Reliability of GIS-Based Solar Radiation Models and Their Utilisation in Agro-Meteorological Research

Abstract

Solar radiation is a critical driver of many processes on the earth's surface. It is an important parameter in ecological process modelling, hydrological modelling and biophysical modelling. However, one of the reasons for solar radiation not that widely being utilised in process models is that it is a difficult parameter to measure for all locations, unlike rainfall that can be measured at sample points and interpolated. For GIS-based solar radiation models and the modelled data to be more widely used in biophysical models, one has to have confidence in the accuracy of the modelled data. This paper compares GIS-modelled solar radiation with ground recorded meteorological data for a number of locations and highlight the strong correlation between the two sets. It shows how modelled data can be converted to actual ground data and be used in biophysical models with increased confidence.