Prof Husi Letu and Prof Chong Shi, researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science at the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, released the near-real-time remote sensing monitoring system for surface solar radiation and high spatial-temporal resolution products, which is the international highest precision surface solar radiation monitoring system constructed by China. Upon its release, the achievement received widespread attention, and related work was reported by the Broadcast of CCTV News on December 2, 2023.

Figure 1. Report from the Broadcast of CCTV News

Surface solar radiation refers to the total solar radiation components received at the Earth's surface, including ultraviolet, visible light, infrared and other electromagnetic radiation of different wavelengths. It is the fundamental energy source driving changes in multi-layer processes of the Earth’s system. Satellite remote sensing technology, with its high data continuity and wide coverage, is one of the most effective methods for monitoring changes in surface solar radiation.

Figure 2. Spatial distribution of total radiation, direct, and scattered components of surface solar radiation components (shortwave radiation, photosynthetically active radiation, ultraviolet A radiation, ultraviolet B radiation).

Prof Husi Letu introduced that traditional surface solar radiation remote sensing data have a series of limitations, such as insufficient spatiotemporal resolution, lack of solar radiation component information, and difficulty in distinguishing the direct and scattered components of solar radiation transmission direction. These limitations have greatly constrained the detailed monitoring and application of solar radiation in fields such as agriculture, ecology, renewable energy, and meteorology. In recent years, with the rapid development of satellite detection technology, particularly the advent of the new generation of geostationary satellites represented by the domestically developed Fengyun-4, which offer multispectral, high spatiotemporal resolution observation advantages, new opportunities have been provided for the Refinement, near-real-time monitoring of surface solar radiation.

Prof Husi Letu pointed out that clouds and aerosols are important factors affecting surface solar radiation. Through nearly a decade of effort, the research team overcame theoretical and technical challenges in the light scattering calculations of various types of atmospheric clouds and aerosol particales. By comprehensively considering the effects of atmospheric gas absorption, surface reflection in snow-covered regions, and other factors, they developed a new technology combining physical models with artificial intelligence models.They also developed a near-real-time solar radiation remote sensing monitoring system for the Asia-Pacific region. Using observation data from China's Fengyun-4 satellite and Japan's Himawari-8/9 geostationary meteorological satellites, they constructed a high spatiotemporal resolution remote sensing product suite with spatial resolutions ranging from 1 to 5 kilometers and observation frequencies of 10 to 15 minutes.This system achieves high-precision, high-frequency, refinement, and near-real-time monitoring of surface solar radiation.

Figure 3. Spatial distribution of solar radiation estimated from Himawari-8 and Fengyun-4A satellite data and scatter plot comparison in the satellite observation overlap region.

Prof Chong Shi stated that the near-real-time solar radiation remote sensing monitoring system can provide 12 types of surface solar radiation data products, including solar shortwave radiation, photosynthetically active radiation, ultraviolet A radiation, ultraviolet B radiation, as well as the total radiation, direct, and scattered components for each radiation type. Compared to similar international satellite remote sensing products or reanalysis data, this product has achieved significant improvements in both spatiotemporal resolution and accuracy, especially in monitoring rapidly changing solar radiation areas such as snow and ice covered regions and under-cloud zones, with particularly notable advantages in the Tibetan Plateau.

Figure 4. The surface solar radiation remote sensing monitoring results from the Tibetan Plateau outperform similar products.

This achievement was completed by the research team in collaboration with domestic and international research institutions, including the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Satellite Meteorological Center, Sun Yat-sen University, the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Tokai University, and the UK Met Office. The academic paper titled " Surface Solar Radiation Compositions Observed from Himawari-8/9 and Fengyun-4 Series " was published in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS),a top journal in the field of atmospheric sciences. The near-real-time remote sensing monitoring system for surface solar radiation and its products are shared on the Cloud Remote Sensing, Atmospheric Radiation, and Renewal Energy Application (CARE) website developed by the team (http://www.slrss.cn/care_zh/).

Figure 5. High spatiotemporal resolution surface solar radiation monitoring products on November 30, 2023.

The research was supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program, the National Science Foundation for Distinguished Young Scholars of China, and data support from the National Satellite Meteorological Center of the China Meteorological Administration.

Reference:

Letu, H.*, Ma, R., Nakajima, T.Y., Shi, C.*, Hashimoto, M., Nagao, T.M., Baran, A.J., Nakajima, T., Xu, J., Wang, T.X., Tana, G., Bilige, S., Shang, H.Z., Chen, L.F., Ji, D.B., Lei, Y.H., Wei, L.S., Zhang, P., Li, J., Li, L., Zheng, Y., Khatri, P., Shi, J.C., Surface Solar Radiation Compositions Observed from Himawari-8/9 and Fengyun-4 Series. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 104, E1772-E1789, 2023.

Original link: https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/bams/104/10/BAMS-D-22-0154.1.xml

Published links:

[1] Near-real-time remote sensing monitoring system for surface solar radiation components：http://www.slrss.cn/care_zh/cp/jcxt/swr/

[2] CARE website：http://www.slrss.cn/care_zh/