one to two) watts per square meter are reported, which reduce time and labor to quantify and identify trends in artificial optical radiation sources, terrestrial solar radiation, and the Earth's radiation budget.