Hourly global horizontal irradiance over West Africa: A case study of one-year satellite- and reanalysis-derived estimates vs. in situ measurements

• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.119066
• Publication Date: 2023-07-19T15:34:40Z
• Authors: Windmanagda Sawadogo; Jan Bliefernicht; Benjamin Fersch; Seyni Salack; Samuel Guug; Belko Diallo; Kehinde.O. Ogunjobi; Guillaume Nakoulma; Michael Tanu; Stefanie Meilinger; Harald Kunstmann
• Keywords: Aerosols' Impact on Climate and Hydrological Cycle; Atmospheric Science; Atmospheric sciences; 550; Stratospheric Chemistry and Climate Change Impacts; 551; ddc:621.3; 7. Clean energy; Quantum mechanics; Environmental science; Air Quality; ddc:333.7; Meteorology; Engineering; Artificial Intelligence; Irradiance; Machine Learning Methods for Solar Radiation Forecasting; Climatology; Global and Planetary Change; info:eu-repo/classification/ddc/550; Geography; ddc:550; Physics; Geology; FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences; Remote sensing; Air quality index; Earth and Planetary Sciences; Earth sciences; Aerospace engineering; 13. Climate action; Satellite; Solar irradiance; Computer Science; Physical Sciences; Environmental Science

Estimates of global horizontal irradiance (GHI) from reanalysis and satellite-based data are the most important information for design monitoring PV systems in Africa, but their quality is unknown due to lack situ measurements. In this study, we evaluate performance hourly GHI state-of-the-art products (ERA5, CAMS, MERRA-2, SARAH-2) with 37 quality-controlled measurements novel meteorological networks established Burkina Faso Ghana under different weather conditions year 2020. The effects clouds aerosols also considered analysis by using common measures main attributes a new overall value joint assessment. results show that satellite performs better than atmospheric conditions. Nevertheless, both sources exhibit significant bias more 150 W/m2 terms RMSE cloudy skies compared clear skies. measure clearly shows derived CAMS SARAH-2 could serve as viable alternative assessing solar energy climatic zones West Africa.