Effects of burning of biomass on satellite estimations of solar irradiation in Brazil

Atmospheric combustion products from forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon a nd 'Cerrado' regions during the dry season (July-October) induce systematic deviations on the routine satellite techniques for the assessment of solar energy resource information. This study, based on clear-sky days, has show n model overestimations of the incoming solar radiation as high as 44%. On the average,clear-sky model overestimation was four times larger than that found for clear-sky days in regions outside the biomass-burning season. A p ositive correlation between the combustion products of black carbon, total aerosols, CO, N2O, CH4, and the number of fire spots counted by the AVHRR s ensor from the NOAA series satellites suggests a possible mechanism for the parameterization of these effects on the radiation transfer methods. (C) 1 999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.