9 research outputs found
Multi-resolution nowcasting of clouds and DNI with MSG/SEVIRI for an optimized operation of concentrating solar power plants
Multi-resolution nowcasting of clouds and DNI with MSG/SEVIRI for an optimized operation of concentrating solar power plants
Satellite-based DNI nowcasting based on a sectoral atmospheric motion approach
Within European Commission’s FP7 DNICast project a nowcasting scheme based on Meteosat Second
Generation cloud imagery and cloud movement tracking was further developed. It uses a sectoral approach and answers
the question at which time any cloud structure will affect the power plant. It distinguishes between thin cirrus clouds and
other clouds, which typically occur in different heights in the atmosphere and move in different directions. Also, their
optical properties are very different - especially for the calculation of direct normal irradiance (DNI) as required by
concentrating solar power plants. The method is also applied in ESA’s CSP-FoSyS project developing a nowcasting and
forecasting system. This paper shortly discusses the method and provides a comparison against an optical flow method.
This comparison distinguishes between various cloud types. The study also provides an example how jumpiness and
percentiles are part of the nowcasting ‘message’ and how they can be used quantitiatively in a first approach
Impact of DNI nowcasting on annual revenues of CSP plants for a time of delivery based feed in tariff
The impact of a combined nowcast for direct normal irradiation on revenues of two different concentrating solar power plant technologies under a time-of delivery-tariff is investigated. The nowcasts merge several satellite and NWP based nowcasts together with a smart persistence approach in order to generate a best-of nowcast for all now- and forecast time horizons up to 9 hours and in a 15 min temporal resolution. The applied tariff scheme is similar to that used in South Africa for some of the CSP plants erected in that country with considerably increased remuneration during the evening hours with maximum energy demand. The study investigates the impact both with respect to the annual energy yield and the economic annual revenues of CSP plants. The results for the combined nowcast are compared with results using ECMWF IFS based DNI forecasts which are commercially available for plant operators as well as with a persistence approach and the ideal forecast derived from ground-based observations
EARLINET correlative observations for CALIPSO (2006-2010)
A European Aerosol Research Lidar Network to Establish an Aerosol ClimatologyAerosols affect life on earth in several ways. They play an important role in the climate system; the effect of aerosols on the global climate system is one of the major uncertainties of present climate predictions. They play a major role in atmospheric chemistry and hence affect the concentrations of other potentially harmful atmospheric constituents, e.g. ozone. They are an important controlling factor for the radiation budget, in particular in the UV-B part of the spectrum. At ground level, they can be harmful, even toxic, to man, animals, and plants. Because of these adverse effects that aerosols can have on human life, it is necessary to achieve an advanced understanding of the processes that generate, redistribute, and remove aerosols in the atmosphere.A quantitative dataset describing the aerosol vertical, horizontal, and temporal distribution, including its variability on a continental scale, is necessary. The dataset is used to validate and improve models that predict the future state of the atmosphere and its dependence on different scenarios describing economic development, including those actions taken to preserve the quality of the environment. The EARLINET data set is the most comprehensive compilation of data available for this purpose.This project description is taken from: http://www.earlinet.org/index.php?id=earlinet_homepageSummary: Since the beginning of CALIPSO observations in June 2006 EARLINET has performed correlative measurements during nearby overpasses of the satellite at individual stations following a dedicated observational strategy. The EARLINET-CALIPSO correlative measurement plan considers the criteria established in the CALIPSO validation plan (http://calipsovalidation.hamptonu.edu). Participating EARLINET stations perform measurements, as close in time as possible and for a period of at least 30 min up to several hours, when CALIPSO overpasses their location within a horizontal radius of 100 km. Within the 16-day observational cycle of CALIPSO each station is overpassed within this distance 1-2 times during daytime (typically between 1100 and 1400 UTC) and 1-2 times during night time (typically between 0000 and 0300 UTC). Additional measurements are performed, mainly on a non-regular basis, when CALIPSO overpasses a neighboring station in order to study the horizontal variability of the aerosol distribution. The time schedule for correlative observations is calculated starting from the high-resolution ground-track data provided by NASA, and is updated and distributed to whole network weekly. The EARLINET-CALIPSO correlative dataset represents a statistically significant data set to be used for the validation and full exploitation of the CALIPSO mission, for studying the representativeness of cross sections along an orbit against network observations on a continental scale, and for supporting the continuous, harmonized observation of aerosol and clouds with remote-sensing techniques from space over long time periods
EARLINET climatology (2000-2010)
