Investigation of the Earth’s Albedo using Meteorological Parameters over Nguru, Nigeria

Abstract

Estimation and investigation of an earth’s albedo is significant in the evaluation and design of solar energy collectors, atmospheric radiative transfer and studies that relates to atmospheric thermal balance. This study employed the shortwave solar energy balancing at the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere to estimate and compare the variation of albedo for Nguru situated in the Sahelian region of Nigeria, using measured monthly mean daily meteorological parameter of global solar radiation obtained from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) during the period of thirty-eight years (1984 – 2021). The variation of albedo with surface temperature, maximum wavelength, clearness index, global solar radiation, relative humidity and mean temperature for this location was investigated. The results in this study show that the estimated surface albedo depicts a direct opposite relationship with the clearness index, an inverse relationship with the emitting Earth’s surface temperature and a direct relationship with the wavelength for the studied location. The highest and lowest values of albedo for the location was in the months of August and January with 0.4628 and 0.3403 respectively. The emitting Earth surface temperature ranged between 238.5837 K in August and 251.1607 K in January. These values agreed closely to the standard emitting Earth surface temperature value (255.0000 K). The maximum emitting wavelength values for the location revealed that the radiation is longwave and is found within the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum.