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ThesemapscoverallIndiaat10-km(0.1x0.1)spatialresolution.

Themonthlyandannualdirectnormalirradiance(DNI)andglobalhorizontalirradiance(GHI)mapsweredevelopedfromhourlydataspanningJanuary2002toDecember2008generatedthroughapplicationoftheSUNYsatellitetoirradiancemodel(1,2).AversionofthismodelwaspreviouslyappliedintheregionusingtheEuropeanMeteosat5and7satellites(3,4).TherecentapplicationofthemodeltoIndiaincludedimprovementstothemodelstreatmentofhighreflectivitysurfacesandanupdatetotheAerosolOpticalDepth(AOD)filesusedasinputtothemodel.

Amorein-depthinvestigationofmonthlyAODdata(andtheirinterannualvariations)wasundertakenbecauseoftheirstrongimpactonDNIandreportsofelevatedaerosolconcentrationsacrossIndiafromlocallygenerateddust,long-rangetransport,smokefrombiomassburningandanthropogenicpollution.

MonthlygriddedAODvaluesweredevelopedforeachmonthoftheSUNYmodelrunforIndia.ThisapproachwasadoptedbasedonevidenceofchangingAODovertimeinIndia(5-7).ThegriddedAODdatasetwasdevelopedusingsatellitedatafromMISR,MERIS,andMODIS.Thesedatasetswerecomparedwithground-truthdatafromNASA'sAeronetnetworkandfromadditionalsiteswithdatapublishedintheliterature;atotalof39ground-truthsiteswereusedinthisanalysis.BecauseAODvaluestendtobelog-normallydistributed,themodeofAODvalueswasc

hosentorepresenteachmonth.Thedatasetusedforagivenmonthwasselectedbasedoncompletenessofsatellitedataandperformancecomparedwithavailableground-truthdata.TheIndiaMeteorologicalDepartment(IMD)andtheIndianSpaceResearchOrganization(ISRO)alsocollectaerosoldata,butthesedatasetswereunavailableforthisphaseofdevelopment.ImprovementstotheAODdatausedasinputtotheradiativemodel,andthereforesubsequentimprovementsinsolarresourceestimates,maybemadeinthefuturewithincreasedavailabilityofgroundmeasuredaerosoldata.Duetocurrentmodelinglimitations,variousrelatedatmosphericvariableshavenotbeenconsideredhere,suchasaerosolorgaseousabsorptionduetoelevatedpollution.

ComprehensivevalidationofSUNYmodelperformancethroughcomparisonswithgrou

nd-measureddatawasnotconducted,asnomeasured,quality-controleddatawasavailableforanalysis.FuturesuchvalidationswillbevaluableforbetterunderstandingthemodelsperformanceincharacterizingsolarradiationacrossIndia.

ProjectCo-ordinator: Dr.BibekBandyopadhyay,Advisor&Head,SolarEnergyCentre,MinistryofNew&RenewableEnergy(GOI)

ShannonCowlin,SeniorProjectLeader,NationalRenewableEnergyLaboratory(NREL),USA

Courtesy(SolarRadiationMap): Mr.AnthonyLopez,GISAnalyst&Cartographer,NationalRenewableEnergyLaboratory(NREL),USA

Courtesy(GISDataLayers): Er.AlekhyaDatta,ProjectFellow,SolarEnergy

Centre,MinistryofNew&RenewableEnergy(GOI)

1.PerezR.,etal.,ANewOperationalSatellite-to-IrradianceModel.SolarEnergy.73:307-317,2002.2.PerezR.,etal.,Producingsatellite-derivedirradiancesincomplexaridterrain.SolarEnergy.77:363-370,2004.3.PerezR.,etal.,SatelliteDerivedResourceAssessmentinAfghanistan&PakistaninsupportoftheUSAIDSouthAsiaRegionalInitiative.NRELsubcontract#AEJ65517201.20074.PerezR.,etal.,ValidationoftheSUNYSatelliteModelinaMeteosatEnviro

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nment.Proc.ASESAnnualConference,Buffalo,NewYork,2009.5.DatarS.V.,etal.,TrendsinbackgroundairpollutionparametersoverIndia.Atmos.Envir.30:3677-3682,1996.6.PorchW.,etal.,TrendsinaerosolopticaldepthforcitiesinIndia.Atmos.Envir.41:7524-7532,2007.7.RamanathanV.,etal.,Atmosphericbrownclouds:ImpactsonSouthAsianclimateandhydrologicalcycle.Proc.Nat.Acad.Sci.102:5326-5333,2005.

Alsofindarticles/papersrelatedtoSolarResourceAssessmentat(http://www.asrc.cestm.albany.edu/perez/directory/ResourceAssessment.html)

Note:Investorsarehoweverrequiredtosetuptheirowngroundmeasurementunitattheactualprojectsiteformoreaccurateestimationofdataofinputresourcesfortheirinvestmentdecisions.