All-sky Surface Solar Radiation Research Articles

Potential Driving Factors on Surface Solar Radiation Trends over China in Recent Years

The annual mean surface solar radiation (SSR) trends under all-sky, clear-sky, all-sky-no-aerosol, and clear-sky-no-aerosol conditions as well as their possible causes are analyzed during 2005–2018 across China based on different satellite-retrieved datasets to determine the major drivers of the trends. The results confirm clouds and aerosols as the major contributors to such all-sky SSR trends over China but play differing roles over sub-regions. Aerosol variations during this period result in a widespread brightening, while cloud effects show opposite trends from south to north. Moreover, aerosols contribute more to the increasing all-sky SSR trends over northern China, while clouds dominate the SSR decline over southern China. A radiative transfer model is used to explore the relative contributions of cloud cover from different cloud types to the all-types-of-cloud-cover-induced (ACC-induced) SSR trends during this period in four typical sub-regions over China. The simulations point out that the decreases in low-cloud-cover (LCC) over the North China Plain are the largest positive contributor of all cloud types to the marked annual and seasonal ACC-induced SSR increases, and the positive contributions from both high-cloud-cover (HCC) and LCC declines in summer and winter greatly contribute to the ACC-induced SSR increases over East China. The contributions from medium-low-cloud-cover (mid-LCC) and LCC variations dominate the ACC-caused SSR trends over southwestern and South China all year round, except for the larger HCC contribution in summer.

Trends in downward surface solar radiation from satellites and ground observations over Europe during 1983–2010

Trends of all-sky downward surface solar radiation (SSR) from satellite-derived data over Europe (1983–2010) are first presented. The results show a widespread (i.e., non-local dimension) increase in the major part of Europe, especially since the mid-1990s in the central and northern areas and in springtime. There is a mean increase of SSR of at least 2Wm−2 per decade from 1983 to 2010 over the whole Europe, which, taking into account that the satellite-derived product lacks of aerosol variations, can be mostly related to a decrease in the cloud radiative effects over Europe. Secondly, residual series have been derived as the result of the difference between ground-based and satellite-derived all-sky SSR data. The residual mean series points to a significant increase during the period 1983–2010, with higher rates of around 2Wm−2 per decade over central and eastern Europe. The spatial variation of these residual time series, which are in line with clear-sky SSR trends over Europe reported in the literature, seem to suggest that these differences in the residual series are not just explained by calibration issues in the satellite-derived product.

Detection of dimming/brightening in Italy from homogenized all-sky and clear-sky surface solar radiation records and underlying causes (1959–2013)

Abstract. A dataset of 54 daily Italian downward surface solar radiation (SSR) records has been set up collecting data for the 1959–2013 period. Special emphasis is given to the quality control and the homogenization of the records in order to ensure the reliability of the resulting trends. This step has been shown as necessary due to the large differences obtained between the raw and homogenized dataset, especially during the first decades of the study period. In addition, SSR series under clear-sky conditions were obtained considering only the cloudless days from corresponding ground-based cloudiness observations. Subsequently, records were interpolated onto a regular grid and clustered into two regions, northern and southern Italy, which were averaged in order to get all-sky and clear-sky regional SSR records. Their temporal evolution is presented, and possible reasons for differences between all-sky and clear-sky conditions and between the two regions are discussed in order to determine to what extent SSR variability depends on aerosols or clouds. Specifically, the all-sky SSR records show a decrease until the mid-1980s (dimming period), and a following increase until the end of the series (brightening period) even though strength and persistence of tendencies are not the same in all seasons. Clear-sky records present stronger tendencies than all-sky records during the dimming period in all seasons and during the brightening period in winter and autumn. This suggests that, under all-sky conditions, the variations caused by the increase/decrease in the aerosol content have been partially masked by cloud cover variations, especially during the dimming period. Under clear sky the observed dimming is stronger in the south than in the north. This peculiarity could be a consequence of a significant contribution of mineral dust variations to the SSR variability.

