Study of Aerosol Impact on the Solar Potential Available in Burkina Faso, West Africa

Abstract

This paper is an assessment of aerosols impact on solar potential available in Burkina Faso in 2017. Three measurement stations were selected from the North to the South according to the climatic zones, with sites at Dori (14.035°N, 0.034°W) in the North, Ouagadougou (12.20°N, 1.40°W) in the Center and Gaoua (10.29°N, 3.25°W) in the Southwest, respectively. This study is based on in-situ measurements, satellite observations and a tropospheric standard model of the Streamer radiative transfer code of atmospheric particles. The results show a high availability of solar irradiation with average monthly values ranging between 4.46 kWh/m²/d and 6.82 kWh/m²/d. The most favorable periods with maximum radiation are observed in Spring in March and in Fall in October. Yet, the qualitative comparison between the evolution of aerosols and that of solar potential clearly shows aerosols capacity to influence the radiation at the crossing of the atmosphere. Thus, the aerosols maxima correspond to the solar potential minima. Moreover, a comparison between the day cycles of solar radiation and those of the simulation model shows a good accuracy of the Streamer code to estimate the solar flows at the surface in a standard atmosphere without clouds in Burkina Faso.However, a quantification of the aerosol impact by the Streamer code reveals a reduction in the normal direct flow compared to clear days defined by aerosol optical depth (AOD) less than 0.2 (AOD<0.2) of nearly 75.04% at the Dori site in the North, 57.33% at the Ouagadougou site in the Center and 40.89 % at the Gaoua site in the Southwest during polluted days corresponding to AOD higher than 0.8.This corresponds to an increase in the diffuse flow of 279.69 W/m², 246.05 W/m² and 226.09 W/m², respectively calculated on the same sites. In case of a mixed day (0.2 <AOD <0.8), this decrease in direct solar flow is estimated at 41.25%, 22.11% and 37.13% with an increasein the diffuse solar flux of 115.04 W/m², 150.43 W/m² and 79.58 W/m² at the sites of Dori, Ouagadougou and Gaoua, respectively.

Validation of Global Solar Radiation Models on a Horizontal Surface in the Climatic Zones of Burkina

“…Studies show that aerosols affect the Earth's radiation balance [19,20]. Bado and al showed that mixed or intermediate days are the most frequent and are due to a mixture of dust and combustion particles.…”

Comparative Study of Available Solar Potential for Six Stations of Sahel

“…The global radiation is obtained by the sum of the direct and diffuse flux. Measurements of global, direct, and diffuse DSSF are also available in Niamey from the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) station [28] [33]. All components (diffuse, direct-normal, and global) are measured at a 15 min step and made available for scientific research.…”