Solar Irradiance and Temperature Variability
Loading...
Date
2019-06-12
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Abstract
This paper assessed the variability and projected trends of solar irradiance and temperature in the East of Burundi. Observed temperature from meteorological stations and the MERRA-2 data set provided by NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center are used over the historical period 1976–2005. In addition, solar irradiance data provided by SoDa database were considered.
Furthermore, projection data from eight Regional Climate Models were used over the periods 2026–2045 and 2066–2085. The variability analysis was performed using a standardized index.
Projected trends and changes in the future climate were respectively detected through Mann-Kendall and t-tests. The findings over the historical period revealed increase temperature and decrease in solar irradiance over the last decades of the 20th century. At a monthly scale, the variability analysis showed that excesses in solar irradiance coincide with the dry season, which led to the conclusion that it may be a period of high production for solar energy. In the future climate, upward trends in temperature are expected over the two future periods, while no significant trends are forecasted in solar irradiance over the entire studied region. However, slight decreases and significant changes in solar irradiance have been detected over all regions.
Description
All over the world, energy is indispensable for economic and socio-development activities.
Many African countries, especially those in the process of development, are not able to produce enough energy, less expensive and which respects the standards of environment protection despite the potential of the continent.
Keywords
Burundi, Temperature, Solar irradiance, variability, projected trends