DACHRad - Berechnung der direkten Sonneneinstrahlung in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz

2002

S. 83-94

18 Lit. Ang.

Unselbständiges Werk

200092838

1 Direct solar radiation is a driving force for many ecological processes. Depending on their geographic and topographic position, sites receive different amounts of direct radiation per unit of area and time; this affects the temperature and soil moisture and thus, biological and chemical properties of soils. The measurement of total direct radiation over ecologically relevant periods of time (e.g. one year) requires expensive equipment for data logging. This makes it generally impossible to carry out such measurements for a large number of sites. 2 A method to compute direct solar radiation based on geographic, topographic and climatological information is presented in this paper. The regional conditions in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are taken into account through a set of parameters that were determined from available field data. 3 Examples of the spatial variability of direct radiation are given and it is shown that this is associated with major differences in the species composition of the vegetation. The precision of the method and its and practicability in ecological studies are discussed.