A European Aerosol Research Lidar Network to Establish an Aerosol ClimatologyAerosols affect life on earth in several ways. They play an important role in the climate system; the effect of aerosols on the global climate system is one of the major uncertainties of present climate predictions. They play a major role in atmospheric chemistry and hence affect the concentrations of other potentially harmful atmospheric constituents, e.g. ozone. They are an important controlling factor for the radiation budget, in particular in the UV-B part of the spectrum. At ground level, they can be harmful, even toxic, to man, animals, and plants. Because of these adverse effects that aerosols can have on human life, it is necessary to achieve an advanced understanding of the processes that generate, redistribute, and remove aerosols in the atmosphere.A quantitative dataset describing the aerosol vertical, horizontal, and temporal distribution, including its variability on a continental scale, is necessary. The dataset is used to validate and improve models that predict the future state of the atmosphere and its dependence on different scenarios describing economic development, including those actions taken to preserve the quality of the environment. The EARLINET data set is the most comprehensive compilation of data available for this purpose.This project description is taken from: http://www.earlinet.org/index.php?id=earlinet_homepageSummary: EARLINET climatological lidar observations are performed on a regularschedule of one daytime measurement per week around noon (on Monday), when theboundary layer is usually well developed, and two night-time measurements per week(on Monday and Thursday), with low background light, in order to perform Ramanextinction measurements. This regular schedule for observations minimizes the biasin the dataset possibly related to specific measurement conditions. The resultingdataset is used to obtain unbiased data for climatological studies.This dataset contains profiles of aerosol extinction, backscatter and lidar ratio.Several aerosol extinction/backscatter datasets can be present for the sameclimatological measurement in order to provide profiles either with a better temporalresolution or with an extended height range by using a larger temporal average.This is by far the largest dataset on the aerosol vertical distribution, and it isthe only one which is collected systematically and is covering a whol
EARLINET observations related to volcanic eruptions (2000-2010)
A European Aerosol Research Lidar Network to Establish an Aerosol ClimatologyAerosols affect life on earth in several ways. They play an important role in the climate system; the effect of aerosols on the global climate system is one of the major uncertainties of present climate predictions. They play a major role in atmospheric chemistry and hence affect the concentrations of other potentially harmful atmospheric constituents, e.g. ozone. They are an important controlling factor for the radiation budget, in particular in the UV-B part of the spectrum. At ground level, they can be harmful, even toxic, to man, animals, and plants. Because of these adverse effects that aerosols can have on human life, it is necessary to achieve an advanced understanding of the processes that generate, redistribute, and remove aerosols in the atmosphere.A quantitative dataset describing the aerosol vertical, horizontal, and temporal distribution, including its variability on a continental scale, is necessary. The dataset is used to validate and improve models that predict the future state of the atmosphere and its dependence on different scenarios describing economic development, including those actions taken to preserve the quality of the environment. The EARLINET data set is the most comprehensive compilation of data available for this purpose.This project description is taken from: http://www.earlinet.org/index.php?id=earlinet_homepageSummary: Aerosols originating from volcanic emissions have an impact on the climate: sulfate and ash particles from volcanic emissions reflect solar radiation, act as cloud condensation and ice nuclei, and modify the radiative properties and lifetime of clouds, and therefore influence the precipitation cycle. These volcanic particles can also have an impact on environmental conditions and could be very dangerous for aircraft in flight. In addition to the routine measurements, further EARLINET observations are devoted to monitor volcano eruptions. The EARLINET volcanic dataset includes extended observations related to two different volcanoes in Europe Mt. Etna (2001 and 2002 eruptions), and the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland (April - May 2010 eruption). This dataset includes also recent events of volcanic eruptions in the North Pacific region (2008-2010) that emitted sulfuric acid droplets into the upper troposphere - lower stratosphere (UTLS) height region of the northern hemisphere. The EARLINET volcanic observations in the UTLS are complemented by the long-term stratospheric aerosol observations collected in the Stratosphere category
EARLINET all observations (2000-2010)
This collection contains all measurements that have been performed in the
frame of the EARLINET project during the period April 2000 - December 2010. Some of
these measurements are also part of the collections 'Calipso', 'Climatology', 'SaharanDust'
or 'VolcanicEruption'. In addition this collection also contains measurements from
the categories 'Cirrus', 'DiurnalCycles', 'ForrestFires', 'Photosmog', 'RuralUrban',
and 'Stratosphere'. This collection also contains measurements not devoted to any of
the above categories.
More information about these categories and the contributing stations can
be found in the file 'EARLINET_general_introduction.pdf' accompanying this dataset