Surface Solar Extremes in the Most Irradiated Region on Earth, Altiplano

verfasst von

Raúl R. Cordero, Sarah Feron, Alessandro Damiani, Edgardo Sepúlveda, Jose Jorquera, Alberto Redondas, Gunther Seckmeyer, Jorge Carrasco, Penny Rowe, Zutao Ouyang

Abstract

Satellites have consistently pointed to the Altiplano of the Atacama Desert as the place on Earth where the world’s highest surface irradiance occurs. This region, near the Tropic of Capricorn, is characterized by its high elevation, prevalent cloudless conditions, and relatively low concentrations of ozone, aerosols, and precipitable water. Aimed at studying the variability of the surface solar irradiance and detecting atmospheric composition changes in the Altiplano, an atmospheric observatory was set up in 2016 at the northwestern border of the Chajnantor Plateau (5,148 m MSL, 22.95°S, 67.78°W, Chile). Here, we report on the first 5 years of measurements at this observatory that establish the Altiplano as the region that receives the highest-known irradiation on Earth and illuminate the unique features of surface solar extremes at high-altitude locations. We found that the global horizontal shortwave (SW) irradiance on the plateau is on average 308 W m⁻² (equivalent to an annual irradiation of 2.7 MWh m⁻² yr⁻¹, the highest worldwide). We also found that forward scattering by broken clouds often leads to intense bursts of SW irradiance; a record of 2,177 W m⁻² was measured, equivalent to the extraterrestrial SW irradiance expected at approximately 0.79 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. These cloud-driven surface solar extremes occur on the Chajnantor Plateau at a frequency, intensity, and duration not previously seen anywhere in the world, making the site an ideal location for studying the response of photovoltaic (PV) power plants to periods of enhanced SW variability.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Meteorologie und Klimatologie

Externe Organisation(en)

Universidad de Santiago de Chile
Reichsuniversität Groningen
National Institute for Environmental Studies of Japan
Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET)
UNIVERSIDAD DE MAGALLANES
NorthWest Research Associates, Inc.
Stanford University

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Band

104

Seiten

E1206-E1221

ISSN

0003-0007

Publikationsdatum

01.06.2023

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Atmosphärenwissenschaften

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 7 – Erschwingliche und saubere Energie

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-22-0215.1 (Zugang: Offen)