Geographia Polonica (2019) vol. 92, iss. 2

Total solar radiation in Zakopane and at Mount Kasprowy Wierch (Western Carpathians, Poland) in 1986-2015

Elwira Żmudzka, Kinga Kulesza

Geographia Polonica (2019) vol. 92, iss. 2, pp. 211-231 | Full text
doi: https://doi.org/10.7163/GPol.0145

The differences in the inflow of radiant energy at two stations in the Tatra Mountains were analysed, as well as the role of cloud cover in shaping of radiation conditions (using nephological characteristic days). The average increase in the annual sum of total radiation from Zakopane to Kasprowy Wierch is 193 MJ·m-2per 1000 m (5.3%). The influence of cloudiness on the inflow of radiant energy to these stations manifests itself i.e. in significantly smaller daily sums of total radiation from mid-May to the end of August at the peak station than at the station lying at the foot of the mountains. For the period 1986-2015, there was an increaseof 0.03 MJ·m-2·day-1·year-1 in the annual average daily sums of total radiation in Zakopane, despite a significant increase in the amount of cloud cover in the warm half of the year. 

 

Keywords: total radiation, cloud cover, nephological characteristic days, Tatras, trend of changes

Elwira Żmudzka [e.zmudzka@uw.edu.pl], Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies University of Warsaw Krakowskie Przedmieście 30, 00-927 Warsaw: Poland
Kinga Kulesza [kingakulesza@uw.edu.pl], Uniwersytet Warszawski, Wydział Geografii i Studiów Regionalnych