Reconstructing monthly global solar radiation from air temperature and precipitation records: a general algorithm for Canada

An empirical algorithm is summarized for projecting time series of monthly global solar radiation (GSR) anywhere in Canada. The algorithm requires information on location (latitude and elevation), and time series of monthly air temperature and precipitation. It was parametrized with climate-normal data, and was tested with 15-year GSR time series records from six locations representative of major climate regions. Estimate errors for about 94% of data points at each location were less than 20% of the mean GSR of that location.