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General Weather/Earth Sciences Topics => Earth Sciences => Topic started by: dkinsc on April 06, 2011, 09:01:23 PM

Title: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: dkinsc on April 06, 2011, 09:01:23 PM
Just wondering, if I were to add a sensor to my Davis, what would it be?  For my location and purposes, I think it would be solar radiation.  UV sensors are too expensive more me right now, and I don't have a good location for something ag-related like soil moisture.  I looked for some solar radiation data, and was overwhelmed with information.  So I thought I would ask some forum folk.  If I wanted to assess local impact of things like ozone depletion, would a solar radiation sensor be informative?

Del
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: d_l on April 06, 2011, 09:32:24 PM
It's not for ozone measurements.  Mostly the solar radiation sensor is for assessment of received solar power and for ET calculations.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: Andy Thompson on April 06, 2011, 09:37:44 PM
I have both the UV and Solar Radiation sensors. I do the same thing that d_l does, but I also added them just because I'm interested in knowing if I should be using sun screen outside in the summer. I also just got the daytime fan kit and its sitting in the box just waiting to be added to the weather station.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: dkinsc on April 06, 2011, 10:05:31 PM
It's not for ozone measurements.
I understand that.  The ozone I referred to is in the upper atmosphere.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: dkinsc on April 06, 2011, 10:07:36 PM
I have both the UV and Solar Radiation sensors. ...  I also just got the daytime fan kit and its sitting in the box just waiting to be added to the weather station.
Andy, do you track the info from your solar radiation sensor?  Also, I have a FARS and am very satisfied with it.  The sun in SC is such that solar heating will put a substantial bias in your temps if not well ventilated.

Del
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: Downlinerz2 on April 06, 2011, 10:29:19 PM
    I just received my Solar sensor yesterday.  I hope to have it installed soon. The UV sensor will hopefully be ordered by the end of Summer.
     Mark
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: Andy Thompson on April 06, 2011, 11:11:43 PM
Quote
Andy, do you track the info from your solar radiation sensor?  Also, I have a FARS and am very satisfied with it.  The sun in SC is such that solar heating will put a substantial bias in your temps if not well ventilated.
By tracking you mean graphing, charting and archiving, or what? If so, then yes. Do you have the 24 hour fan? I have not yet installed my daytime yet.

Regards,
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: dkinsc on April 06, 2011, 11:20:59 PM
By tracking you mean graphing, charting and archiving, or what? If so, then yes. Do you have the 24 hour fan? I have not yet installed my daytime yet.

Regards,
By tracking I mean, at its simplest, just paying attention to trends, paying attention to daily readings the way we might monitor annual rainfall to date or daily highs and lows.
I have the 24 hour fan.  Actually, the 24 hour FARS can be modified simply by removing one or both the batteries.  Having both installed reduces fan activity during the day by the need for more charging current.  Having one installed reduces this demand, but might not provide as much ventilation at night.  In essence, you can tune the charging and ventilating roughly to your climate.

Del
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: d_l on April 07, 2011, 09:06:35 AM
I understood that you were interested in the ozone in the upper atmosphere, but you can not use the solar sensor to measure it.

You can measure and plot the solar radiation.  The Weatherlink software allows you to do this and other softwares as well. I frequently plot the THSW index in the summer to see how the outside air actually feels.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: dkinsc on April 07, 2011, 09:14:37 AM
I understood that you were interested in the ozone in the upper atmosphere, but you can not use the solar sensor to measure it.
What I said:  "assess local impact"
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: d_l on April 07, 2011, 09:23:35 AM
I'm not sure what you mean by that.  

Only the UV sensor even could do that, if possible, as it only outputs a measurement of the sunburning portion of the UV spectrum as a number from 1 to 10.  The solar sensor aggregates and measures all the wavelengths from 400 to 1100 nanometers of solar radiation, including both the direct and diffuse components of solar irradiance.  The UV component would be pretty much excluded from the total if that lower boundary is a hard number as UV is 400 nanometers and shorter in wavelength.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: Andy Thompson on April 07, 2011, 09:50:47 AM
Quote
By tracking I mean, at its simplest, just paying attention to trends, paying attention to daily readings the way we might monitor annual rainfall to date or daily highs and lows.
I have the 24 hour fan.  Actually, the 24 hour FARS can be modified simply by removing one or both the batteries.  Having both installed reduces fan activity during the day by the need for more charging current.  Having one installed reduces this demand, but might not provide as much ventilation at night.  In essence, you can tune the charging and ventilating roughly to your climate.

Del
I am not really analytical about keeping a close eye on solar and UV but yes I do watch the trends over a certain period of time. I heard that there was a way to turn the Daytime Fan into a 24-hour fan? Do you know anything about that?

Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: dkinsc on April 07, 2011, 10:42:57 AM
I am not really analytical about keeping a close eye on solar and UV but yes I do watch the trends over a certain period of time. I heard that there was a way to turn the Daytime Fan into a 24-hour fan? Do you know anything about that?

No, I only know how to turn a 24 hour FARS into a daylight only.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: SLOweather on April 07, 2011, 10:47:23 AM
I graph and list the daily solar and UV reading on all my sites, as well as list the daily highs.

Perhaps more importantly, using solar and other parameters, Davis consoles will calculate running daily ET (evapotranspiration), which is important to making irrigation decisions. I use it to calculate the 7-day watering index and irrigation index.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: KeithBC on April 09, 2011, 12:23:50 AM
It's not for ozone measurements.
I understand that.  The ozone I referred to is in the upper atmosphere.
If you want to track upper atmosphere ozone, you will need to monitor UV.  A sunlight sensor will not tell you anything about upper atmosphere ozone.

I monitor both total sunlight and UV.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: scottm on April 26, 2011, 02:11:08 PM
Quote
but I also added them just because I'm interested in knowing if I should be using sun screen outside in the summer

I use my Rain Gauge to know whether or not i need an umbrella :)
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: wxtech on April 26, 2011, 04:02:34 PM
I have a Davis VP2 Plus which includes the solar sensor and the UV sensor.  I like to view the solar and UV graphs both the daily data and the data plotted for a week.  It's interesting to see the cloudy days and the times when clouds block the sun briefly during the day.
View my station data here:http://www.lexingtonwx.com/ (http://www.lexingtonwx.com/).  I'm making adjustments of the sensors because of a sun blockage before noon each day causes a sharp edge in the data.
Solar and UV data are just more wx phenomena to observe and provide to the community.
My solar power data has been used to evaluate the power available from solar panel installations in this area.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: ed2kayak on April 26, 2011, 05:22:21 PM
I just ordered Davis uv and solar sensors today. Would like them working for this summer.
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: SLOweather on April 26, 2011, 05:58:19 PM
I just ordered Davis uv and solar sensors today. Would like them working for this summer.

Didja remember to order the sensor mounting shelf, as well?
Title: Re: Do you monitor solar radiation?
Post by: ed2kayak on April 26, 2011, 06:09:36 PM
I did..and Davis Cables.