Kipp&Zonen BSRN Scientific Solar Monitoring System - Manual (Page 100)

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Annex B Selected Instrumentation
B 1. Instrument Specifications
B 1.1 Introduction
The inform ation found in this annex is based upon the use of particular instrum ents within the BSRN
network. When used following the instructions given within the m anual, it is believed that these instrum ents
can m eet the accuracy requirem ents specified by the BSRN. Other instrum entation m ay m eet these
accuracies but have not been used within the program at the tim e of publication of this m anual.
The instrum ent specifications provided are those of the m anufacturers. Independent tests of the instrum ents
have been m ade by a variety of laboratories and have been published in the open literature and through
technical agencies such as the International Energy Agency. For further inform ation on any of these
instrum ents the reader is advised to contact either a W MO Regional Radiation Centre or the m anufacturer
directly.
The purpose in providing these specifications is to enable both data users and site scientists to gain
inform ation about particular instrum ent configurations. For the form er, this should aid in gaining a
better understanding of the data m easured by particular instrum ents; both strengths and weaknesses.
For the latter, the choice of an instrum ent for a particular site can be better determ ined by knowing
what others use in sim ilar situations. Furtherm ore, by understanding the differences between instrum ents,
questions concerning differences in data quality can be addressed.
The instrum ents are given in alphabetical order with the specifications provided by the m anufacturers.
W here possible, specifications comm on to each manufacturer are used. However, like most m anufactured
goods, no standard m ethods of specifying all of the various attributes of an instrum ent have been adopted.
The International Standards Organization (ISO) (ISO 9060, Solar Energy - Specification and classification
of instrum ents for m easuring hem ispherical solar and direct solar radiation) and the W MO (W MO No.
8, Com m ission on Instrum ents and Methods of Observation (CIMO) Guide to Instrum ents and Methods
of Observation) has recom m ended som e guidelines, but these have yet to be universally accepted.
Tables B1 and B2 on pyranom eter specifications and pyrheliom eter specifications found in the ISO
docum ent are provided below as a general guide on instrum ent quality.