TITLE:
Impact of Terrain and Cloud Cover on the Distribution of Incoming Direct Solar Radiation over Pakistan
AUTHORS:
Shahzad Sultan, Renguang Wu, Iftikhar Ahmed
KEYWORDS:
Rugged Terrain; Solar Radiation; Distributed Model; Pakistan; GIS; DEM
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.6 No.1,
February
21,
2014
ABSTRACT: This study investigates the spatial distribution of
direct solar irradiation on rugged terrain over Pakistan. Digital elevation
model (DEM), observational data of solar radiation from 6 meteorological
observatories located in Pakistan and 5 meteorological observatories located in
China were used in the present study. This conjunction is based on the same
climatic conditions. MODIS Level-2 (L2) cloud fraction products and
observational data of cloud cover from 21 meteorological observatories in
Pakistan were incorporated to quantify the cloud cover influences on solar
radiation amount and spatial distribution. The emerging field of remote sensing
and GIS makes it possible to calculate solar radiation with finer spatial
resolution and better understanding of terrain and cloud effects. ArcGIS with
RS platform were used to simulate the model for direct solar radiation for the
first time over Pakistan region. The results show clear quantitative influences
of local topography and cloud cover on the DSR. Similarly, the area (east of
Indus river) affected by monsoon receives less solar radiation during summer
compared to the west of the Indus River.