Abstract

The FORTH deterministic spectral radiative transfer model is used to estimate the incoming surface solar radiation (ISSR) at the alpine city of Ioannina in northwest Greece. The model is initialized with high spatial (10 km × 10 km and 5 km × 5 km) and temporal (daily) resolution satellite Level-2 Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data for aerosol, cloud and other atmospheric and surface parameters. The daily total and ultraviolet (UV) solar radiation is computed with the model for the period 2008–2012. The model ISSR is successfully validated against corresponding ground-based measurements of total and UV radiation from a station located at Ioannina for the study period. The instantaneous total, UVA and UVB ISSR values are as high as 1070, 45 and 2.25 W/m2 in summer, exhibiting a significant day to day and seasonal variability, primarily driven by the top of atmosphere solar radiation and clouds. The primary role of clouds for ISSR, versus aerosols and ozone, is also verified by model sensitivity tests, which reveal however an increasingly stronger role of these two parameters for UV radiation.

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