Atmosphere

ISSN: 0004-6973 (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/tato19

A statistical relationship between solar radiation,’

sunshine and relative humidity in the tropics

R. K. Swartman & O. Ogunlade

To cite this article: R. K. Swartman & O. Ogunlade (1967) A statistical relationship between solar
radiation,’ sunshine and relative humidity in the tropics, Atmosphere, 5:2, 25-34

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00046973.1967.9676534

Published online: 18 Apr 2011.

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 A STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOLAR RADIATION,'SUNSHlNE
AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN THE TROPICS

B y R. K. Swartman and 0. Ogunlade

The University of Western Ontario

London, Ontario

ABSTRACT
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A correlation of s o l a r r a d i a t i o n i n t r o p i c a l countries has been

established based on parameters more usually measured t h a n s o l a r
r a d i a t i o n i t s e l f . The following empirical relationships between s o l a r
r a d i a t i o n Q, r a t i o of hours of bright sunshine t o twelve hours, S, and
r e l a t i v e humidity of t h e environment, R y have been obtained by s t a t i s -
E7
1002-JULY 15,1966. t i c a l methods applied t o t h e available data:

2 degree intervals.

with limits on R and S a s defined i n t h e t e x t . It is found t h a t these

equations give b e t t e r estimates of s o l a r r a d i a t i o n than t h e single-
parameter r e l a t i o n s h i p l i k e

where a and b a r e s t a t i s t i c a l coefficients.

RE 9
m2-
JULY 15,1966.
stream.
tour lines.
tachs.
 INTRODUCTION

A s f a r ba
r e l a t i o n of t h

between solar
where Q i s the
t h e cloudless-
r a t i o of the h
and b a r e s t a t
Q = S o l a r r a d i a t i o n received on a h o r i z o n t a l surface, s e t of data.
langleys/day l i n e a r form ta
day and used t

HD = Direct component of s o l a r r a d i a t i o n received on a h o r i z o n t a l

surface, langleys/day,
where w i s the
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altitude i s l e
8, = S o l a r r a d i a t i o n received on a h o r i z o n t a l surface f o r cloudless found t h a t trc
days, l w l e y s / d a y Q t o o high fo?
t h e data, thex
t i o n period.
R = Relative humidity, percent. r e s u l t f o r thc
l i k e Eqn, (2)
additional wox
S = The r a t i o of t h e recorded hours of b r i g h t sunshine t o a fixsd
reference of 12 hours (dimensionless). I n the fc
s o l a r radiat i c
.
t i v e The eql
device which n
used. Therefc
i n estimating
it has been a
justification
P a l (3) who e!
s o l a r radiatic
The presc
and slg. radial
correlations,
Relative hum&
atmosphere t h
i n correlatinl
 INTRODUCTION
As f a r back as 1924, Rngstrom and others had suggested a l i n e a r
r e l a t i o n of the form:

between s o l a r r a d i a t i o n i n t e n s i t y and t h e hours of bright sunshine,

where Q i s t h e s o l a r r a d i a t i o n received on a horizontal surface; Qo
the cloudless-day s o l a r r a d i a t i o n on a horizontal surface; SA t h e
r a t i o of t h e hours of bright sunshine t o t h e e m possible; and a
and b a r e s t a t i s t i c a l coefficients which can be estimated f o r a given
s e t of data. Mateer (4), i n his a n a l y t i c a l work modified t h e above
l i n e a r form t o take i n t o account t h e e r r o r s involved i n t h e length of
day and used t h e form:
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1 a horizontal

where w i s t h e correction term f o r t h e length of day when t h e sun's

a l t i t u d e i s l e s s than 5O and c i s a s t a t i s t i c a l coefficient. Mateer
:e f o r cloudless found t h a t t r e a t i n g year-round data with Eqn. ( 2 ) r e s u l t s i n values of
Q too high fo? t h e winter months and too low f o r t h e summer. He t r e a t e d
t h e data, therefore, under t h r e e categories: winter, summer and t r a n s i -
t i o n period. He found t h a t t h e l i n e a r relationship gives a f a i r l y good
r e s u l t f o r t h e summer months and t h e use of a complicated expression
l i k e Eqn. (2) does not improve t h e r e s u l t s s u f f i c i e n t l y t o j u s t i f y t h e
additional work.

