Solar irradiance: total and spectral and its possible variations

M. P. Thekaekara

doi:10.1364/AO.15.000915

Applied Optics
Vol. 15,
Issue 4,
pp. 915-920
(1976)
•https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.15.000915

Solar irradiance: total and spectral and its possible variations

M. P. Thekaekara

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M. P. Thekaekara, "Solar irradiance: total and spectral and its possible variations," Appl. Opt. 15, 915-920 (1976)

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Abstract

The present status of our knowledge of the total and spectral irradiance of the sun is briefly reviewed. The currently accepted NASA/ASTM standard values of the solar constant and the extraterrestrial solar spectral irradiance are presented. The uncertainties in these values are relatively high. Data on the variability of the solar constant are conflicting and inconclusive. The variability of solar spectral irradiance. is almost totally unknown and unexplored. Some alleged sun–weather relationships are cited in support of the need of knowing more precisely the variations in total and spectral solar irradiance. An overview of the solar monitoring program of NASA is presented, with special emphasis on the Solar Energy Monitor in Space (SEMIS) experiment which has been proposed for several of the spacecraft missions. It is a combination of a solar constant detector and a prism monochromator.

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	Data period	Year	Reference	Main conclusions of the authors
Ångström	1915–17	1922	8	E is max. for 100 < N < 160.
				E increases by 2.4% for N 0–80.
Abbot, et al.	1920–39	1942	9	E does not vary with N.
				E varies by 1% with faculae area.
Aldrich	1923–44	1945	10	E is maximum for N near 20.
				Greatest variation of E was 0.4% in 1923–33.
Aldrich and Hoover	1922–52	1952	11	E has small irregular variations, less than 2%.
				Largest increase during 1946–50 when N was high.
Aldrich and Hoover	1944–52	1954	12	E increases by 0.8% as N increases from 0 to 175.
Allen	1915–52	1958	13	Variations in E do not exceed 0.1%.
Sterne and Dieter	1923–58	1958	14	There are no periodicities in N common to data from two stations: Table Mountain and Montezuema.
Abbot	1923–58	1958	15	N has many periodicities with submultiples of 273 months.
				N changes up to 4% with large sunspots magnetic and storms.
Ångström	1923–55	1970	16	Variations in N are less than 0.2%.
Kondratyev and Nikolsky	1928–32	1970	17	There is indubitable correlation between N and faculae area.
	1943–52			There are synchronous variations up to 0.8% at three stations.

Instrument	Proposed flight system	Measurement total spect.	Accuracy (goal)	Instrument status^a	Proposing and/or cognizant organization(s)
Earth Radiation Budget (ERB)	Nimbus-F/G	XX	<1%	A—Nimbus	NOAA/NASA
Solar and Earth Radiation Monitor (RCR/SERM)	Tiros-N	X—	~1%	P—OSIP	NOAA/CSU/NASA
Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR)	ERBOS	X—	0.2–0.5%	F—SR&T	Univ. of Wis./NASA
Primary Active Cavity Radiometer (PACRAD)	LZEEBE/CLIMSAT	X—	0.2–0.5%	A	JPL/NASA
Eclectic Satellite Pyrheliometer (ESP)	AEM/Shuttle	XX	0.2%	F—AAFE	NASA
Solar Energy Monitor in Space (SEMIS)	LANDSAT/Solar Max.	XX	0.5 → 0.1%	P	NASA
	Mission/AEM/Shuttle
Total Solar Irradiance Measurements (TSIM)	Tiros-N	X—	0.1%	P	NOAA-ARL
Solar Constant and Spectral Distribution (SCSD)	TBD	XX	0.5%	P	Faraday Labs
Solar Irradiance Cavity Radiometer (SCIR)	CLIMSAT/Shuttle	X	0.2%	P	NASA/NBS

	Data period	Year	Reference	Main conclusions of the authors
Ångström	1915–17	1922	8	E is max. for 100 < N < 160.
				E increases by 2.4% for N 0–80.
Abbot, et al.	1920–39	1942	9	E does not vary with N.
				E varies by 1% with faculae area.
Aldrich	1923–44	1945	10	E is maximum for N near 20.
				Greatest variation of E was 0.4% in 1923–33.
Aldrich and Hoover	1922–52	1952	11	E has small irregular variations, less than 2%.
				Largest increase during 1946–50 when N was high.
Aldrich and Hoover	1944–52	1954	12	E increases by 0.8% as N increases from 0 to 175.
Allen	1915–52	1958	13	Variations in E do not exceed 0.1%.
Sterne and Dieter	1923–58	1958	14	There are no periodicities in N common to data from two stations: Table Mountain and Montezuema.
Abbot	1923–58	1958	15	N has many periodicities with submultiples of 273 months.
				N changes up to 4% with large sunspots magnetic and storms.
Ångström	1923–55	1970	16	Variations in N are less than 0.2%.
Kondratyev and Nikolsky	1928–32	1970	17	There is indubitable correlation between N and faculae area.
	1943–52			There are synchronous variations up to 0.8% at three stations.

Instrument	Proposed flight system	Measurement total spect.	Accuracy (goal)	Instrument status^a	Proposing and/or cognizant organization(s)
Earth Radiation Budget (ERB)	Nimbus-F/G	XX	<1%	A—Nimbus	NOAA/NASA
Solar and Earth Radiation Monitor (RCR/SERM)	Tiros-N	X—	~1%	P—OSIP	NOAA/CSU/NASA
Active Cavity Radiometer (ACR)	ERBOS	X—	0.2–0.5%	F—SR&T	Univ. of Wis./NASA
Primary Active Cavity Radiometer (PACRAD)	LZEEBE/CLIMSAT	X—	0.2–0.5%	A	JPL/NASA
Eclectic Satellite Pyrheliometer (ESP)	AEM/Shuttle	XX	0.2%	F—AAFE	NASA
Solar Energy Monitor in Space (SEMIS)	LANDSAT/Solar Max.	XX	0.5 → 0.1%	P	NASA
	Mission/AEM/Shuttle
Total Solar Irradiance Measurements (TSIM)	Tiros-N	X—	0.1%	P	NOAA-ARL
Solar Constant and Spectral Distribution (SCSD)	TBD	XX	0.5%	P	Faraday Labs
Solar Irradiance Cavity Radiometer (SCIR)	CLIMSAT/Shuttle	X	0.2%	P	NASA/NBS

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Applied Optics