1/f noise in the UV solar spectral irradiance

The investigation of the intrinsic properties of the solar spectral irradiance as a function of the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength is attempted by exploiting rare observations performed at the Villard St. Pancrace station of the Lille University of Sciences and Technology ranging from 278 to 400 nm with a step of 0.05 nm every half an hour from nearly sunrise to sunset. To achieve this goal, the modern method of the detrended fluctuation analysis was applied on the solar spectral irradiance values versus wavelength. This analysis revealed that the solar incident flux at the top of the atmosphere and the solar spectral irradiance at the ground during two overcast sky days fluctuate with the UV wavelength exhibiting persistent long-range power-law behavior. More interestingly, the exponent of the power-law relationship between the fluctuations of the solar spectral irradiance versus UV wavelength at both the top of the atmosphere and the ground is consistently close to unity (of 1/f-type) throughout the day. This 1/f behavior has been detected in many complex dynamical systems, but despite much effort to derive a theory for its widespread occurrence in nature, it remains unexplained so far. According to the above-mentioned findings we speculate that the 1/f property of the incident solar UV flux at the top of the atmosphere could probably drive both the 1/f behavior depicted in the atmospheric components and the solar UV irradiance at the Earth's surface. The latter could influence the UV-sensitive biological ecosystems, giving rise to a 1/f-type variability in the biosphere, which has already been proven by recent observational data. We finally propose that Wien approximation could be multiplied by a 1/f function of wavelength (e.g., of the type of the fractional Brownian motion) in order to reproduce the aforementioned 1/f feature of the solar UV flux.     

Influence of the total atmospheric optical depth and cloud cover on solar irradiance components

Broadband solar irradiance data obtained in the spectral range 400–940 nm at Kwangju, South Korea from 1999–2000 have been analyzed to investigate the effects of cloud cover and atmospheric optical depth on solar radiation components. Results from measurements indicate that the percentage of direct and diffuse horizontal components of solar irradiance depend largely on total optical depth (TOD) and cloud cover. During summer and spring, the percentages of diffuse solar irradiance relative to the global irradiance were 5.0% and 4.9% as compared to 2.2% and 3.0% during winter and autumn. The diffuse solar irradiance is higher than the direct in spring and summer by 24.2%, and 40.6%, respectively, which may largely be attributed to the attenuation (scattering) of radiation by heavy dust pollution and large cloud amount. In cloud-free conditions with cloud cover ≤2/10, the fraction of the direct and diffuse components were 66.0% and 34.0%, respectively, with a mean daily global irradiance value of 7.92±2.91 MJ m⁻² day⁻¹. However, under cloudy conditions (with cloud cover ≥8/10), the diffuse and direct fractions were 97.9% and 2.2% of the global component, respectively. The annual mean TOD under cloudless conditions (cloud cover≤2/10) yields 0.74±0.33 and increased to as much as 3.15±0.67 under cloudy conditions with cloud amount ≥8/10. An empirical formula is derived for estimating the diffuse and direct components of horizontal solar irradiance by considering the total atmospheric optical depth (TOD). Results from statistical models are shown for the estimation of solar irradiance components as a function of TOD with sufficient accuracy as indicated by low standard error for each solar zenith angle (SZA).     

Effects of time-dependent large-scale forcing, solar zenith angle, and sea surface temperature on time-mean tropical rainfall processes

Effects of time-dependent large-scale forcing (LSF), solar zenith angle (SZA), and sea surface temperature (SST) on time-mean rainfall processes during Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) are examined by conducting a control experiment and a series of sensitivity experiments with a two-dimensional cloud-resolving model. The model is forced by time-dependent LSF, SZA, and SST in the control experiment. The sensitivity experiments are forced only by either time-dependent LSF, or SZA, or SST while others are replaced with their time averages. When the model is imposed by time-dependent LSF, time dependence of SZA and SST has no discernable effect on surface rainfall, but it affects rainfall processes. The rainfall is reduced by 15% when the time-dependent LSF is replaced by its time mean. The reduction of rainfall is associated with the suppression of water vapor convergence as a result of low correlation between upward motion and water vapor variation.     

