Toward Improved Solar Irradiance Forecasts: Introduction of Post-Processing to Correct the Direct Normal Irradiance from the Weather Research and Forecasting Model

Solar electricity production is highly dependent on atmospheric conditions. This study focuses on comparing model forecasts with observations for the period of May-December, 2011. The Weather Research and Forecasting model was run for two nested domains centered on Arizona in order to better capture the complex terrain driven dynamics of the region. The modeling performance from the simulation with the Global Forecast System model output as initial and boundary condition was better, with respect to both direct normal irradiance and global horizontal irradiance, than that with the North American Mesoscale model output. The observed aerosol optical depth is correlated with the water vapor, soil moisture and wind-blown dust and therefore, the aerosol optical depth is parameterized by the modeling outputs for these variables. The aerosol correction factor reduces the relative root mean square error from 12 to 6 %. In cases where dust was transported at high altitude, our algorithm did not correct the bias of direct normal irradiance.