About
Presenter: Pedro Jimenez Munoz (Scientist, Research Applications Laboratory, Weather Systems and Assessment Program, National Council for Atmospheric REsearch)
WRF-Solar is the first numerical weather prediction model specifically designed for solar energy applications. The WRF-Solar model is a specific configuration of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model that includes augmentations to provide an adequate framework for solar energy forecasting and improved representation of the aerosol-cloud-radiation physics. Improvements in the physics include a fast radiative transfer code to provide surface irradiance forecast only limited by the model time step; an improved representation of the aerosol-radiation feedback (aerosol direct effect); incorporation of the cloud-aerosol feedbacks (aerosol indirect effects); and improved cloud-radiation feedbacks. During this seminar I will provide an overview of the WRF-Solar model and present evaluations performed in clear sky conditions as well as in all sky conditions that illustrate the benefits of the augmentations. Results demonstrate that the WRF-Solar model is an improved numerical tool for research and applications in support of solar energy.
Sponsored by the Pratt School of Engineering.