1.8 solarflux.aml

This is one of the most sophisticated routines to calculate the solar flux over a given terrain (Dubayah & Rich, 1995). The routine was coded by P. Rich and by W.A. Hetrick (Rich et al., 1995). The AML can be executed in batch mode or by using a graphical interface. The available options are rather detailed. The user can calculate the radiation for a very short fraction of a day up to a whole day. Further, the user can pass a value of the vertical transmittance of the atmosphere. There is a well documented manual (Rich et al., 1995) available to download from the Los Alamos National Lab’s public library (click here for: a PDF version).

The main difference to the shortwave.aml and its derivatives are: (1) the use of a different base value (solar constant) for calculating the extraterrestrial direct normal radiation, and (2) the use of a different equation to cope with the attenuation of the beam radiation due to lower sun altitude. However, the shape of the function is very similar to the eqn. used in shortwave.aml.

The solarflux.aml consists of numerous subordinate AMLs that have to be copied as well. Thus, this package is best downloaded as a compressed version.
 
 
 

General specifications of the AML:

Command: &r solarflux  [parameters]    (at GRID  prompt)
Required input: DEM
Output units: J/m2/time period
Solar constant used: 1.353 kW/m2
Transmittance used: Selected upon start
Elevat. lapse rate for trans.  -
Minimum calculation step: Any portion of a day
Speed of calculations: Rather slow due to complex programming
Flexibility of the routine: High; user has many options
User interface: Very good
Known errors:  -
Corrections  -
Programmer P. Rich & W.A. Hetrick
Available @: zeke.kbs.ukans.edu
Download: DOS-compressed or UNIX-compressed file
READ.ME  and an Installation guide                        (use: "save link as")
Contact: niklaus.zimmermann @ wsl.ch

 

References:

Dubayah, R. and Rich, P.M., 1995. Topographic solar radiation models for GIS. International Journal for Geographical Information Systems, 9(4): 405-419.

Rich, P.M., Hetrick, W.A. and Savings, S.C., 1995. Modelling topographical influences on solar radiation: manual for the SOLARFLUX model. LA-12989-M, Los Alamos National Laboratories, Los Alamos.
 
 

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Last Updated: 9/14/00
By Niklaus E. Zimmermann