Preliminary survey on site-adaptation techniques for satellite-derived and reanalysis solar radiation datasets

International audienceAt any site, the bankability of a projected solar power plant largely depends on the accuracy and general quality of the solar radiation data generated during the solar resource assessment phase. The term “site adaptation” has recently started to be used in the framework of solar energy projects to refer to the improvement that can be achieved in satellite-derived solar irradiance and model data when short-term local ground measurements are used to correct systematic errors and bias in the original dataset. This contribution presents a preliminary survey of different possible techniques that can improve long-term satellite-derived and model-derived solar radiation data through the use of short-term on-site ground measurements. The possible approaches that are reported here may be applied in different ways, depending on the origin and characteristics of the uncertainties in the modeled data. This work, which is the first step of a forthcoming in-depth assessment of methodologies for site adaptation, has been done within the framework of the International Energy Agency Solar Heating and Cooling Programme Task 46 “Solar Resource Assessment and Forecasting”

EUREC(4)A's HALO

As part of the EUREC(4)A (Elucidating the role of cloud-circulation coupling in climate) field campaign, the German research aircraft HALO (High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft), configured as a cloud observatory, conducted 15 research flights in the trade-wind region east of Barbados in January and February 2020. Narrative text, aircraft state data, and metadata describing HALO's operation during the campaign are provided. Each HALO research flight is segmented by timestamp intervals into standard elements to aid the consistent analysis of the flight data. Photographs from HALO's cabin and animated satellite images synchronized with flight tracks are provided to visually document flight conditions. As a comprehensive product from the remote sensing observations, a multi-sensor cloud mask product is derived and quantifies the incidence of clouds observed during the flights. In addition, to lower the threshold for new users of HALO's data, a collection of use cases is compiled into an online book, How to EUREC(4)A, included as an asset with this paper. This online book provides easy access to most of EUREC(4)A's HALO data through an intake catalogue. Code and data are freely available at the locations specified in Table 6

EUREC⁴A's HALO

International audienceAs part of the EUREC 4 A field campaign, the German research aircraft HALO, configured as a cloud observatory, conducted 15 research flights in the trade wind region east of Barbados in January and February 2020. Narrative text, aircraft state data, and meta data describing HALO's operation during the campaign are provided. Each HALO research flight is segmented by time-stamp intervals into standard elements to aid the consistent analysis of the flight data. Photographs from HALO's cabin and animated satellite images synchronized with flight tracks are provided to visually document flight condi-5 tions. As a comprehensive product from the remote sensing observations, a multi-sensor cloud mask product is derived and quantifies the incidence of clouds observed during the flights. In addition, to lower the threshold for new users of HALO's data, a collection of use cases is compiled into an online book "How to EUREC 4 A", included as an asset with this paper. This online book provides easy access to most of EUREC 4 A's HALO data through an intake catalogue

ICON-Sapphire: simulating the components of the Earth system and their interactions at kilometer and subkilometer scales

International audienceState-of-the-art Earth system models typically employ grid spacings of O(100 km), which is too coarse to explicitly resolve main drivers of the flow of energy and matter across the Earth system. In this paper, we present the new ICON-Sapphire model configuration, which targets a representation of the components of the Earth system and their interactions with a grid spacing of 10 km and finer. Through the use of selected simulation examples, we demonstrate that ICON-Sapphire can (i) be run coupled globally on seasonal timescales with a grid spacing of 5 km, on monthly timescales with a grid spacing of 2.5 km, and on daily timescales with a grid spacing of 1.25 km; (ii) resolve large eddies in the atmosphere using hectometer grid spacings on limited-area domains in atmosphere-only simulations; (iii) resolve submesoscale ocean eddies by using a global uniform grid of 1.25 km or a telescoping grid with the finest grid spacing at 530 m, the latter coupled to a uniform atmosphere; and (iv) simulate biogeochemistry in an ocean-only simulation integrated for 4 years at 10 km. Comparison of basic features of the climate system to observations reveals no obvious pitfalls, even though some observed aspects remain difficult to capture. The throughput of the coupled 5 km global simulation is 126 simulated days per day employing 21 % of the latest machine of the German Climate Computing Center. Extrapolating from these results, multi-decadal global simulations including interactive carbon are now possible, and short global simulations resolving large eddies in the atmosphere and submesoscale eddies in the ocean are within reach

ICON-Sapphire: simulating the components of the Earth system and their interactions at kilometer and subkilometer scales

International audienceState-of-the-art Earth system models typically employ grid spacings of O(100 km), which is too coarse to explicitly resolve main drivers of the flow of energy and matter across the Earth system. In this paper, we present the new ICON-Sapphire model configuration, which targets a representation of the components of the Earth system and their interactions with a grid spacing of 10 km and finer. Through the use of selected simulation examples, we demonstrate that ICON-Sapphire can (i) be run coupled globally on seasonal timescales with a grid spacing of 5 km, on monthly timescales with a grid spacing of 2.5 km, and on daily timescales with a grid spacing of 1.25 km; (ii) resolve large eddies in the atmosphere using hectometer grid spacings on limited-area domains in atmosphere-only simulations; (iii) resolve submesoscale ocean eddies by using a global uniform grid of 1.25 km or a telescoping grid with the finest grid spacing at 530 m, the latter coupled to a uniform atmosphere; and (iv) simulate biogeochemistry in an ocean-only simulation integrated for 4 years at 10 km. Comparison of basic features of the climate system to observations reveals no obvious pitfalls, even though some observed aspects remain difficult to capture. The throughput of the coupled 5 km global simulation is 126 simulated days per day employing 21 % of the latest machine of the German Climate Computing Center. Extrapolating from these results, multi-decadal global simulations including interactive carbon are now possible, and short global simulations resolving large eddies in the atmosphere and submesoscale eddies in the ocean are within reach

ICON-Sapphire: simulating the components of the Earth system and their interactions at kilometer and subkilometer scales

International audienceState-of-the-art Earth system models typically employ grid spacings of O(100 km), which is too coarse to explicitly resolve main drivers of the flow of energy and matter across the Earth system. In this paper, we present the new ICON-Sapphire model configuration, which targets a representation of the components of the Earth system and their interactions with a grid spacing of 10 km and finer. Through the use of selected simulation examples, we demonstrate that ICON-Sapphire can (i) be run coupled globally on seasonal timescales with a grid spacing of 5 km, on monthly timescales with a grid spacing of 2.5 km, and on daily timescales with a grid spacing of 1.25 km; (ii) resolve large eddies in the atmosphere using hectometer grid spacings on limited-area domains in atmosphere-only simulations; (iii) resolve submesoscale ocean eddies by using a global uniform grid of 1.25 km or a telescoping grid with the finest grid spacing at 530 m, the latter coupled to a uniform atmosphere; and (iv) simulate biogeochemistry in an ocean-only simulation integrated for 4 years at 10 km. Comparison of basic features of the climate system to observations reveals no obvious pitfalls, even though some observed aspects remain difficult to capture. The throughput of the coupled 5 km global simulation is 126 simulated days per day employing 21 % of the latest machine of the German Climate Computing Center. Extrapolating from these results, multi-decadal global simulations including interactive carbon are now possible, and short global simulations resolving large eddies in the atmosphere and submesoscale eddies in the ocean are within reach