Validation and comparison of incoming solar radiation satellite databases on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa
Abstract
Solar radiation incident on the Earth's surface is important for the functioning of tropical forests, as it affects the availability of light and water. Due to the lack of in-situ data in tropical forest environments, satellite products and reanalyses are the only ways to estimate solar radiation on a regional scale. An intercomparison of five satellite databases including CERES-EBAF, CERES-SYN1deg, CMSAF-SARAH, CMSAF-CLARA, CAMS-JADE as well as the ERA5 reanalysis, is carried out for the Atlantic coast of Central Africa by evaluating them against two in-situ data sets: the monthly FAOCLIM2 database and original infra-daily data from meteorological stations set up within the framework of ecoclimatic projects. From this inter-comparison we show the differences between these six products and with in-situ data from monthly to daily scales. We also show that the Atlantic coast of Central Africa receives the least amount of solar radiation in all products compared to other regions of Central Africa.
Domains
ClimatologyOrigin | Files produced by the author(s) |
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