Open AccessOn the use of the digital elevation model to estimate the solar radiation in areas of complex topography
Author(s) -
TovarPescador J.,
PozoVázquez D.,
RuizArias J. A.,
Batlles J.,
López G.,
Bosch J. L.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
meteorological applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1469-8080
pISSN - 1350-4827
DOI - 10.1017/s1350482706002258
Subject(s) - digital elevation model , elevation (ballistics) , remote sensing , albedo (alchemy) , radiation , environmental science , satellite , interpolation (computer graphics) , meteorology , solar energy , geology , computer science , geography , animation , art , ecology , physics , geometry , mathematics , computer graphics (images) , quantum mechanics , aerospace engineering , performance art , engineering , biology , art history
Abstract The development of solar energy as a power source in the next few years requires reliable estimation of available solar energy resources. At local scales, topography is the most important factor in determining the distribution of solar radiation at the surface. Interpolation techniques are usually employed to estimate solar radiation where stations are not available, but their usefulness is limited where topography is an important source of variability. The use of satellite data and more recently of models based on techniques GIS, have contributed to solve this difficulty. In this work the usefulness of a digital elevation model (DEM) in providing topographic information for the estimation of solar radiation in areas of complex topography is analysed. Daily global radiation values were generated using the Solar Analyst software, which uses topographic information to generate radiation data. The generated data were compared with the experimental data obtained from 14 radiometric stations located within the Sierra Nevada Natural Park (southern Spain), an area of complex topography. Results show the usefulness of the topographic information derived from a DEM to estimate the solar radiation in areas of complex topography. Nevertheless, results depend on the DEM resolution and it is important that other factors, such as the albedo, should also be taken into account to obtain better estimates. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.