Validation of GMS-5 S-VISSR solar exposure estimates over the Australian continent

Solar radiation is a very important input for many aspects of climatology, hydrology, atmospheric sciences, and energy applications. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) operates a GMS-5 Stretched-Visible and Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer (S-VISSR) based model to determine solar exposure. Estimates of the daily solar exposure (DSE) derived from the BoM model are validated using data from two stations within the Australian Continental Integrated Ground-truth Site Network (CIGSN). Under all-sky conditions, estimated results were excellent for the Amburla site (mean bias of 1.5%, RMS error of 7.5%) while at the Uardry site results were very good except during the winter and early spring period where solar irradiance attains its minimum under near-constant cloud cover dominated by low, broken cumulus and stratocumulus