Abstract
Solar irradiance plays a key role in many fields, including biomass (agriculture, forestry), oceanography, atmospheric and oceanic movements, human health, architecture and energy: a precise understanding of it is of the utmost importance. The focus of this seminar is on its energy exploitation: by analogy with other energy sources, solar irradiance can be considered as a deposit or resource. The first objective of the seminar is to identify the sources of variability in time and space of this resource, by separating the deterministic ones arising from the relative astronomical position between the Earth and the Sun, those linked to the clear atmosphere (excluding clouds) and those linked to cloud cover. Secondly, the various Earth observation methods used to characterize solar radiation are presented, from pyranometric sensors to numerical meteorological models and the role of observation satellites. Finally, the seminar uses case studies to demonstrate the role of data science in leveraging different observation sources ( in situ measurements , hemispheric cameras, satellite images, etc.) to meet the needs of the solar energy industry, from characterization of long-term variability to intra-hour forecasting and high-resolution solar mapping.
