Diagnosis for integrating the main Iberian networks of solar radiation meteorological stations

Abstract

This work carries out a diagnosis of the data from the two main networks of solar radiation stations in the Iberian Peninsula: the Agencia Estatal de Meteorología (AEMET, Spain, with daily data 1980–2020), and the Sistema Nacional de Informação de Recursos Hídricos (SNIRH, Portugal, with hourly data 2001–2020). One of the goals is to advance towards the synergistic use of the two networks and, hence, to improve the integrated knowledge of solar radiation in this interesting territory. The diagnosis was carried out considering measured magnitudes and instruments, error filtering and number of available stations, data completeness results for the networks and for each meteorological station, and territorial representativeness. An important finding is that it is necessary to guarantee greater temporal completeness for the two networks, which is sometimes very low (SNIRH, 35.1 %). Furthermore, it is necessary to increase spatial completeness in the AEMET network to avoid some large territorial gaps (with points located 140 km from the nearest station). Quality control (QC) should be reinforced in the SNIRH network and diffuse radiation data provided. Solar radiation is a key factor in atmospheric dynamics and climatic phenomena (including drought), and with this study we aim to contribute to the knowledge on solar radiation and provide elements to stimulate the consistency of data in a territory as sensitive and complex as the Iberian Peninsula.