Combining observations and simulations to investigate the small-scale variability of surface solar irradiance under continental cumulus clouds

He, Zili; Libois, Quentin; Villefranque, Najda; Deneke, Hartwig; Witthuhn, Jonas; Couvreux, Fleur

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11391-2024

Articles | Volume 24, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11391-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11391-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 24, issue 19

Research article

|

11 Oct 2024

Research article |

| 11 Oct 2024

Combining observations and simulations to investigate the small-scale variability of surface solar irradiance under continental cumulus clouds

Zili He, Quentin Libois, Najda Villefranque, Hartwig Deneke, Jonas Witthuhn, and Fleur Couvreux

Data sets

How to observe the small-scale spatial distribution of surface solar irradiance, and how is it influenced by cumulus clouds? Zili He et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10948325

samd_dataset SAMD https://doi.org/10.17616/R3D944

HD(CP)2 short term observations, sw broadband downwelling radiation (surface) data of Pyranometer network (no. 00) M. Bomidi https://www.cen.uni-hamburg.de/icdc/data/atmosphere/samd-st-datasets/samd-st-hope.html

Model code and software

htrdr version 0.8.1 Méso Star https://www.meso-star.com/projects/htrdr/htrdr.html

Meso-NH, version 5.4.3 Laboratoire d'Aérologie and CNRM http://mesonh.aero.obs-mip.fr/mesonh/dir_open/dir_MESONH/MNH-V5-4-3.tar.gz

Short summary

This study uses observations and simulations to analyze how cumulus clouds affect spacial solar radiation variability on the ground. Results show that the simulations reproduce the observations well and improve understanding of cloud impacts on radiation. The research also indicates that a few strategically placed sensors, capitalizing on measurement timing, can effectively measure these variations, aiding in the development of detailed weather prediction models.