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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2015

Measured daylighting potential of a static optical louver system under real sun and sky conditions

Side-by-side comparisons were made over solstice-to-solstice changes in sun and sky conditions between an optical louver system (OLS) and a conventional Venetian blind set at a horizontal slat angle and located inboard of a south-facing, small-area, clerestory window in a full-scale office testbed. Daylight autonomy (DA), window luminance, and ceiling luminance uniformity were used to assess performance. The performance of both systems was found to have significant seasonal variation, where performance under clear sky conditions improved as maximum solar altitude angles transitioned from solstice to equinox. Although the OLS produced fewer hours per day of DA on average than the Venetian blind, the OLS never exceeded the designated 2000 cd/m2 threshold for window glare. In contrast, the Venetian blind was found to exceed the visual discomfort threshold over a large fraction of the day during equinox conditions. Notably, these peak periods of visual discomfort occurred during the best periods of daylighting performance. Luminance uniformity was analyzed using calibrated high dynamic range luminance images. Under clear sky conditions, the OLS was found to increase the luminance of the ceiling as well as produce a more uniform distribution. Furthermore, compared to conventional venetian blinds, the static optical sunlight redirecting system studied has the potential to significantly reduce the annual electrical lighting energy demand of a daylit space and improve the quality from the perspective of building occupants by consistently transmitting useful daylight while eliminating window glare.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2018

Assessment of Error Sources in the Modeling of POA Irradiance Under Clear-Sky Conditions: Preprint

A new physics-based model, the Fast All-sky Radiation Model for Solar applications with Narrowband Irradiances on Tilted surfaces (FARMS-NIT), accurately computes plane-of-array (POA) irradiances in both narrow- and broad wavelength bands within the solar region. The evaluation studies suggest that the new model provides increased accuracy than a model assuming isotropic diffuse solar radiation and an empirical model linking the POA irradiances with long-term surface observations at selected locations. This study anlyzes the surface observations used by FARMS-NIT and is intended to understand the error sources under clear-sky conditions as well as their impact to the performance of FARMS-NIT.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2021

Precipitable water vapor over oceans from the Maritime Aerosol Network: Evaluation of global models and satellite products under clear sky conditions

We present results from an evaluation of precipitable water vapor (W) over remote oceanic areas as derived from global reanalysis models and from satellites against observations from the Maritime Aerosol Network (MAN) for cloudless skies during the period of 2004–2017. They cover polar, mid latitude and tropical oceanic regions and represent a first effort to use MAN observations for such evaluation. The global reanalysis model products evaluated in this study are from the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Interim Reanalysis (ERA I), and the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) model. The satellite products evaluated are from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER), the Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME-2), the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY), and the Atmospheric Infra-red Sounder (AIRS). Satellite retrievals of W are based on the attenuation of solar reflected light by water vapor absorption bands, except those from AIRS that rely on brightness temperature measurements. A very good agreement is observed between the model estimates and MAN, with mean differences of ~5% and standard deviations of ~15%. These results are within the uncertainties associated with the models and the measurements, indicating the skill of the reanalysis models to estimate W over oceans under clear sky conditions. Mean differences of W between the satellite and MAN products are ~11, 6.7, 12, −7, and 3% for MODIS, POLDER, GOME-2, SCIAMACHY and AIRS respectively, while their standard deviations are 31, 29, 28, 20 and 17%. These differences reveal the need to address inconsistencies among different satellite sensors and ground-based measurements to reduce the uncertainties associated with the retrievals.

Daniel Pérez-Ramírez↗
DOE OSTI2010

Performance characteristics of a perforated shadow band under clear sky conditions

A perforated, non-rotating shadow band is described for separating global solar irradiance into its diffuse and direct normal components using a single pyranometer. Whereas shadow bands are normally solid so as to occult the sensor of a pyranometer throughout the day, the proposed band has apertures cut from its circumference to intermittently expose the instrument sensor at preset intervals. Under clear sky conditions the device produces a saw tooth waveform of irradiance data from which it is possible to reconstruct separate global and diffuse curves. The direct normal irradiance may then be calculated giving a complete breakdown of the irradiance curves without need of a second instrument or rotating shadow band. This paper describes the principle of operation of the band and gives a mathematical model of its shading mask based on the results of an optical ray tracing study. An algorithm for processing the data from the perforated band system is described and evaluated. In an extended trial conducted at NREL's Solar Radiation Research Laboratory, the band coupled with a thermally corrected Eppley PSP produced independent curves for diffuse, global and direct normal irradiance with low mean bias errors of 5.6 W/m{sup 2}, 0.3 W/m{sup 2} and -2.6 W/m{sup 2} respectively, relative to collocated reference instruments. Random uncertainties were 9.7 W/m{sup 2} (diffuse), 17.3 W/m{sup 2} (global) and 19.0 W/m{sup 2} (direct). When the data processing algorithm was modified to include the ray trace model of sensor exposure, uncertainties increased only marginally, confirming the effectiveness of the model. Deployment of the perforated band system can potentially increase the accuracy of data from ground stations in predominantly sunny areas where instrumentation is limited to a single pyranometer. (author)

