Comparison of meteorological data from different sources. for Bishkek city, Kyrgyzstan

Ruslan Botpaev[2]*, Alaibek Obozov1,

Janybek Orozaliev2, Christian Budig2, Klaus Vajen2,

1 Kyrgyz State Technical University, Department for Renewable Energies, Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)
2 Kassel University, Institute of Thermal Energy Engineering, Kassel (Germany)
Corresponding Author, botpaev@inbox. ru

Abstract

Meteorological data from different sources (a local weather station, Meteonorm 5.1 and 6.0 as well as own measurements) have been compared with each other for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. It was identified that Bishkek city in Meteonorm 5.1 and 6.0 has wrong altitude (2111 m instead of 760 m), which leads to significantly lower ambient temperatures. Therefore, it is necessary to define Bishkek manually as a new site with the correct coordinates. In this case the ambient temperatures are in agreement with those measured by the weather station Frunze. Annual global solar irradiation from own measurements («1500 kWh/m2a) and weather station Frunze (1572 kWh/m2a) are in a good agreement, while its values from Meteonorm 5.1 and 6.0 are approx. 20% lower. Furthermore, monthly sums of global solar irradiation generated with Meteonorm 5.1 have an untypical trend in summer, having two local maximum points. This is inconsistent with irradiation data from other sources and with the sunshine duration in the relevant period. The data from Meteonorm should be proved on plausibility, particularly for sites or stations in developing countries.

1. Introduction

For designing and dimensioning of solar plants and prediction of solar gains it is important to have precise meteorological data, i. e. data of solar radiation, ambient temperatures and wind velocity. Meteorological data for different places can be taken from own measurements, reference books, weather stations or generated with special software (e. g. Meteonorm1).

For Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic in Central Asia, basically, three sources of meteorological data are available: a local weather station Frunze, a software Meteonorm (only versions 5.1 and 6.0 are considered in this study) and own measurement data (only radiation). Geographical coordinates of Bishkek are 74.5°E longitude, 42.8°N latitude (comparable with Rome) and 760 m altitude. The climate is strong continental (hot summer, cold winter, high number of sunny days).

The objective of this investigation is to compare these sources of meteorological data with each other regarding average annual ambient temperatures and solar radiation data.