Solar Radiation as Indexed by Clouds for Snowmelt Modeling

Abstract

In an effort to improve the methods of forecasting the amount and timing of snowmelt, a primary source of water in Arizona, significant regression equations are developed over a selected measurement period to relate global, direct, and diffuse solar radiation to: (1) the cloud-cover of specific cloud genera, (2) the hour before or after solar noon, and (3) the potential solar radiation. Three regression equations are derived from cloud-cover imagery and solar radiation data collected from two sites in Arizona 's Ponderosa pine forests, Schnebly Hill, and Alpine, in the hope that regression models will be useful in the simulation of snowpack dynamics.