Dimming over the oceans: Transient anthropogenic aerosol plumes in the twentieth century

AbstractAnthropogenic aerosols reduce incoming surface solar radiation (SSR), but the magnitude of this effect for reducing sea surface temperatures (SST) is still debated. Using simulations from the global climate model ECHAM5 with the Hamburg Aerosol Module and prescribed SSTs, we quantify anthropogenic aerosol dimming over sea surfaces by comparing ensembles, which only differ in anthropogenic aerosol emissions. We isolate the anthropogenic aerosol effect on SSR with sufficiently large ensemble sizes to provide statistically significant results. The following simulation results are obtained: Dimming plumes extend from their source regions with clear seasonality. The latter is predominantly shaped by atmospheric circulation, while interdecadal changes follow the gradual increase in anthropogenic aerosol emissions. Comparing the 1990s with the 1870s, on average, 9.4% (clear‐sky SSR) or 15.4% (all‐sky SSR) of the entire ocean surface was affected by anthropogenic aerosol dimming larger than −4 Wm−2 (decadal mean). Comparing the same time periods, global average anthropogenic dimming over oceans is −2.3 Wm−2 and −3.4 Wm−2 for clear‐sky and all‐sky SSR, respectively. Surface dimming is hemispherically asymmetrical with stronger Northern Hemispheric dimming by 2.3 Wm−2 and 4.5 Wm−2 for clear‐sky and all‐sky SSR, respectively. Zonal average clear‐sky dimming reaches its maximum (−5.5 Wm−2) near the equator. All‐sky dimming peaks at 40°N (−8 Wm−2) and is regionally larger than clear‐sky dimming. Regionally, surface dimming can reach values up to 9.5 Wm−2 (clear‐sky) and 25 Wm−2 (all‐sky). Results are a contribution toward better quantifying spatially heterogeneous and time‐dependent anthropogenic dimming effects on SSTs.

Decadal variations in estimated surface solar radiation over Switzerland since the late 19th century

Abstract. Our knowledge on trends in surface solar radiation (SSR) involves uncertainties due to the scarcity of long-term time series of SSR, especially with records before the second half of the 20th century. Here we study the trends of all-sky SSR from 1885 to 2010 in Switzerland, which have been estimated using a homogenous dataset of sunshine duration series. This variable is shown to be a useful proxy data of all-sky SSR, which can help to solve some of the current open issues in the dimming/brightening phenomenon. All-sky SSR has been fairly stable with little variations in the first half of the 20th century, unlike the second half of the 20th century that is characterized also in Switzerland by a dimming from the 1950s to the 1980s and a subsequent brightening. Cloud cover changes seem to explain the major part of the decadal variability observed in all-sky SSR, at least from 1885 to the 1970s; at this point, a discrepancy in the sign of the trend is visible in the all-sky SSR and cloud cover series from the 1970s to the present. Finally, an attempt to estimate SSR series for clear-sky conditions, based also on sunshine duration records since the 1930s, has been made for the first time. The mean clear-sky SSR series shows no relevant changes between the 1930s to the 1950s, then a decrease, smaller than the observed in the all-sky SSR, from the 1960s to 1970s, and ends with a strong increase from the 1980s up to the present. During the three decades from 1981 to 2010 the estimated clear-sky SSR trends reported in this study are in line with previous findings over Switzerland based on direct radiative flux measurements. Moreover, the signal of the El Chichón and Pinatubo volcanic eruption visible in the estimated clear-sky SSR records further demonstrates the potential to infer aerosol-induced radiation changes from sunshine duration observations.

Erratum to: Decadal variation of surface solar radiation in the Tibetan Plateau from observations, reanalysis and model simulations

In this study, the annual and seasonal variations of all-sky and clear-sky surface solar radiation (SSR) in the eastern and central Tibetan Plateau (TP) during the period 1960-2009 are investigated, based on surface observational data, reanalyses and ensemble simulations with the global climate model ECHAM5-HAM. The mean annual all-sky SSR series shows a decreasing trend with a rate of -1.00 Wm -2 decade -1 , which is mainly seen in autumn and secondly in summer and winter. A stronger decrease of -2.80 Wm -2 decade -1 is found in the mean annual clear- sky SSR series, especially during winter and autumn. Overall, these results confirm a tendency towards a decrease of SSR in the TP during the last five decades. The comparisons with reanalysis show that both NCEP/NCAR and ERA-40 reanalyses do not capture the decadal varia- tions of the all-sky and clear-sky SSR. This is probably due to a missing consideration of aerosols in the reanalysis assimilation model. The SSR simulated with the ECHAM5-HAM global climate model under both all-sky and clear-sky conditions reproduce the decrease seen in the surface observations, especially after 1980. The steadily increasing aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm over the TP in the ECHAM5-HAM results suggests transient aero- sol emissions as a plausible cause.