Long-Term Variations in Global Solar Radiation and Its Interaction with Atmospheric Substances at Qomolangma

Jianhui Bai; Xuemei Zong; Yaoming Ma; Binbin Wang; Chuanfeng Zhao; Yikung Yang; Jie Guang; Zhiyuan Cong; Kaili Li; Tao Song

doi:10.3390/ijerph19158906

Long-Term Variations in Global Solar Radiation and Its Interaction with Atmospheric Substances at Qomolangma

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jul 22;19(15):8906. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19158906.

Authors

Jianhui Bai¹, Xuemei Zong¹, Yaoming Ma^{2

3

4

5

6

7}, Binbin Wang^{2

5}, Chuanfeng Zhao⁸, Yikung Yang⁸, Jie Guang⁹, Zhiyuan Cong², Kaili Li¹⁰, Tao Song¹⁰

Affiliations

¹ LAGEO, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Resources and Environment (TPESRE), Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
³ College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁴ College of Atmospheric Science, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
⁵ National Observation and Research Station for Qomolongma Special Atmospheric Processes and Environmental Changes, Dingri, Shigatse 858200, China.
⁶ Kathmandu Center of Research and Education, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
⁷ China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Islamabad 45320, Pakistan.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
⁹ State Environment Protection Key Laboratory of Satellite Remote Sensing, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
¹⁰ Nanjing Zhongkehuaxing Emergency Science and Technology Research Institute, Nanjing 211899, China.

Abstract

An empirical model to estimate global solar radiation was developed at Qomolangma Station using observed solar radiation and meteorological parameters. The predicted hourly global solar radiation agrees well with observations at the ground in 2008-2011. This model was used to calculate global solar radiation at the ground and its loss in the atmosphere due to absorbing and scattering substances in 2007-2020. A sensitivity analysis shows that the responses of global solar radiation to changes in water vapor and scattering factors (expressed as water-vapor pressure and the attenuation factor, AF, respectively) are nonlinear, and global solar radiation is more sensitive to changes in scattering than to changes in absorption. Further applying this empirical model, the albedos at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) and the surface in 2007-2020 were computed and are in line with satellite-based retrievals. During 2007-2020, the mean estimated annual global solar radiation increased by 0.22% per year, which was associated with a decrease in AF of 1.46% and an increase in water-vapor pressure of 0.37% per year. The annual mean air temperature increased by about 0.16 °C over the 14 years. Annual mean losses of solar radiation caused by absorbing and scattering substances and total loss were 2.55, 0.64, and 3.19 MJ m^-2, respectively. The annual average absorbing loss was much larger than the scattering loss; their contributions to the total loss were 77.23% and 22.77%, indicating that absorbing substances play significant roles. The annual absorbing loss increased by 0.42% per year, and scattering and total losses decreased by 2.00% and 0.14% per year, respectively. The estimated and satellite-derived annual albedos increased at the TOA and decreased at the surface. This study shows that solar radiation and its interactions with atmospheric absorbing and scattering substances have played key but different roles in regional climate and climate change at the three poles.

Keywords: absorbing and scattering; air temperature; climate and climate change; energy; wind speed.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Atmosphere*
Climate Change
Solar Energy*
Steam
Temperature

Substances

Steam

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (grant no. XDA19070202), the National Key R&D Program of China (grant no. 2016YFB 0500602), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. 41675032, Dragon 4 and 5 projects (ID 32771 and 59013), and Nanjing Zhongkehuaxing Emergency Science and Technology Research Institute.