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Solar global ultraviolet and broadband global radiant fluxes and their relationships with aerosol optical depth at New Delhi
Author(s) -
Bano Tarannum,
Singh Sachchidanand,
Gupta N. C.,
John Thomas
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international journal of climatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.58
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-0088
pISSN - 0899-8418
DOI - 10.1002/joc.3534
Subject(s) - overcast , aerosol , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , new delhi , flux (metallurgy) , sky , correlation coefficient , climatology , ultraviolet , meteorology , physics , chemistry , geography , mathematics , optics , geology , statistics , archaeology , metropolitan area , organic chemistry
The solar global ultraviolet (GUV) and broadband global (G) radiation flux obtained on a horizontal plane in Delhi, during April 2010 to March 2011 have been used to investigate the temporal variability of these radiations and their ratio, fraction of UV (FUV). For the first time the clearness index ( K T ) has been estimated over Delhi and its variability during different months of the year and season has been studied in detail. The impact of atmospheric aerosols on K T has also been studied. It has been found that for every unit increase in aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 340 nm, K T decreases by 0.06. A strong anti‐correlation with correlation coefficient − 0.75 is observed between AOD and K T . On the basis of our field experience and observations at Delhi it is found that for highly cloudy and overcast conditions 0⩽ K T ⩽0.15, for partial cloudy or hazy conditions 0.15⩽ K T ⩽0.21 and K T > 0.21 for clear sky conditions. In addition, during foggy days in winter we have found K T values lying in the range 0.12–0.18 at Delhi. The day‐time daily‐averaged fluxes GUV and G varied in the range 0.15–1.23 MJ m −2 and 3.36–27.02 MJ m −2 , respectively. The GUV and G showed similar pattern during the year except for the wet season when the FUV increased possibly due to an increase in water vapour concentration. Copyright © 2012 Royal Meteorological Society