Characteristics of total solar radiation in an urban tropical environment

Abstract

The maximum total solar radiation in Ibadan (7.38° N, 3.93° E), Nigeria occurred around 13 and 14 h local time (LT) and it varied from an average value of 584.3±10.9 Wm-2 in the wet season (April to October) to 642.5±10.8 Wm-2 in the dry season (November to March) throughout the period of 1997 to 2001. Maximum total solar radiation had two peaks, one in March/April/May with value 750.3±41 Wm-2 and the other in October/November with value 633.1±63.5 Wm-2. The minimum was in July/August with the value 404.8±54 Wm-2. Diurnal total solar radiation had a similar variation with mean day total solar radiation; the latter had its maxima and minimum values to be 564.7±19, 488±36 and 308.4±40 respectively. The annual trend of solar radiation was positive throughout the period considered, which revealed global brightening. The values of total solar radiation observed in Ibadan compared well with those obtained at Ife (7.55° N, 4.56° E) a nearby tropical station. A time lag of about 3 h between the peak of the diurnal temperature and solar radiation was observed. During the month of July or August as the case may be, there was little or no time lag between the time of maximum total solar radiation and maximum diurnal temperature. Significant intra-annual solar radiation cycles (at 0.05 significant level) of 360 to 370 days (1 per year); 180 to 200 days (2 per year), 90 to 121 days (3 per year), 45 to 70days (5 per year); 20 to 35 days (10 per year), 4 to 16 days (20 per year) were obtained for all the years (1997 to 2001). Key words: Total solar radiation, lag, intra-annual solar radiation cycles, global brightening.