STATISTICAL COMPARISON FOR 77 EUROPEAN STATIONS OF 7 SUNSHINE-BASED MODELS

A statistical comparison of 7 sunshine-based models, designed to evaluate the monthly average daily global radiation on horizontal surfaces, has been performed for 77 European stations. A general conclusion is that the Glover and McCulloch model, the Gopinathan model, and the Page model perform the worst. Taking into account published reports, this was not expected for Page's and Gopinathan's models. If results for the MBE and the RMSE obtained using data for all stations together are used to establish a ranking of the models, Rietveld's monthly specific model and Doniaux and Lemoine's monthly independent model perform the best. The last-mentioned model is latitude dependent, and valid for stations between 4°N and 61°N. The results obtained are encouraging relating its use for latitudes/geographical regions different from those used in this work. In any case it should not be neglected in possible future statistical comparisons, as it has been up to now. © 1990.