Ground-based observations of solar radiation at three Italian sites, during the eclipse of 29 March, 2006: Signs of the environment impact on incoming global irradiance

The time-patterns of ground-level solar irradiance during the solar eclipse of 29 March, 2006, were observed at three Italian stations (Lampedusa, Mt. Cimone and Bologna) using different radiometric techniques. The global irradiance measured at the sites was found to reach the minimum at times not coinciding with those predicted by radiative transfer model evaluations, with ahead or lag times depending on the optical characteristics of the surface–atmosphere system in the areas surrounding of the stations. This different behaviour has been mainly attributed to the different influence of the environmental conditions on the diffuse radiance component measured at the observation sites. The present results indicate that the incoming diffuse radiance recorded at the three stations was appreciably affected by contributions arising from extended regions of about 30–100 km range from the stations. Such an explanation agrees very well with the theoretical evaluations obtained in earlier studies. The surrounding environmental areas of impact at ultraviolet wavelengths have been found to be wider than those in the visible and near-infrared spectral ranges.