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Examining the Potential of a Random Forest Derived Cloud Mask from GOES-R Satellites to Improve Solar Irradiance Forecasting

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  • Tyler McCandless

    (National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO 80305, USA)

  • Pedro Angel Jiménez

    (National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder, CO 80305, USA)

Abstract

In order for numerical weather prediction (NWP) models to correctly predict solar irradiance reaching the earth’s surface for more accurate solar power forecasting, it is important to initialize the NWP model with accurate cloud information. Knowing where the clouds are located is the first step. Using data from geostationary satellites is an attractive possibility given the low latencies and high spatio-temporal resolution provided nowadays. Here, we explore the potential of utilizing the random forest machine learning method to generate the cloud mask from GOES-16 radiances. We first perform a predictor selection process to determine the optimal predictor set for the random forest predictions of the horizontal cloud fraction and then determine the appropriate threshold to generate the cloud mask prediction. The results show that the random forest method performs as well as the GOES-16 level 2 clear sky mask product with the ability to customize the threshold for under or over predicting cloud cover. Further developments to enhance the cloud mask estimations for improved short-term solar irradiance and power forecasting with the MAD-WRF NWP model are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Tyler McCandless & Pedro Angel Jiménez, 2020. "Examining the Potential of a Random Forest Derived Cloud Mask from GOES-R Satellites to Improve Solar Irradiance Forecasting," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-15, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:7:p:1671-:d:340790
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Diagne, Maimouna & David, Mathieu & Lauret, Philippe & Boland, John & Schmutz, Nicolas, 2013. "Review of solar irradiance forecasting methods and a proposition for small-scale insular grids," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 65-76.
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    Cited by:

    1. Abhnil Amtesh Prasad & Merlinde Kay, 2021. "Prediction of Solar Power Using Near-Real Time Satellite Data," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.
    2. Paletta, Quentin & Arbod, Guillaume & Lasenby, Joan, 2023. "Omnivision forecasting: Combining satellite and sky images for improved deterministic and probabilistic intra-hour solar energy predictions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    3. Konduru Sudharshan & C. Naveen & Pradeep Vishnuram & Damodhara Venkata Siva Krishna Rao Kasagani & Benedetto Nastasi, 2022. "Systematic Review on Impact of Different Irradiance Forecasting Techniques for Solar Energy Prediction," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-39, August.
    4. Sibtain, Muhammad & Li, Xianshan & Saleem, Snoober & Ain, Qurat-ul- & Shi, Qiang & Li, Fei & Saeed, Muhammad & Majeed, Fatima & Shah, Syed Shoaib Ahmed & Saeed, Muhammad Hammad, 2022. "Multifaceted irradiance prediction by exploiting hybrid decomposition-entropy-Spatiotemporal attention based Sequence2Sequence models," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 648-682.

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