Validation of CM SAF CLARA-A2 and SARAH-E Surface Solar Radiation Datasets over China

To achieve high-quality surface solar radiation (SSR) data for climate monitoring and analysis, the two satellite-derived monthly SSR datasets of CM SAF CLARA-A2 and SARAH-E have been validated against a homogenized ground-based dataset covering 59 stations across China for 1993–2015 and 1999–2015,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inRemote sensing (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 10; no. 12; p. 1977
Main Authors Wang, Yawen, Trentmann, Jörg, Yuan, Wenping, Wild, Martin
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.12.2018
Subjects
Aerosols
Air pollution
Algorithms
Anomalies
Anthropogenic factors
Bias
China
Climate change
Climate monitoring
Climatic data
Cold season
Datasets
Ground-based observation
Hydrology
Irradiance
Laboratories
Meteorological satellites
Performance enhancement
Quality
Remote sensing
satellite
Satellite observation
Snow cover
solar brightening
Solar radiation
surface solar radiation
Trends
Urbanization
validation
China
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Summary:To achieve high-quality surface solar radiation (SSR) data for climate monitoring and analysis, the two satellite-derived monthly SSR datasets of CM SAF CLARA-A2 and SARAH-E have been validated against a homogenized ground-based dataset covering 59 stations across China for 1993–2015 and 1999–2015, respectively. The satellite products overestimate surface solar irradiance by 10.0 W m−2 in CLARA-A2 and 7.5 W m−2 in SARAH-E on average. A strong urbanization effect has been noted behind the large positive bias in China. The bias decreased after 2004, possibly linked to a weakened attenuating effect of aerosols on radiation in China. Both satellite datasets can reproduce the monthly anomalies of SSR, indicated by a significant correlation around 0.8. Due to the neglection of temporal aerosol variability in the satellite algorithms, the discrepancy between the satellite-estimated and ground-observed SSR trends slightly increases in 1999–2015 as compared to 1993–2015. The seasonal performance of the satellite products shows a better accuracy during warm than cold seasons. With respect to the spatial performance, the effects from anthropogenic aerosols, dust aerosols and high elevation and snow-covered surfaces should be well considered in the satellite SSR retrievals to further improve the performance in the eastern, northwestern and southwestern parts of China, respectively.
ISSN:2072-4292
2072-4292
DOI:10.3390/rs10121977