Universität zu Köln

van Heerwaarden, Chiel C., Mol, Wouter B., Veerman, Menno A., Benedict, Imme, Heusinkveld, Bert G., Knap, Wouter H., Kazadzis, Stelios ORCID: 0000-0002-8624-8247, Kouremeti, Natalia and Fiedler, Stephanie (2021). Record high solar irradiance in Western Europe during first COVID-19 lockdown largely due to unusual weather. Commun. Earth Environ., 2 (1). LONDON: SPRINGERNATURE. ISSN 2662-4435

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Abstract

Spring 2020 broke sunshine duration records across Western Europe. The Netherlands recorded the highest surface irradiance since 1928, exceeding the previous extreme of 2011 by 13%, and the diffuse fraction of the irradiance measured a record low percentage (38%). The coinciding irradiance extreme and a reduction in anthropogenic pollution due to COVID-19 measures triggered the hypothesis that cleaner-than-usual air contributed to the record. Based on analyses of ground-based and satellite observations and experiments with a radiative transfer model, we estimate a 1.3% (2.3Wm(-2)) increase in surface irradiance with respect to the 2010-2019 mean due to a low median aerosol optical depth, and a 17.6% (30.7Wm(-2)) increase due to several exceptionally dry days and a very low cloud fraction overall. Our analyses show that the reduced aerosols and contrails due to the COVID-19 measures are far less important in the irradiance record than the dry and particularly cloud-free weather. COVID-19 lockdown-induced low aerosol levels in Western Europe in spring 2020 exerted a far smaller influence on surface irradiation than the dry and cloud-free weather, according to analyses of ground-based and satellite observations and experiments with a radiative transfer model.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code van Heerwaarden, Chiel C. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Mol, Wouter B. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Veerman, Menno A. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Benedict, Imme UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Heusinkveld, Bert G. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Knap, Wouter H. UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Kazadzis, Stelios UNSPECIFIED orcid.org/0000-0002-8624-8247 UNSPECIFIED Kouremeti, Natalia UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Fiedler, Stephanie UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-586613
DOI:	10.1038/s43247-021-00110-0
Journal or Publication Title:	Commun. Earth Environ.
Volume:	2
Number:	1
Date:	2021
Publisher:	SPRINGERNATURE
Place of Publication:	LONDON
ISSN:	2662-4435
Language:	English
Faculty:	Unspecified
Divisions:	Unspecified
Subjects:	no entry
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language ANTHROPOGENIC AEROSOL; CLOUD CONTAMINATION; RADIATION; VARIABILITY; CIRCULATION; BLOCKING; IMPACT Multiple languages Environmental Sciences; Geosciences, Multidisciplinary; Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences Multiple languages
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/58661