Abstract: | We have measured the time response of Kipp and Zonen CM-5 pyranometers to a step function of radiation and observed that the pyranometer output varied significantly from a single exponential function of time. Using a multi-exponential function to fit the experimental data, we extracted the two dominant exponential components of the signal to obtain the analytic function describing the pyranometer response. A thermal model of the pyranometer has been developed, whose response displays the observed time behaviour. The model was applied to correct the time response error of the pyranometers subject to a step function of incident radiation, and compared with a single exponential correction scheme. |