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2016

Analysis of Ozone in Cloudy Versus Clear Sky Conditions

Convection impacts ozone concentrations by transporting ozone vertically and by lofting ozone precursors from the surface, while the clouds and lighting associated with convection affect ozone chemistry. Observations of the above-cloud ozone column (Ziemke et al., 2009) derived from the OMI instrument show geographic variability, and comparison of the above-cloud ozone with all-sky tropospheric ozone columns from OMI indicates important regional differences. We use two global models of atmospheric chemistry, the GMI chemical transport model (CTM) and the GEOS-5 chemistry climate model, to diagnose the contributions of transport and chemistry to observed differences in ozone between areas with and without deep convection, as well as differences in clean versus polluted convective regions. We also investigate how the above-cloud tropospheric ozone from OMI can provide constraints on the relationship between ozone and convection in a free-running climate simulation as well as a CTM.

Cloud↗
DOE OSTI2020

Chapter 13: A Simple Estimation of UV Irradiance Under Clear-Sky Conditions

Accelerated aging tests are designed to estimate the useful life of products in their end-use environment. There is currently no simple way to answer the age-old question: “How long should I run my weathering test to reproduce 1 year of outdoor aging?” At the very least, there is need to (1) evaluate the acceleration rate associated with each stress factor and (2) estimate the intensity of the stress factors that the products under scrutiny are exposed to in natural aging. In this chapter, a model is introduced to calculate the ratio between ultraviolet (UV) irradiance and global horizontal irradiance (GHI). This method was empirically derived from measured or simulated irradiance data and validated against outdoor observations. This ratio provides a simple way to estimate the UV dose that samples are exposed to at any outdoor location.

ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY,OTHER INSTRUM↗
NASA NTRS1987

Differential CCD photometry of faint asteroids in crowded star fields and nonphotometric sky conditions

It is demonstrated that the use of an imaging CCD detector array allows photometric observations of comparatively faint asteroids moving rapidly through a complex background of star images. The shortage of observing time is alleviated by taking advantage of the presence of comparison stars that are observed simultaneously on the CCD imaging area and at small angular separations from the asteroid. These reference stars allow the effects of thin cirrus clouds or haze to be compensated to a degree adequate for the acquisition of scientifically original data.

Wisniewski, W. Z.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A fibre optic, four channel comparative photometer

Development of a four channel comparative photometer is described. Tests have shown that it is stable from night to night and is capable of working in very poor sky conditions. Even when the sky conditions are so poor that stars are barely visible, light curves can still be obtained with an r.m.s. value of 0.0016 mag., provided that integration times that are long compared with the transparancy changes are possible.

Walker, E. N.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Systematic Assessment of Retrieval Methods for Canopy Far-Red Solar-Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence Using High-Frequency Automated Field Spectroscopy

