| Abstract: | The Gaussian Solar Flux model (GSFM) predicts instantaneous hourly and integrated daily direct and diffuse solar flux upon sloped as well as horizontal surfaces for clear and cloudy days. Comparison with Davis SEMRTS data from the first six months of 1981 indicates a mean relative error of +/−3.5% and a correlation coefficient of 0.999 for instantaneous global flux during clear days.The GSFM improves upon previous monolayer models with cloud transmittance functions generalized for different surface albedos and a fast Gaussian quadrature based estimate for water vapor pathlengths. Advantages over multilayer models are its speed and lack of need for soundings. Input may be made entirely from standard surface meteorological measurements. |