I n t h e foregoing, only sunshine has been employed t o estimate

s o l a r radiation. But, t h e measurement of sunshine i s r a t h e r r e s t r i c -
t i v e . The equipment makes use of a spherical lens as a concentrating
device which means t h a t only t h e d i r e c t component of t h e r a d i a t i o n i s
used. Therefore, one normally expects t h e l i n e a r r e l a t i o n t o work only
i n estimating t h e d i r e c t component of s o l a r radiation. Nevertheless,
it has been employed t o estimate t h e t o t a l s o l a r radiation. Some
j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r t h i s may be found i n t h e computations of Sharma and
Pal ( 3 ) who established a l i n e a r relationship between t o t a l and d i r e c t
s o l a r radiation.

The presence of water vapour has considerable influence on d i r e c t

and sky radiation (5). Precipitable water vapour i s used in many
correlations, but is not as r e a d i l y measured a s i s r e l a t i v e humidity.
Relative humidity i s an indication of t h e water vapour present i n t h e
atmosphere throughout t h e tropics, and so i s used a s a second parameter
i n correlating d i r e c t s o l a r radiation.
 I n t h e present study, s t a t i s t i c a l methods have been employed t o
establish a more general relationship making use of two parameters;
sunshine and screen-level r e l a t i v e hu-nidity. Three d i f f e r e n t functions
have been assumed and data obtained from Ibadan, Nigeria, applied t o
these functions.

To predict t h e amount of s o l a r r a d i a t i o n incident on t h e earth's ~1

surface from sunshine ancl r e l a t i v e humidity measurements, consider t h e t h e i r definitj
general function of t h e form: tropics the q~
t h e following

where Q i s the s o l a r radiation received on t h e e a r t h ' s surface measured

i n langleys per day ( 1 langley = 1 p cal/m2); 2, t h e r e l a t i v e huni-
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d i t y ; and S, t h e r a t i o of the recorded hours of bright sunshine t o a

fixed reference of I2 hours. Twelve hours have been chosen a s a. Considel
reference t o define sunshine because within the tropics, t h e maximum t o zero. The
d a i l y sunshine scarcely ever exceeds 12 hours. because of tht
this limitati!
Three forms of (3) neglecting other physical parameters are:

where the new

values of S 1(
considerable (
The upper lim:
sunshine greaj
where the coefficients and exponents are d e t e d n e d s t a t i s t i c a l l y f o r a values of S g
'I I given s e t of data. Eqn. (5) was chosen i n t h e above form becsuse s o l a r
radiation is a decreasing function of R and an increasing function of S. Estimatc
I
Using t h e l e a s t square method, a FOSTEtAN proerarrune has been w r i t t e n t o Therefore, na
evaluate t h e coefficients i n Eqn. (6) f o r t h e given s e t of data, but
both Eqns. (4) and (5) need logarithnic transformation to:

log Q = log k l + m log s + n log R ('7) On the other :

characteristi
log Q = log k2 + p(~-~) (8) t h e maximum v;
be overesthw
The standard e r r o r s of estimate and correla.tion coefficients f o r t h e S so t h a t the
s e t of data used i n t h i s study were a l s o evaluated.

RESULTS

The followirg empirical r e l a t i o n s are obtained f o r the s e t of d a t a

from Ibadan, Nigeria, on t h e Northern edge of t r o p i c a l rain-forest TABLE 1
climate area; f o r the four-nonth period February t o May 1964 ( 6 ) : analysis.
 n the earth's From physical considerations, both R and S a r e positive and from
, consider t h e t h e i r definitions, a r e bounded within c e r t a i n l i m i t i n g values. In t h e
t r o p i c s t h e q u a n t i t i e s S and R a r e limited t o t h e values indicated in
t h e following equations:

burface measured
belative h d -
bunshine t o a
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p e n as a. Considering Eqn. (9), t h e minimum value of Q i s given by S equal