A transitioning Arctic surface energy budget: the impacts of solar zenith angle, surface albedo and cloud radiative forcing

Snow surface and sea-ice energy budgets were measured near 87.5°N during the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS), from August to early September 2008. Surface temperature indicated four distinct temperature regimes, characterized by varying cloud, thermodynamic and solar properties. An initial warm, melt-season regime was interrupted by a 3-day cold regime where temperatures dropped from near zero to ?7°C. Subsequently mean energy budget residuals remained small and near zero for 1 week until once again temperatures dropped rapidly and the energy budget residuals became negative. Energy budget transitions were dominated by the net radiative fluxes, largely controlled by the cloudiness. Variable heat, moisture and cloud distributions were associated with changing air-masses. Surface cloud radiative forcing, the net radiative effect of clouds on the surface relative to clear skies, is estimated. Shortwave cloud forcing ranged between ?50 W m^?2 and zero and varied significantly with surface albedo, solar zenith angle and cloud liquid water. Longwave cloud forcing was larger and generally ranged between 65 and 85 W m^?2, except when the cloud fraction was tenuous or contained little liquid water; thus the net effect of the clouds was to warm the surface. Both cold periods occurred under tenuous, or altogether absent, low-level clouds containing little liquid water, effectively reducing the cloud greenhouse effect. Freeze-up progression was enhanced by a combination of increasing solar zenith angles and surface albedo, while inhibited by a large, positive surface cloud forcing until a new air-mass with considerably less cloudiness advected over the experiment area.     

On the relative spectral distribution of the radiation from the zenith sky

Summary Spectral intensities of the scattered radiation from the zenith sky were measured using a filter monochromator. The monochromator was calibrated by means of a tungsten-filament lamp with known spectral energy distribution. The intensities of the individual wave-bands were referred to the total radiation intensity in the wave range considered, i. e. all spectral distributions were adjusted so as to give a constant total radiation. The relative intensity distributions obtained in this way are discussed. The results indicate that the relative intensity in a wave-band around 460 m is to a large extent independent of the atmospheric scattering conditions.

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Zusammenfassung Die spektrale Intensität der gestreuten Himmelsstrahlung des Zenithimmels wurde mit einem Filtermonochromator gemessen; der Monochromator wurde mittels einer Wolframbandlampe mit bekannter Energieverteilung geeicht. Die Intensität der einzelnen Wellenlängenbereiche ist auf die totale Strahlungsintensität des untersuchten Bereichs bezogen, d. h. alle spektralen Verteilungen wurden so umgerechnet, daß sie eine konstante Gesamtstrahlung ergaben; die in dieser Weise erhaltenen relativen Intensitätsverteilungen werden diskutiert. Die Resultate lassen erkennen, daß die relative Intensität in einem Wellenbereich um 460 m in hohem Maße von den Verhältnissen der atmosphärischen Streuung unabhängig ist.

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Résumé On mesure l'intensité spectrale de la lumière diffuse du ciel provenant du zénith à l'aide d'un monochromateur à filtre étalonné au moyen d'une lampe au wolfram à spectre énergétique connu. L'intensité des diverses régions spectrales est rapportée à l'intensité totale du domaine étudié, c'està-dire que toutes les distributions spectrales ont été calculées de façon à donner un rayonnement total constant. Les distributions relatives ainsi obtenues front l'objet d'une discussion qui montre que, dans un domaine centré sur 460 m, l'intensité relative est dans une large mesure indépendante des conditions de la dispersion atmosphérique.

