A cloud-based reconstruction of surface solar radiation trends for Australia

Summary Despite its importance to climate change, reliable and calibrated measurements of solar radiation are available only after 1992 for Australia. In this study we extend the data base from 1967 to 2004 by the development of a cloud-based solar radiation model. Results show no significant change in the majority of stations, although slightly more than one quarter of the stations report a significant decrease of solar radiation with a maximum of just less than one percent per decade. Trend analyses also detect an upturn in many of the southern stations in the late eighties which appear to relate to changes in middle and high cloud cover. Authors’ addresses: Manuel Nunez, School of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 78, Hobart 7005, Australia; Yun Li, CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences, Wembley, WA 6913, Australia.