Geographical Distribution of Global Radiation and Sunshine Duration over the Island of Cyprus

Abstract

In this work, hourly measurements of global solar irradiances obtained from pyranometers and sunshine duration data using either Kipp & Zonen CSD3 automatic sensors or Campbell–Stokes sunshine recorders were assessed through an extensive quality control procedure and statistical analysis on the measured and derived solar parameters for all the actinometric stations installed in various locations over the island of Cyprus, covering mainly the period 2019–2021. This information is useful for engineers concerning the solar energy capture systems and energy efficiency who can therefore take knowledge of the local radiation levels. Monthly mean hourly values of global radiation and sunshine duration are calculated and shown through isoline diagrams. During June or July, daily global irradiations ranged between 25 MJ/m2 and 30 MJ/m2, with the lowest occurring in the mountainous locations. On the other hand, in January or December, they ranged between 6.5 MJ/m2 and 10.5 MJ/m2. The total annual number of hours of sunshine duration ranged between 2500 and 3500, with the lowest values recorded at the mountainous sites. The clearness index and relative sunshine duration were used for the classification of the weather conditions over the island. Furthermore, the interrelationships between the said indices were used for the estimation of global radiation. This work has specifically contributed to the characterization and analysis of hourly and daily solar global radiation. Furthermore, the measurements on the ground level could be compared with satellite observations in order to improve the geographical distribution of global radiation, especially in areas where no measurements exist. The analysis could be also extended for the other shortwave radiation components (Direct, Diffuse and Photosynthetic Active Radiation (PAR)) in order to assess the solar radiation regime over the island.

Comparison of Sunshine Duration Measurements between the Campbell–Stokes Sunshine Recorder and Three Automatic Sensors at Three Locations in Cyprus

“…Both SD and global radiation data underwent a quality control process. Details about the quality criteria are given in [4]. All the stations showed high-quality data.…”

“…Sunshine duration (SD) is considered to be an important meteorological element since it indicates the amount of solar radiation arriving on the earth's surface and, at the same time, it is also important for various sectors such as tourism, public health, agriculture, energy and climate classification [1][2][3][4]. It is estimated as the total time length in which the direct solar irradiance exceeds the value of 120 W/m 2 [5].…”

Radiative Regime According to the New RAD-MSU(BSRN) Complex in Moscow: The Roles of Aerosol, Surface Albedo, and Sunshine Duration

“…The measurements of the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) [3] employed since 1992, are widely used for the analysis of the radiative regime in different geographical regions, the validation of satellite radiative retrievals, and the testing of radiative transfer models and re-analysis data [2,[4][5][6][7][8]. Currently, the BSRN includes a relatively small number of stations (currently, 51 active sites), which are located in different climatic zones from 80 • N to 90 • S. Some stations are not BSRN members but use the BSRN approach in their studies [9][10][11].…”