An estimation of impact of anthropogenic aerosols in atmosphere of Tirana on solar insolation. Part II: Modification of solar energy potential

• Main Authors: Buzra, Urim, Berberi, Pellumb, Mitrushi, Driada, Muda, Valbona, Halili, Daniela, Berdufi, Irma
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: AEROSOLS; AIR; AIR POLLUTION; ALBANIA; Atmosphere; ATMOSPHERES; Atmospheric aerosols; Atmospheric attenuation; CONCENTRATION RATIO; DAILY VARIATIONS; DECANTATION; ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; EQUILIBRIUM; Human influences; HUMIDITY; INDICATORS; INSOLATION; MODIFICATIONS; NOCTURNAL VARIATIONS; Relative humidity; SIDE EFFECTS; SKY; SOLAR ENERGY; SOLAR RADIATION; URBAN AREAS; WIND; Wind speed
• ISSN: 0094-243X; 1551-7616
• DOI: 10.1063/1.4944274

Change of irradiative properties of the atmosphere during clear days is an indicator, among others, of existence of atmospheric aerosols and can be used as an indicator for assessment both air pollution and local modifications of solar energy potentials. The main objective of this study is estimation of influence of anthropogenic aerosols on solar energy falling in a horizontal surface during a cloudless day. We have analyzed and quantified the effect of aerosols on reducing the amount of solar energy that falls on the horizontal ground surface in cloudless sky conditions, estimating temporal evolution, both in daily and hour scale, considering also, side effects caused by relative humidity of the air wind speed and geometric factor. As an indicator of concentration of aerosols in atmosphere, we agreed to use the attenuation of solar radiation after the last rainy day. All data were corrected by factors such as, variations of relative humidity, wind speed and daily change of incident angle of solar radiation. We studied the change of solar insolation in three sites with different traffic intensity, one in city of Shkodra and two in city of Tirana. Fifteen days after last rainy day, approximate time needed to achieve saturation, the insolation drops only 3.1% in the city of Shkodra, while in two sites in city of Tirana are 8.5 % and 18.4%. These data show that reduction of solar insolation is closely related with anthropogenic activity, mainly traffic around the site of the meteorological station. The day to day difference tends to decrease with increasing of number of days passed from the last rainy day, which is an evidence of a trend toward a dynamic equilibrium between decantation process of aerosols during the night and their generation during the day.