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标题：Record high solar irradiance in Western Europe during first COVID-19 lockdown largely due to unusual weather
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作者：Chiel C. van Heerwaarden ; Wouter B. Mol ; Menno A. Veerman 等
期刊名称：Communications Earth & Environment
电子版ISSN：2662-4435
出版年度：2021
卷号：2
期号：1
页码：1-7
DOI：10.1038/s43247-021-00110-0
语种：English
出版社：Nature Research
摘要：Spring 2020 broke sunshine duration records across Western Europe. The Netherlands recorded the highest surface irradiance since 1928, exceeding the previous extreme of 2011 by 13%, and the diffuse fraction of the irradiance measured a record low percentage (38%). The coinciding irradiance extreme and a reduction in anthropogenic pollution due to COVID-19 measures triggered the hypothesis that cleaner-than-usual air contributed to the record. Based on analyses of ground-based and satellite observations and experiments with a radiative transfer model, we estimate a 1.3% (2.3 W m-2) increase in surface irradiance with respect to the 2010-2019 mean due to a low median aerosol optical depth, and a 17.6% (30.7 W m-2) increase due to several exceptionally dry days and a very low cloud fraction overall. Our analyses show that the reduced aerosols and contrails due to the COVID-19 measures are far less important in the irradiance record than the dry and particularly cloud-free weather. COVID-19 lockdown-induced low aerosol levels in Western Europe in spring 2020 exerted a far smaller influence on surface irradiation than the dry and cloud-free weather, according to analyses of ground-based and satellite observations and experiments with a radiative transfer model.