Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR) Review 09 – 11 March 2010 GOES Solar Radiation Products in Support of Renewable Energy Istvan Laszlo 1(GOVERNMENT PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR), Hongqing Liu 2, Andrew Heidinger 1, Mitch Goldberg 1 1 NOAA/NESDIS/STAR/SMCD, 2 DPSGS Requirements: Expand and enhance advanced technology monitoring and observing systems to provide accurate, up-to-date information. Develop and apply new technologies, methods, and models to increase the capabilities, efficiencies, and accuracy of transportation-related products and services. Science: How does the solar radiation available at the surface change as a function of atmospheric and surface conditions? Benefit: The renewable energy industry will have surface solar radiation products that benefit siting of future solar farms, help integration of solar energy into the national and regional electrical grid systems, and increase confidence in resource estimation for future planning. Science Challenges: Calibration of past and current GOES visible measurements should be improved to increase accuracy of insolation products. Separation of atmospheric and surface effects, and estimation of surface solar radiation over snow remain challenging. Next Steps: Improve retrievals over snow; Implement new aerosol climatology and improve retrieval of direct beam irradiance; Re-process historic GOES data. Transition Path: Update processing system for new satellite; disseminate data via the internet and archive at NCDC. The Retrieval Algorithm Surface Solar Radiation Products at STAR The solar energy business sector requires high quality solar radiation data (total irradiance and direct beam irradiance) that provide national and regional coverage, especially in regions with high potential for solar energy (SE). Surface solar radiation estimated from measurements made by instruments on geostationary platforms can provide the data needed as these satellites make frequent observations of the same location during the course of a day. Several such products are generated or planned at STAR. Evaluation of GOES Surface Solar Radiation Example of GSIP-fd Results Characteristics of GOES Surface Solar Radiation Products CurrentFuture ProductGSIP-CONUSGSIP-fdGOES-R/ ABI DomainCONUSNorthern Hemisphere (NH) Full Disk (FD) CONUS (C) Full Disk (FD) Mesoscale (M) Spatial Resolution~56 km (0.5x0.5 degrees) ~14 km (4 km) (1/8x1/8 degrees) C: 25 km (2km) FD: 50 km (2km) M: 5 km Temporal Res.instantaneous Refresh rate1 hour1 hour (NH); 3 hours (FD1 hour (15 minutes) Latency50 minutes 54 minutes Variables providedall-sky surface global downward SW flux all-sky surface global upward SW flux all-sky surface diffuse downward SW flux all-sky surface global downward visible all-sky surface diffuse downward PAR clear-sky surface global downward SW flux clear-sky surface global upward SW flux all-sky surface global downward SW flux all-sky surface global upward SW flux all-sky surface global downward visible clear-sky surface global downward SW flux clear-sky surface global upward SW flux all-sky surface global downward SW flux all-sky surface global absorbed (net) SW flux (all-sky surface direct downward SW flux) Evaluation with historic data. Bias (top) and root-mean-square (bottom) differences of hourly (left) and monthly (right) GSIP-fd and surface fluxes for Feb-Dec Land sites: BON, FPK, GWN, PSU. Ocean sites; COVE, TAO1, TAO2. Acquire GOES Imager files Generate Clear Composite GOES Imager AREA Files GFS data Acquire and remap IMS snow data IMS snow data GSIP-v2 retrieve cloud properties, retrieve SW flux, retrieve LW flux Pre-processingMain processing Reformatted GFS data netCDF format conversion Image generation netCDF output Images GSIP Validation System AREA files for previous 28 days 28-day clear composite file Remapped IMS snow data Output data file: HDF and binary, Gridded values of cloud properties, SW fluxes, visible flux at surface, LW fluxes, skin temperature Acquire and reformat GFS data Input Data –GOES Area channel files Satellites: GOES East & GOES West Domains: Full Disk & Northern Hemisphere Extended For GOES-11, Channels 1-5 For GOES-12+, Channels 1-4,6 –NCEP Global Forecast System 12-hour forecast, 0.5 degree grid –Interactive Multisensor Snow and Ice Mapping System (IMS) data Intermediate Data –Clear Composite (28-day darkest-pixel composite of 0.64 micron channel) Output Data –GSIP output products (38) for GENHEM, GEDISK, GWNHEM, GWDISK domains –All output products in a single file –Output formats: HDF, netCDF, binary Ancillary Data –Coast mask, land mask, landcover type, elevation –RTM coefficients –Algorithm LUTs Users of GOES Surface Solar Radiation Product Examples of VIS channel 1 reflectance and inputs to the insolation algorithm for Aug 11, 2004, 17:45 UTC VIS reflectance (%)Composite clear reflectance (%)Clear and partly clear reflectance (%)Cloudy and partly cloudy reflectance (%) Cloud fractionWater vapor (cm)Ozone (cm)Dominant cloud type 0:clear, 1:partly cloudy, 2:liquid water, 3:supercooled liquid, 4:thick ice (convective), 5:thin ice Illustration of retrieval of transmittance from TOA albedo (reflectance) for the geometry and atmospheric condition shown (no surface effects). The clear-sky/cloudy-sky transmittance is ~0.69/0.28 corresponding to the TOA albedo of 0.1/0.5. Principle of Surface Radiation Retrieval Example of surface SW irradiance retrieved in the GSIP-fd system for the extended Northern Hemisphere for January 6, Frequent observations may permit forecast of insolation for short time periods into the future. Primary source of ground data is the NOAA Surface Radiation Budget Network (SURFRAD). Solar Energy specific Products Average insolation (Amount of solar radiation incident on the surface of the Earth) Midday insolation (Average insolation available within 1.5 hours of Local Solar Noon) Clear sky insolation (Average insolation during clear sky days) Clear sky days (Number of clear sky days (cloud amount < 10%)) Diffuse radiation on horizontal surface (Amount of solar radiation incident on the surface of the earth under all-sky conditions with direct radiation from the Sun's beam blocked ) Direct normal radiation (Amount of solar radiation at the Earth's surface on a flat surface perpendicular to the Sun's beam with surrounding sky radiation blocked) Insolation at hourly intervals (Amount of solar radiation incident on the surface of the Earth during one hour) Insolation clearness index (Fraction of insolation at the top of the atmosphere which reaches the surface of the Earth) Insolation normalized clearness index (Zenith angle-independent expression of the insolation clearness index) Clear sky insolation clearness index (Fraction of insolation at the top of the atmosphere which reaches the surface of the earth during clear sky days) Minimum available insolation as % of average values over consecutive-day period (Insolation based on minimum consecutive-day insolation over various numbers of days within the month)