Estimating Net Radiation from Air Temperature for Diffusion Modelling Applications in a Tropical Area

A simple and straightforward expression isproposed, which is based on the Fourier seriesdecomposition technique, for estimating hourly averagednet radiation from the corresponding values of airtemperature at a tropical location in West Africa. Thecomparisons made of the estimated net radiation withactual measurements (case studies) clearlydemonstrate that the scheme is efficient, both inclear and under cloudy weather conditions. Theestimates are also shown to be better than thosedetermined from an alternative relationship usingparametrizations for the shortwave and longwave components at the surface. The presentprocedure can easily be implemented in existingmeteorological preprocessors to calculate the sensibleheat flux for the Gaussian-based air pollutionmodels.