SolarCalc
The SolarcCalc module is used to predict hourly global solar
radiation on a horizontal surface from daily average temperature
extremes and total precipitation records.
The method used in the calculations is based on that presented in
An Introduction to Environmental Biophysics
by Campbell, G.S. and J.M. Norman (1998).
Version 1.0 of the SolarcCalc module is based on the source code of
SolarCalc.jar (version 1.1, Jan. 2006), a computer program that was
developped by the USDA Agricultural Research Service and that is
available free of charge at https://data.nal.usda.gov/dataset/solarcalc-10.
Subsequent versions of the SolarcCalc module implemented performance
improvements and fixed some issues with the original code and method.
Installation
SolarCalc can be installed with pip by running:
pip install solarcalc
Requirements
- numpy : The fundamental package for scientific computing with Python.
- pandas : Flexible and powerful data analysis / manipulation library for Python.
Example
>>> from solarcalc import load_demo_climatedata, calc_solar_rad
>>> climate_data = load_demo_climatedata()
>>> solarcalc = calc_solar_rad(
>>> lon_dd=-76.4687209,
>>> lat_dd=56.5213541,
>>> alt=100,
>>> climate_data=climate_data)
>>> print(solarcalc)
solar_rad_W/m2 deltat_degC tau
1980-01-01 00:00:00 0.0 8.0 0.233333
1980-01-01 01:00:00 0.0 8.0 0.233333
1980-01-01 02:00:00 0.0 8.0 0.233333
1980-01-01 03:00:00 0.0 8.0 0.233333
1980-01-01 04:00:00 0.0 8.0 0.233333
... ... ...
2020-12-31 19:00:00 0.0 5.0 0.116667
2020-12-31 20:00:00 0.0 5.0 0.116667
2020-12-31 21:00:00 0.0 5.0 0.116667
2020-12-31 22:00:00 0.0 5.0 0.116667
2020-12-31 23:00:00 0.0 5.0 0.116667
[359424 rows x 3 columns]
