Project 2
Modelling mean monthly solar exposure
There is a growing interest in improving the knowledge of the relationship between sustainable urban development and local climatic conditions. In particular, such knowledge can be very useful to urban planners and bio meteorologists for the design of sustainable buildings and green landscapes to minimise energy consumption, and potentially mitigate the Urban Heat Island intensity and effects. Solar radiation exposure is one of the main factors driving changes in various surface processes on earth, including local changes in the near-surface air temperature. Knowledge and understanding of the influence of solar radiation exposure on maximum temperature, for example, can be very useful for sustainable planning of an urban environment.
In this project, you tasks are to:
• Explore the monthly solar exposure for Ballarat Aerodrome (or any other Australian location of your interest); data available at http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/data/.
• Determine different trends and patterns
• Develop a model to predict solar activity up to 12 months in advance.