Effects of burning of biomass on satellite estimations of solar irradiation in Brazil

Abstract Atmospheric combustion products from forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon and ‘Cerrado’ regions during the dry season (July–October) induce systematic deviations on the routine satellite techniques for the assessment of solar energy resource information. This study, based on clear-sky days, has shown model overestimations of the incoming solar radiation as high as 44%. On the average, clear-sky model overestimation was four times larger than that found for clear-sky days in regions outside the biomass-burning season. A positive correlation between the combustion products of black carbon, total aerosols, CO, N 2 O, CH 4 , and the number of fire spots counted by the AVHRR sensor from the NOAA series satellites suggests a possible mechanism for the parameterization of these effects on the radiation transfer methods.