Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
Atmospheric Measurement Techniques
AMT
Articles | Volume 8, issue 3
Articles | Volume 8, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1089-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1089-2015
© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Articles | Volume 8, issue 3
Research article
 | 
05 Mar 2015
Research article |  | 05 Mar 2015

Potential impact of contrails on solar energy gain

P. Weihs, M. Rennhofer, D. J. Baumgartner, J. Gadermaier, J. E. Wagner, J. E. Gehring, and W. Laube

Abstract. The effect of contrails on global short-wave radiation (sum of direct and downward diffuse solar radiation) and on solar energy gain was investigated. The study was performed during days with high contrail persistence and focused on situations where the contrails were obstructing the sun. Measurements of cloudiness using a fish-eye camera, diffuse and direct short-wave measurements and measurements of the short circuit current of three different types of photovoltaic (PV) modules were performed at the Kanzelhöhe Observatory (1540 m a.s.l.) with a time resolution of 1 min over a period of 1 year. The results show that contrails moving between sun and observer/sensor may reduce the global radiation by up to 72%. An analysis of contrail persistence and the influence of contrails on global irradiance and solar energy gain is presented. The losses in solar energy gain that were recorded may be critical under specific circumstances.

How to cite. Weihs, P., Rennhofer, M., Baumgartner, D. J., Gadermaier, J., Wagner, J. E., Gehring, J. E., and Laube, W.: Potential impact of contrails on solar energy gain, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1089–1096, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1089-2015, 2015.
Received: 21 Mar 2014 – Discussion started: 29 Aug 2014 – Revised: 09 Jan 2015 – Accepted: 04 Feb 2015 – Published: 05 Mar 2015
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Short summary
The effect of contrails on global shortwave radiation (sum of direct and downward diffuse solar radiation) and on solar energy gain was investigated. The results show that contrails moving between sun and observer/sensor may reduce the global radiation by up to 72%. An analysis of contrail persistence and influence of contrails on global irradiance and solar energy gain is presented. The losses in solar energy gain that were recorded may be critical under specific circumstances.
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