Solar radiative fluxes in the clear-sky atmosphere of Western Siberia: A comparison of simulations with field measurements

We compare the calculations and measurements of downward solar radiative fluxes on the Earth’s surface, performed in the clear-sky atmosphere during summers of 2010–2012 in the background area of the boreal zone of Siberia (Tomsk). The comparison is performed taking into account the instrumental errors and uncertainties of determining the atmospheric characteristics. The aerosol optical characteristics were specified using data of ground-based photometric measurements, obtained at the Tomsk station of the AERONET network. It is shown that the relative differences between the model-based and experimental values of the fluxes of direct and total radiation, on average, do not exceed 1% and 3%, respectively. © 2014, Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.