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Clearness Index
Clearness Index
AbstractClearness index (KT ) and relative sunshine (S) are used to characterize the sky conditions at Ilorin,
Nigeria (latitude: 88329N, longitude: 48349E, elevation: 375 m), a tropical location. Daily analysis shows that
the majority of the days are relatively cloudy with hardly any very clear or overcast days. Based on monthly
averaged KT , the monthly variations of cumulative frequency of KT , f, and prevalent climatic conditions, the
annual sky conditions have been classified into six patterns: three patterns each for the two broad seasons, dry
and rainy. The trend in the seasonal variation of S lends further credence to this six seasonal pattern.
Determined cumulative frequency curves further confirm the assertion that Liu and Jordans generalized
cumulative distribution curves (CDC) are not applicable to tropical locations hence available design
procedures based on these curves should be reconsidered [Liu, B. Y. U and Jordan, R. C. (1960). The
Inter-relationaship and characteristic distribution of direct, diffuse and total solar radiation. Solar Energy 4,
119]. An empirical expression relating monthly maximum clearness index (Kmax ) and the monthly average
clearness index (KT ) is presented and recommended for tropical locations. Comparative analysis shows that a
similar expression by Saunier et al. is also appropriate to this location while that of Hollands and Huget is
quite inadequate. [Saunier G. Y., Reddy T. A. and Kumar S. (1987). On monthly probability distribution
function of daily global irradiation values appropriate for both tropical and temperate locations. Solar Energy
38, 169177; Hollands K. G. T. and Huget R. G. (1983) A probability density function for clearness index,
with applications. Solar Energy 30, 195]. Furthermore, the values of the minimum clearness index (0.120.24)
for Ilorin are noticed to be much higher than the generally accepted value of 0.05 for overcast sky conditions.
The results are further compared, especially with those of Ideriah and Suleman [Ideriah, F. J. K. and Suleman,
S. O. (1989). Sky conditions at Ibadan during 19751980. Solar Energy 43, 325330.] and Akuffo and
Brew-Hammond [Akuffo, F. O. and Brew-Hammond, A. (1993). The frequency distribution of global solar
radiation at Kumasi. Solar Energy 50, 145154.] for Ibadan and Kumasi, all in the West African sub-region.
Although the locations are slightly different in agro-climatic conditions, results are found to be very
comparable. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
the incoming global radiation and therefore indicates both the level of availability of solar radiation and changes in atmospheric conditions in a
given locality while S is a measure of the cloud
cover. Kd is the cloudiness index and Kdd is a
factor which mirrors the effectiveness of the sky
in scattering the incoming radiation. These parameters have been used to establish sky conditions at
various places (Liu and Jordan, 1960; Choudhury,
1963; Barbaro et al., 1981; Al-Riahi et al., 1990;
Akuffo and Brew-Hammond, 1993). In Nigeria, a
similar study was carried out by Ideriah and
Suleman (1989) for Ibadan.
In 1960, Liu and Jordan in particular, studied
the sky conditions at various locations in terms of
KT , Kd and Kdd and observed among others that
the long term distribution of daily global irradiation over a month, corresponding to a given value
of monthly average clearness index KT is almost
independent of location and of the month. This
assertion was based on the statistical analysis of
1. INTRODUCTION
E-mail: soudo@unical.anpa.net.ng
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46
S. O. Udo
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(7)
47
(8)
48
S. O. Udo
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sept
Oct
Nov
Dec
1993
KT
S
0.52
0.53
0.57
0.64
0.55
0.61
0.53
0.57
0.50
0.61
0.46
0.46
0.39
0.33
0.40
0.34
0.44
0.43
0.50
0.57
0.53
0.69
0.50
0.60
1994 a
KT
S
0.46
0.55
0.51
0.50
0.54
0.67
0.49
0.57
0.50
0.57
0.48
0.54
0.36
0.32
0.34
0.29
0.40
0.34
0.51
0.54
0.53
0.63
0.52
0.68
(ii)
Dry season:
(a)
December, January,
(b)
November, February, March,
(c)
April
K T 0.50
K T 0.54
K T 0.51
Rainy season:
(a)
July, August,
(b)
June, September,
(c)
May, October,
K T 0.38
K T 0.45
K T 0.51
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Table 2. Monthly percentage cumulative frequency f, of the daily clearness index KT , and monthly average values of K T
(September 1992August 1994)
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.8
0.9
1.0
Monthly
average KT
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.62
0.00
1.67
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
0.00
1.62
1.67
1.62
1.67
11.29
11.29
5.00
1.62
1.67
0.00
1.61
1.79
1.62
8.36
8.07
6.67
38.71
38.71
25.00
1.62
3.33
11.29
24.19
1072
40.32
53.33
64.52
81.67
100
75. 1
56. 7
19. 6
10. 0
77. 2
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
0.4960.05
0.5460.07
0.5560.07
0.5160.11
0.5060.10
0.4760.09
0.3860.10
0.3760.09
0.4360.11
0.5160.09
0.5360.07
0.5160.05
Month
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
80.21
48.22
98.39
98.34
93.55
100
100
98.39
98.34
66.13
55.00
96.78
100
98.32
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
95.16
98.34
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
100
50
S. O. Udo
Fig. 3.
(10)
(11)
(12)
MABE
RMSE
FO (H 2 H )G /n
FO (uH 2 H u)G /n
HFO (H 2 H ) G /nJ
i,c
i,m
i,c
i,m
i,c
1/2
i,m
where Hi,c and Hi,m are the calculated and measured values respectively, and n is the total
number of observations. Positive and negative
MBE show overestimation and underestimation
respectively. The sum enlightens us concerning
the long term predictive values of the correlation.
Calculated Kmax
Month
Kmax
Kmin
Eq. (1)
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
MBE
MABE
RMSE
0.63
0.69
0.66
0.66
0.68
0.60
0.53
0.59
0.59
0.65
0.61
0.56
0.43
0.47
0.18
0.21
0.21
0.21
0.22
0.19
0.23
0.17
0.36
0.43
0.77
0.78
0.78
0.77
0.76
0.75
0.73
0.74
0.75
0.76
0.77
0.76
0.14
0.14
0.14
Eq. (2)
Eq. (12)
0.67
0.70
0.69
0.67
0.66
0.63
0.59
0.60
0.62
0.66
0.67
0.66
0.03
0.04
0.04
0.64
0.67
0.66
0.64
0.63
0.60
0.56
0.56
0.57
0.63
0.64
0.63
0.00
0.02
0.03
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52
S. O. Udo
REFERENCES
Akuffo F. O. and Brew-Hammond A. (1993) The frequency
distribution of global solar irradiation at Kumasi. Solar
Energy 50, 145154.
Al-Riahi M., Al-Hamdani N. and Tahir T. (1990) Contribution
to the study of solar radiation climate of Baghdad environment. Solar Energy 44, 712.
Awachie I. R. N. and Okeke C. E. (1982) Measurement of
solar energy radiation at Nsukka and the determination of
the regression coefficients. Solar Energy 28, 295302.
Baker D. G. and Skaggs R. H. (1984) The distance factor in
the relationship between solar radiation and sunshine. J.
Climatol. 4, 123132.
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