Importance of Himawari-8 Aerosol Products for Energy Management System

Abstract Potential roles of Himawari-8 products (aerosol and global solar irradiance data) in the development of an advanced energy management system (EMS) are discussed. At the Chiba site of the SKYNET ground-based remote sensing network (35.63°N, 140.10°E), the Himawari-8-based global solar irradiance data, which should provide spatial information useful for the widely-distributed photovoltaic system, show agreement with those obtained by SKYNET within 6% or 20 W/m2 under clear-sky conditions during an intensive observation campaign (Chiba campaign). The Himawari-8 data, however, tend to show overestimation. By calculating global solar irradiances as a function of aerosol optical depth (AOD) using a radiative transfer model, the underestimation can be explained by aerosol effects, which have not been taken into account in the Himawari-8 data. We also show that diurnal variation patterns in Himawari-8 AOD data are likely consistent with those seen in SKYNET data. Thus, Himawari-8 aerosol products with unique spatial and diurnal variation information would contribute to the development of an advanced EMS through the improvement of global solar irradiance estimation.