, the maximum t o zero. The quantity Q i s not necessarily zero f o r a zero value of S
because of t h e d i f f u s e s o l a r r a d i a t i o n component. I n order t o overcome
this l i m i t a t i o n of t h e equation, new limits f o r S may be defined:
pters are:

where t h e new lower l i m i t of 0.1 f o r S has been a r b i t r a r i l y chosen. A t

values of S lower than 0.1, a s m a 3 l change i n t h o value of S causes a
considerable change i n Q. Thus, poor predicted values of Q result.
The upper l i m i t i s retained because it is possible t o record hours of
sunshine g r e a t e r than 12 hours and t h e function i s q u i t e s t a b l e a t
t i s t i c a l l y for a values of S greater t h a n 1.0.
hn b e c ~ u s esolar
hg function of S . Estimates of Q from Xqn. (9) tend t o i n f i n i t y a s R tends t o zero.
been written t o Therefore, new limits on R may be defined:
of data, but
to :

On t h e other hand, Eqns. (10) and (11)do n o t exhibit t h e same unstable.

c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a s Eqn. ( 9 ) a t values of S l e s s than 0.1. However,
7
t h e maximum value of Q predicted by Eqns. (10) and ( U ) may occasionaI$
be overestimated. Thus t h e upper limit of 1.13 was a l s o retained f o r
ients for the S so t h a t t h e following ranges f o r R and S were used:

and O(R (1.0 (13 )

the s e t of data
rain-forest TABLE 1 i s a sunnnarg of t h e r e s u l t s based on t h e foregoing
1964 ( 6 ) : analysis .
 COMPARISON BElWEEN PRESENT AND PRFVIOUS METHODS

The l i n e a r r e l a t i o n s h i p between sunshine and s o l a r r a d i a t i o n sug- Financial

gested by h g s t r 6 m and others i n 1924, Research CouncX
f u l l y acknol1v1ed

becomes Q = 274 + 3135 (17)

1. Liu, 1
f o r t h e s e t of d a t a f o r Ibadan, Nigeria, used i n t h i s work. The mdma an
predicted from t h e functions assumed i n this study agree with most in- Jorda:
ferred values i n t h e l i t e r a t u r e (1, 2 ) . From TABLE 1, it i s observed
t h a t t h e two-parameter estimators a r e superior t o t h e single-parameter
estimator f o r s o l a r radiation. Thus, r e l a t i v e humidity is a s i g n i f i c a n t
estimator. Other single-parameter estimator equations were t e s t e d but 2. Kreit
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t h e r e s u l t s (TABIIE 2 ) e i t h e r were very poor o r gave correlation coeffi-

cients similar t o those of bgstriim.

TABLE 3 shows t h e comparison of estimated mean values and a c t u a l

mean values of s o l a r r a d i a t i o n obtained from t h r e e other s t a t i o n s i n
Nigeria: Benin ( 5-year record t r o p i c a l rain-forest climate), Kano
(3-year record, d e s e r t climatej, and Osodi Ikeja (ll-month record,
t r o p i c a l rain-forest climate). The predicted values a r e higher t h a n t h e
recorded values except those predicted f o r Kano by simple l i n e a r rela-
t i o n . From information received concerning measuring techniques emplqed
i n Nigeria, t h e recorded values have a tendency t o be on t h e l o w s i d e
and t h e e r r o r i n t h e present study can be explained on t h i s basis.

It might be questioned why t h e c o r r e l a t i o n c o e f f i c i e n t s and t h e

standard e r r o r s of estimate i n t h e present study a r e not as good as
those of other previous work. Mateer (4) used monthly mean values of
s o l a r r a d i a t i o n which have smoothed out t h e - d a i l y fluctuations. For t h e
present study, d a i l y r a d i a t i o n i s of more engineering i n t e r e s t than
monthly means. Furthermore, Mateer used normalized q u a n t i t i e s l i k e
Q/Q, and t o t a l possible hours of bright sunshine t o define sunshine
r a t h e r t h a n a fixed reference of twelve hours.

