Observed Long-Term Variations of Solar Irradiance at the Earth’s Surface |
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Authors: | A Ohmura |
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Institution: | 1. Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Universit?tstr. 16, CH-8092, Zurich, Switzerland 2. Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Abstract: | The variation of global radiation (sum of direct solar and diffuse sky radiation) at the Earth’s surface is examined based
on pyranometer measurements at about 400~sites. The period of the study covers in general the last 50 years. For Europe the
study is extended to the beginning of observations in the 1920s and 1930s. Global radiation generally increased in Europe
from the 1920s to the 1950s. After the late 1950s and early 1960s global radiation began to decrease in most areas of the
world at a mean rate of 0.7 Wm−2a−1 until 1980s, thereafter 75%; of the stations showed a recovery at a mean rate of 0.7 Wm−2a−1. All stations in the Polar region, which are far from aerosol sources, also show this pattern of change. At the remaining
25% of the stations the decrease has continued to present. These regions are a part of China, most of India, and Central Africa.
Both during the declining and recovering phases global radiation observed under the cloudless condition also followed the
same tendency, indicating the simultaneous and parallel changes of aerosol and cloud conditions. Long-term observations of
total zenith transmittance of the atmosphere indicate a decrease in transmittance to the mid 1980s and an increase after this
period. Since the brighter and darker periods correspond to relatively warmer and colder periods, the present study offers
the possibility to quantitatively evaluate the mutual relationships between the solar irradiance, atmospheric transmittance,
cloud conditions and air temperature. |
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Keywords: | climate change radiation irradiance aerosol atmospheric transmission |
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