A monthly probability distribution function of daily global irradiation values appropriate for both tropical and temperate locations

Application of probability models to Malaysian sunshine data

“…Moreover, the universal character of the Liu and Jordan CDF must be questioned since these distributions were established from locations in North America. In fact, they differ appreciably from the data for other climates as reported by Olseth and Skartveit (1984), Gupta et al (1979) and Saunier et al (1987). In particular, the CDF for tropical climates exhibit a more pronounced S-shape than for temperate climates, a consequence of more pronounced peaks in the corresponding PDF.…”

“…This is not surprising since in deriving the CDF from the PDF, the integration process and normalization condition tend to smoothen the pattern details of the PDF. Thus, as rightly pointed out by Saunier et al (1987), the ability to reproduce the Liu and Jordan CDF may not be a stringent enough condition when deducing the appropriate PDF. Moreover, the universal character of the Liu and Jordan CDF must be questioned since these distributions were established from locations in North America.…”

“…In particular, the CDF for tropical climates exhibit a more pronounced S-shape than for temperate climates, a consequence of more pronounced peaks in the corresponding PDF. In their work, Saunier et al (1987) by using the PDF,…”

“…In this paper, the models of Bendt et al (1981), Hollands and Huget (1983) and Saunier et al (1987) (referred simply as models of Bendt, Hollands and Huget, and Saunier), were applied to the relative sunshine duration, s instead of the clearness index. s is defined as the ratio of the actual sunshine duration to the possible maximum sunshine duration.…”

Combined stochastic and transfer model for atmospheric radiation

“…These so-called, 'generalised radiation' distribution curves attracted much interest at the time. Although subsequent research [4,5] suggested the frequency of insolation to be a function of local weather conditions, time-of-year etc., the authors' contribution is still useful due to the reduction in parameters resulting from a single set of 'universal' cumulative frequency distributions.…”