The equations derived i n t h e present study make it possible t o

provide reasonable estim2tes of s o l a r r a d i a t i o n i n areas where no such
d a t a a r e available i n t h e t r o p i c s . It i s recognized t h a t t h e span of
data used i n t h i s study i s short but t h e r e s u l t s obtained seem t o off-
s e t most of t h e dangers anticipated i n using such M t e d data. Thus,
t h e information oStained i n t h i s way may be used a s a b a s i s f o r design-
i n g s o l a r devices f o r areas within t h e t r o p i c s .
p radiation sug-
!
F i m n c i a l support f o r t h i s work has come from t h e National
Research Council of Canada through grant A-2779. This support is grate-
.
f u l l y ackno.vledged

brk. The naxima 1. Liu, B.Y.H. : "The Interrelationship and Characteristic

and g i s t r i b u t i o n of Direct, Diffuse and Total
!e with most in-
Jordan, R.C. Solar Radiationw, Solar Energy, Vol. 4,
[iti s observed No. 3, 1960.
$ngle-paramet e r
1 is a significant
(were tested but
belation coeff i- 2. Xreith, F. : wRadiative Heat Transfer f o r Space and
Solar Pomr Plant Designm, International
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Textbook Company, Scrant on, Pennsylvania,

1962.
kues and actual
p stations i n
b a t e ) , Kano
hth record, 3. S h a m , M.R. : llTotal, Direct and Diffuse Solar Radiation
and i n the Tropicsn, Solar Energy, Val. 9,
t higher than t h e
Pal, R.S. No. 4, 1965, pp. 183-192.
Le linear rela-
Cchniques emplqd
o the low side
:his basis. 4. Mateer, C.L. : "A Preliminary Estimate of t h e Average
Insolation i n Canadaw, Reprint from t h e
Canadian Journal of Agricultural Science,
:ients and the
; as good as
.
Vol 35, pp. 579-594, -~ovember-~ecember, -

Bean values of 1955

lations. For t h e
Iterest than
~ t i t i e sl i k e 5. Threlkeld, J.L. : "Direct Solar Radiation Available on Clear
n e sunshine and Daysw, Heating, Piping and Air Conditioning,
Jordan, R. C. Dec. 1957, pp. 135-US.

6. Ogunlade, 0. : wSolar Energy Power Generation P o t e n t i a l in

I Tropical Regionsn, 1'I.E.Sc. Thesis, 1966, The
Lpossible t o
where no such University of Western Ontario, London,
6 the span of Canada.
d seem t o off-
d data. Thus,
sis for design-
 - Standard
Functional Equation V i t h Correlation E r r o r Of Predicted
Coefficient Estimate Radia.tion ly/
Form Coefficients day
Min. Ib.

m n 0.357 -0.262
~ = k s R Q=490S R 0.817 0.13 8 3 5 216 936
1

P(S-R) 0,607(S-R)
Q = k2e Q = 460e 0.814 0.13W 250 9Yc
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Q = a + bS + d? Q = 464 + 2655 - 248R 0.605 61.3 216 764

Q=a+bS & = 274 + 313s 0.764 64.4 274 627

*Computed i n t h e transformed form of equation

edicted DIFTERBNT SINGLE-PARAMEER FUNCTIONS
3ia.tion ly/
day
En. 1.k.

216 936
Function Correlation Standard Error
Index Of Estimste .
250 914
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&=a+bS 0.764 64.4

216 764

3=kS
m
0.784 0 193
+

274 627
Q = wtn 0.625 0.168+

Q = ke
PS
0.177 0. US+

Q = ke
PR
0.300 0.161
+

Q=a+bR 0.610 71.6

-
+Computed from t h e transformed form of
equation
 -

SOME HIG

JANUARY.
i n B r i t i s h Coll
mild fortnight
was wetter t h a
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snowfall t o ma
610 on January
January. Prec
t h e two-year d

FERRUARY
wintry month t
brea.ks of arct
t e m p r a t u r e wa
preci3itation
stations i n th
.
a ~ o u n t s Prec
Montreal and Q
years. It was
s e r i e s of eigh
and tragedy a t

Stetions i n z
t e ~ p e r a t u r e s1
areas of the c
below nomal.
Canada, except
normal was re:
ninating i n t k
snow over 2 vrl
t e r l ~ e r a t u r e sa
severe month c
l a s t few days
and disrunted