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With 4 Figures     

Analysis and trends of atmospheric turbidity parameters over Cairo

Summary This work deals with the Linke turbidity factor, based on total spectrum observations of the direct solar beam and aerosol turbidity parametersa _a , , and based on observations in broad spectral bands. Diurnal and seasonal variations of these turbidity parameters were analyzed for the period 1975 to 1991.Annual variations of these parameters show low values in winter and high values in both spring and summer. The extinction coefficients decrease with increase of both wavelength and optical airmass. Trend analysis shows an increase in aerosol extinction coefficient below 0.63 m, and a slight decrease for longer wave-lengths.Linear regression relations are also constructed to estimate botha _a and whenT _L is available. The relations show thata _a can be estimated with errors below 20%. The relation with the parameter, may give better results when it is estimated by assigning a fixed value of .Nomenclature AV Monthly and total average of the measured parameter - a Atmospheric optical thicknes - a _a Aerosol optical thickness - a _r Mean value of optical thickness of. Rayleigh atmosphere over all wavelengths - a _o Ozone optical thickness - a _o Ozone absorption coefficient - a _w Water vapor optical thickness - COR Correlation coefficient of the linear relation in percentage - Ex₁, Ex₂, Ex₃ Aerosol extinction coefficients in the bands .2–.53, .53–.63, .63–.695, respectively - I _(o) Normal incident direct solar radiation, under clear sky condition - I _o Extraterrestrial insolation at normal incidence - m _r Relative (optical) air mass - NO Number of the observations used in either making the relation or the verification - RMSE Root mean square error of the linear relation - RMSE% Percentage value of the root mean square error relative to the average measured value AV - T _L Linke turbidity factor - T Dry bulb temperature in °C - u _o Ozone layer thickness, cm - Z Zenith angle - Ångström wavelength exponent - Ångström turbidity coefficient - Wavelength - Y The year number after 1975 With 5 Figures     

Accuracy of CM-SAF solar irradiance incident on horizontal surface

The Climate Monitoring Satellite Application Facility (CM-SAF) provides estimates of global solar irradiance incident on horizontal surface at Earth surface. Measurements performed in 2010 at five Romanian meteorological stations are used to test the accuracy of the CM-SAF irradiance data. The dataset contains null solar global irradiance values, which cannot be explained by very large values of the zenith angle neither by overcast sky conditions. Sub-databases have been created. The database Z85 consists of irradiance data, without filtering and processing. The database Z85SIS+ remove all null irradiance values. For a given database, the root mean square error (RMSE) with respect to the ground-based measurements is rather similar for all stations, i.e. around 35 % for Z85 and 24 % for Z85SIS+. On average, the database Z85SIS+ has smaller mean bias error (MBE) than the database Z85, independent of the degree of cloudiness. For the database Z85, MBE (RMSE) ranges, depending on station, between ?9.4 and ?1.2 % (35.3 and 39.1 %). For database Z85SIS+, the MBE (RMSE) ranges, depending on station, between ?4.0 and 0.1 % (23.0 and 29.1 %). On overcast sky, we found for some stations MBE?=??0.1 % and RMSE?=?46.4 % when the database Z85SIS+ has been considered. The accuracy of the database Z85 is lower; we found MBE?=??7.0 % and RMSE?=?58.8 % as extreme cases.     

Effects of time-dependent large-scale forcing, solar zenith angle, and sea surface temperature on time-mean rainfall: a partitioning analysis based on surface rainfall budget

Effects of time-dependent large-scale forcing, solar zenith angle, and sea surface temperature on time-mean rainfall during the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere Coupled Ocean?CAtmosphere Response Experiment (TOGA COARE) are examined through a partitioning analysis of a series of sensitivity cloud-resolving model experiment data based on surface rainfall budget. The model is forced by time-dependent large-scale forcing (LSF), solar zenith angle (SZA), and sea surface temperature (SST) in the control experiment and is forced only by either time-dependent LSF, SZA, or SST while others are replaced with their time averages in the sensitivity experiments. The rainfall associated with water vapor divergence and local atmospheric drying and hydrometeor loss/convergence has the largest contribution to total rainfall among eight rainfall types. The largest rainfall contribution is increased in the simulations where either time-dependent LSF, SZA, or SST is replaced with its average, whereas it is decreased in the simulation where COARE-derived large-scale vertical velocity is replaced with zero vertical velocity. The contribution of the rainfall associated with water vapor convergence to total rainfall is decreased in the simulations with time-mean LSF, SZA, and SST, whereas it is increased in the simulation without large-scale vertical velocity.     

