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Remote Sensing
Volume 12
Issue 17
10.3390/rs12172793
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Article

Enhancement of Cloudless Skies Frequency over a Large Tropical Reservoir in Brazil

by
André R. Gonçalves
1,*,
Arcilan T. Assireu
2,
Fernando R. Martins
3,
Madeleine S. G. Casagrande
3,
Enrique V. Mattos
2,
Rodrigo S. Costa
1,
Robson B. Passos
2,
Silvia V. Pereira
1,
Marcelo P. Pes
1,
Francisco J. L. Lima
1 and
Enio B. Pereira
1
1
National Institute for Space Research, Av. dos Astronautas, 1758, São José dos Campos SP 12227-010, Brazil
2
Federal University of Itajuba, Av. BPS, 1303, Pinheirinho, Itajubá MG 37500-903, Brazil
3
Federal University of São Paulo, Rua Carvalho de Mendonça, 144, Santos SP 11070-102, Brazil
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Remote Sens. 2020, 12(17), 2793; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12172793
Submission received: 20 July 2020 / Revised: 23 August 2020 / Accepted: 25 August 2020 / Published: 27 August 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment of Renewable Energy Resources with Remote Sensing)
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Abstract

Several studies show the effects of lake breezes on cloudiness over natural lakes and large rivers, but only few contain information regarding large flooded areas of hydroelectric dams. Most Brazilian hydropower plants have large water reservoirs that may induce significant changes in the local environment. In this work, we describe the prevailing breeze mechanism in a Brazilian tropical hydropower reservoir to assess its impacts on local cloudiness and incoming surface solar irradiation. GOES-16 visible imagery, ISCCP database products, and ground measurement sites operated by INMET and LABREN/INPE provided data for the statistical analysis. We evaluate the cloudiness frequency assuming two distinct perspectives: spatial distribution by comparing cloudiness over the water surface and areas nearby its shores, and time analysis by comparing cloudiness prior and after reservoir completion. We also evaluated the solar irradiance enhancement over the water surface compared to the border and land areas surrounding the hydropower reservoir. The results pointed out daily average cloudiness increases moving away from the reservoir in any of the four cardinal directions. When looking at the afternoon-only cloudiness (14 h to 16 h local time), 4% fewer clouds were observed over the flooded area during summer (DJF). This difference reaches 8% during autumn (MAM) and spring (SON). Consequently, the irradiance enhancement at the water surface compared to external areas was around 1.75% for daily average and 4.59% for the afternoon-only average. Our results suggest that floating solar PV power plants in hydropower reservoirs can be an excellent option to integrate both renewable energy resources into a hybrid power generation due to the high solar irradiance in Brazilian territory combined with the prevailing breeze mechanism in large tropical water reservoirs.
Keywords: lake breeze influence; hydropower reservoir; solar irradiance enhancement; solar energy resource lake breeze influence; hydropower reservoir; solar irradiance enhancement; solar energy resource
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MDPI and ACS Style

Gonçalves, A.R.; Assireu, A.T.; Martins, F.R.; Casagrande, M.S.G.; Mattos, E.V.; Costa, R.S.; Passos, R.B.; Pereira, S.V.; Pes, M.P.; Lima, F.J.L.; et al. Enhancement of Cloudless Skies Frequency over a Large Tropical Reservoir in Brazil. Remote Sens. 2020, 12, 2793. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12172793

AMA Style

Gonçalves AR, Assireu AT, Martins FR, Casagrande MSG, Mattos EV, Costa RS, Passos RB, Pereira SV, Pes MP, Lima FJL, et al. Enhancement of Cloudless Skies Frequency over a Large Tropical Reservoir in Brazil. Remote Sensing. 2020; 12(17):2793. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12172793

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gonçalves, André R., Arcilan T. Assireu, Fernando R. Martins, Madeleine S. G. Casagrande, Enrique V. Mattos, Rodrigo S. Costa, Robson B. Passos, Silvia V. Pereira, Marcelo P. Pes, Francisco J. L. Lima, and et al. 2020. "Enhancement of Cloudless Skies Frequency over a Large Tropical Reservoir in Brazil" Remote Sensing 12, no. 17: 2793. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12172793

APA Style

Gonçalves, A. R., Assireu, A. T., Martins, F. R., Casagrande, M. S. G., Mattos, E. V., Costa, R. S., Passos, R. B., Pereira, S. V., Pes, M. P., Lima, F. J. L., & Pereira, E. B. (2020). Enhancement of Cloudless Skies Frequency over a Large Tropical Reservoir in Brazil. Remote Sensing, 12(17), 2793. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12172793

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