Kipp&Zonen BSRN Scientific Solar Monitoring System - Manual (Page 17)

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• experts intending to obtain the necessary resources to establish a BSRN station
• technologists involved in the construction and operation of a BSRN station.
For experts, it is hoped that the m anual will provide:
• the necessary inform ation required to obtain resources,
• the docum entation required to support the establishm ent of a BSRN site
• inform ation on types and m anufacturers of instrum ents that can be used within the
BSRN and that m eet the guidelines on accuracy.
W hile none of these purposes is fulfilled in an exhaustive m anner, m ost researchers should find
the inform ation sufficient.
The use of the m anual by well-trained technologists will aid in the establishm ent and m aintenance
of a BSRN m easuring program in a m anner consistent with the goals and purposes of the
program m e. It is recognized that som e of this inform ation will need m odification in a variety of
ways. The sim plest transform ation m ay be into a language appropriate to those operating the site.
More significant alterations m ay include the addition of inform ation on particular data acquisition
units or in the form s provided as guidelines for routine m aintenance checks. These changes
should be m ade in a consultative m anner between the station scientist and those technologists
perform ing the particular tasks under discussion.
The m anual contains sections on sam pling frequency and accuracy requirem ents for BSRN
stations, the siting of stations, the installation of radiation instrum ents, solar tracking devices, data
acquisition, station m aintenance, radiation instrum ent calibration, and radiation data reduction
and quality assurance procedures, as well as a variety of ancillary inform ation in Annexes.
However, it m ust be stated categorically that this operations m anual is NOT a prim er on the
construction and operation of a radiation m onitoring site. It is assum ed that the station director
has previous experience in the operation of radiation instrum ents. Furtherm ore, it is assum ed that
the technologists have at least a m inim um of experience in operating data acquisition system s,
com puters and sim ilar hardware, although not necessarily equipm ent specific to the
m easurem ent of solar and terrestrial radiation. The m anual does provide fundam ental guidance in
assisting station scientists and technologists in m eeting the aim s, objectives and specifications of
the Baseline Surface Radiation Network.
1.3 Specific objectives and research activities
The specific objectives of the BSRN as found in the W ashington, D.C. m eeting report, are:
• to m easure the surface radiation com ponents at strategic locations with a dem onstrated
accuracy and precision sufficient for revealing long-term trends
• to obtain concurrent m easurem ents of atm ospheric constituents such as clouds, water
vapour, ozone and aerosols that affect the radiation at the surface and at the top of the
atm osphere
• to assure uniform adherence to the highest achievable standards of procedure, accuracy
and calibration throughout the network.
The associated activities and research goals are:
• Site characterization: Acquisition of quantitative inform ation on features such as nature
of the surface, average cloud cover and type, aerosols, etc., that characterize the site for
satellite applications
• Infrared Irradiance Measurem ents: Advancing state-of-the-art instrum entation and
m ethods of observation for accurate m easurem ent of downwelling radiance and
irradiance m easurem ents to m eet Surface R adiation Budget (SRB) m easurem ent
standards