Remote sensing of solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) offers potential to infer photosynthesis across scales and biomes. Many retrieval methods have been developed to estimate top-of-canopy SIF using ground-based spectroscopy. However, inconsistencies among methods may confound interpretation of SIF dynamics, eco-physiological/environmental drivers, and its relationship with photosynthesis. Using high temporal- and spectral resolution ground-based spectroscopy, we aimed to (1) evaluate performance of SIF retrieval methods under diverse sky conditions using continuous field measurements; (2) assess method sensitivity to fluctuating light, reflectance, and fluorescence emission spectra; and (3) inform users for optimal ground-based SIF retrieval. Analysis included field measurements from bi-hemispherical and hemispherical-conical systems and synthetic upwelling radiance constructed from measured downwelling radiance, simulated reflectance, and simulated fluorescence for benchmarking. Fraunhofer-based differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) and singular vector decomposition (SVD) retrievals exhibit convergent SIF-PAR relationships and diurnal consistency across different sky conditions, while O2A-based spectral fitting method (SFM), SVD, and modified Fraunhofer line discrimination (3FLD) exhibit divergent SIF-PAR relationships across sky conditions. We find that such behavior holds across system configurations, though hemispherical-conical systems diverge less across sky conditions. O 2 A retrieval accuracy, influenced by atmospheric distortion, improves with a narrower fitting window and when training SVD with temporally local spectra. This may impact SIF-photosynthesis relationships interpreted by previous studies using O 2 A-based retrievals with standard (759–767.76 nm) fitting windows. Fraunhofer-based retrievals resist atmospheric impacts but are noisier and more sensitive to assumed SIF spectral shape than O 2 A-based retrievals. We recommend SVD or SFM using reduced fitting window (759.5–761.5 nm) for robust far-red SIF retrievals across sky conditions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Assessing the cloud radiative bias at Macquarie Island in the ACCESS-AM2 model

Abstract. As a long-standing problem in climate models, large positive shortwave radiation biases exist at the surface over the Southern Ocean, impacting the accurate simulation of sea surface temperature, atmospheric circulation, and precipitation. Underestimations of low-level cloud fraction and liquid water content are suggested to predominantly contribute to these radiation biases. Most model evaluations for radiation focus on summer and rely on satellite products, which have their own limitations. In this work, we use surface-based observations at Macquarie Island to provide the first long-term, seasonal evaluation of both downwelling surface shortwave and longwave radiation in the Australian Community Climate and Earth System Simulator Atmosphere-only Model version 2 (ACCESS-AM2) over the Southern Ocean. The capacity of the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) product to simulate radiation is also investigated. We utilize the novel lidar simulator, the Automatic Lidar and Ceilometer Framework (ALCF), and all-sky cloud camera observations of cloud fraction to investigate how radiation biases are influenced by cloud properties. Overall, we find an overestimation of +9.5±33.5 W m−2 for downwelling surface shortwave radiation fluxes and an underestimation of -2.3±13.5 W m−2 for downwelling surface longwave radiation in ACCESS-AM2 in all-sky conditions, with more pronounced shortwave biases of +25.0±48.0 W m−2 occurring in summer. CERES presents an overestimation of +8.0±18.0 W m−2 for the shortwave and an underestimation of -12.1±12.2 W m−2 for the longwave in all-sky conditions. For the cloud radiative effect (CRE) biases, there is an overestimation of +4.8±28.0 W m−2 in ACCESS-AM2 and an underestimation of -7.9±20.9 W m−2 in CERES. An overestimation of downwelling surface shortwave radiation is associated with an underestimated cloud fraction and low-level cloud occurrence. We suggest that modeled cloud phase is also having an impact on the radiation biases. Our results show that the ACCESS-AM2 model and CERES product require further development to reduce these radiation biases not just in shortwave and in all-sky conditions, but also in longwave and in clear-sky conditions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2019

Cloud Influence on ERA5 and AMPS Surface Downwelling Longwave Radiation Biases in West Antarctica

The surface downwelling longwave radiation component (LW?) is crucial for the determination of the surface energy budget and has significant implications for the resilience of ice surfaces in the polar regions. Accurate model evaluation of this radiation component requires knowledge about the phase, vertical distribution, and associated temperature of water in the atmosphere, all of which control the LW? signal measured at the surface. In this study, we examine the LW? model errors found in the Antarctic Mesoscale Prediction System (AMPS) operational forecast model and the ERA5 reanalysis model relative to observations from the AWARE campaign at McMurdo Station and the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) Divide. The errors are calculated separately for observed clear sky conditions, ice cloud occurrences, and liquid-bearing cloud layer (LBCL) occurrences. The analysis results show a tendency (in both models at each site) to underestimate the LW? during clear sky conditions, high error variability (standard deviations > 20 W/m2) during any type of cloud occurrence, and negative LW? biases when LBCLs are observed (bias magnitudes > 15 W/m2 in tenuous LBCL cases; > 43 W/m2 in optically thick/opaque LBCLs instances). We suggest that a generally dry and liquid water-deficient atmosphere responsible for the identified LW? biases in both models is the result of excessive ice formation and growth, which could stem from model initial and lateral boundary conditions, microphysics scheme, aerosol representation, and/or limited vertical resolution.

Silber, Israel↗