Interrelationships between atmospheric turbidity,the diffusely reflected visible radiation at the top of the earth's atmosphere and the global solar radiation at the surface

Summary The flux of radiation emerging at the top and bottom of a realistic model of a cloud-free, plane-parallel, vertically inhomogeneous turbid atmosphere has been computed for different values of atmospheric turbidity and surface albedo in 83 unequal spectral intervals over the short-wave or solar radiation (0.285–2.5 m) regime. These computations have been utilized to determine the diffusely reflected radiation at the top of the atmosphere in the spectral interval 0.535–0.7035 m (which covers the visible channels of the radiometers onboard the Geosynchronous Operational Environmental Satellites and the NOAA polar orbiting satellites) and in the spectral interval 0.375–0.7035 m. The total global solar radiation (0.285–2.5 m) reaching the surface has also been determined. Simple linear regression relationships have been established between (i) the reflected radiation at the top and atmospheric turbidity and (ii) between the global radiation at the surface and the reflected radiation at the top. These regression relationships yield coefficients of determination very close to unity. The implications of this strong linear dependence of the reflected radiation on atmospheric turbidity and of the global radiation at the surface on the reflected radiation at the top to satellite-based studies of the feasibility of estimation of the insolation (global radiation) at the surface are briefly mentioned.With 3 Figures     

呼伦贝尔草原大气浑浊度的测量和尘埃输送的初步探讨

利用相对日射表和玻璃滤光片,于1974—76年的4—7月份在呼伦贝尔草原进行了大气浑浊度的测量。根据测量结果,研究了半干旱草原尘埃输送的特性。通过不同测点的对比,分析了草原开垦对尘埃输送的影响。     

Anisotropic model for the diffuse biologically-effective irradiance of solar UV-radiation on inclined surfaces

Summary A model for biologically-effective ultraviolet radiation (UVR) of the sun is described, which allows the calculation of diffuse irradiance on inclined surfaces. A model is presented, for which isotropic scattered and reflected radiance are assumed. Using the horizon as a borderline between the upper and lower hemisphere, the scattering phenomena in the atmosphere for UVR are discussed. In contrast to models for other solar spectral ranges, the radiation field of UVR is close to isotropic. Only the horizon darkening by the long optical pathlengths was included in the model. This term was quantified by the UV albedo.Dedicated to O. Univ.-Prof. Dr. F. Steinhauser.With 1 Figure     

UV irradiance on arbitrarily oriented surfaces: variation with atmospheric and ground properties

Summary The dependency of erythemal weighted solar UV irradiance on tilted surfaces with different orientation is investigated with respect to solar zenith angle, variable atmospheric conditions and albedo of the location. For overcast conditions or a cloud in front of the sun, the irradiance on a horizontal surface in general is largest, with the consequence that it is reduced for surfaces with any tilted position. For cloud free conditions the irradiance on a tilted plane, in comparison to that on a horizontal flat surface, is increased for orientations towards the sun, but reduced for other orientations. The increase is strongest for low sun in combination with clear atmosphere and high ground albedo, as is typical for snow covered mountain conditions.     

Analysis of atmospheric turbidity levels at Taichung Harbor near the Taiwan Strait

In this study, two universal turbidity parameters, the Angstrom turbidity coefficient and Linke turbidity factor, are applied to study the atmospheric turbidity characteristics of Taichung Harbor. Meteorological parameter values were measured during 2004 and 2005 at the Wuchi weather station of the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau, near the Taiwan Strait. Results based on the Angstrom turbidity models (β_Lou, β_Pin, and β_Vis) indicated that annual mean values of the Angstrom turbidity coefficients were 0.174, 0.21 and 0.201, respectively. Four sets of Linke turbidity factors (T_Lin, T_Lou, T_Pin and T_Vis) were calculated using the original Linke method and the Dogniaux method, incorporating the computed Angstrom turbidity coefficients (β_Lou, β_Pin and β_Vis); the resultant values were 4.30, 6.40, 7.10 and 6.95, respectively. The monthly average values, frequency of occurrence, and cumulative frequency distributions were calculated using different models to describe the clear-sky atmospheric conditions at Taichung Harbor. The frequency results show that for over 50% of the dataset, three sets of Angstrom turbidity coefficients fell between 0.15 and 0.18, and four sets of Linke turbidity factors (T_Lin, T_Lou, T_Pin and T_Vis) fell between 4.0 and 6.5. Thus, for 50% of cloudless days, the sky can be between turbid and clear over Taichung Harbor. Furthermore, the results reveal that for 30% of the dataset, three Angstrom sets of turbidity coefficients (β_Lou, β_Pin, and β_Vis) exceed 0.2 and four sets of Linke turbidity factors (T_Lin, T_Lou, T_Pin and T_Vis) exceed 5.0. This indicates that 30% of cloudless sky conditions can be considered turbid to very turbid.