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Means and Trends of Shortwave Irradiance at the Surface Estimated from Global Energy Balance Archive Data
Journal article

Means and Trends of Shortwave Irradiance at the Surface Estimated from Global Energy Balance Archive Data

  • Gilgen, H. Institute of Geography, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Wild, M. Institute of Geography, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
  • Ohmura, A. Institute of Geography, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland
  • 1998-8-1
Published in:
  • Journal of Climate. - American Meteorological Society. - 1998, vol. 11, no. 8, p. 2042-2061
Atmospheric Science
English Abstract
Means and trends of shortwave irradiance at the earth’s surface are calculated from pyranometer measurements stored in the Global Energy Balance Archive (GEBA) database. The GEBA database contains the most comprehensive set of shortwave irradiance monthly means. The relative random error of measurement is approximately 5% of a monthly mean in general and approximately 2% of a yearly mean. The shortwave irradiance yearly means are analyzed in a 2.5° × 2.5° grid. In average example grid cells in Europe (no large altitude differences, no coasts), the difference of shortwave irradiance yearly means measured at different stations (station effect) is less than 5% of the cell mean, and the interannual variability is approximately 4% of the cell mean. On most continents, shortwave irradiance decreases significantly in large regions, and significant positive trends are observed only in four small regions.
Language
  • English
Open access status
hybrid
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://sonar.ch/global/documents/262278
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