Solar Enerey. Vol. 18. pp. 129-134. Pergamon Press 1976.

Printed in Great Britain

A SIMPLE MODEL FOR ESTIMATING THE

TRANSMITTANCE OF DIRECT SOLAR RADIATION
THROUGH CLEAR ATMOSPHERESt
HOYT C. HOTTEL
Department of ChemicalEngineering,Massachusetts Institute of Technology,Cambridge,MA 02139, U.S.A.

(Received 12 August 1975)

Abstract--The clear-day all-wavelength transmittance 7. of solar radiation directly through the 1962 standard
atmosphere to a surface at altitude A is found to fit a simple mixed-gray-gasmodel (1 black, 1 gray, 1 clear) with a
maximum error of 0.4 per cent. The relation is

7" : a o + a t e k/c,,~ z

where z is the zenith angle of the sun. The constant ao, a, and k are functions only of altitude and of haze model
(visibilityrange). Allowanceis made for the effect of four climate types (tropical, midlatitudesummer and winter, and
subarctic summer)by modifyingthe 3 constants by ratios which depend on climate type only (not on altitude or haze
model) and which lie betweeo,0.92 and 1.04.This simplemodel should be capable of being combinedwith sunshine or
cloud records, plus generalizations covering diffuse radiation, to yield predictions of insolation for use in design
optimizations.

INTRODUCTION sea-level amount of each scattering or absorbing compo-

The assessment of merit of solar devices depends of
course on the availability of good data on insolation.
Although the most reliable predictions of performance
will be based on pyranometer data taken over a period of
years at the exact locale of interest, other more general
approaches have merit. Several are available[l], none
entirely satisfactory. One alternative approach is to
estimate the transmission through clear atmosphere,
modify it by allowance for cloudiness or percentage
sunshine, and add an estimated diffuse component.
Projections of expected insolation based on climate type,
atmosheric transmittance, and earth geometry have the
merit that they can be associated with known geographi-
cal areas, and that they constitute simpler inputs in
feasibility studies of various proposals for economic use
of the sun and--a corrollary of simplicity--that they
permit better generalizations to be reached concerning
design optimization. It is therefore of interest to be able to
determine direct transmittance through clear atmospheres
as accurately and simply as possible. The objective here is
to present a model which retains the accuracy achievable
by rigorous spectral integration while being much simpler
to use.
The Air Force-Cambridge Research Laboratories[2]
have assembled data on absorption and scatter coeffi-
cients of the components of the atmosphere over the
wavenumber range 40,000-350cm -~ (the wavelength
range 0.25-28.5/z), averaged over 20cm -~ intervals but
tabulated at 5 c m ' intervals, For the 1962 Standard
Atmosphere and 5 other climate types the equivalent
tPresented at the 1975 ISES International Solar Energy
Congress and Exposition, Los Angeles,California (28 July-I Aug.
1975).
nent has been determined for a path through the
atmosphere extending from a specified altitude horizon-
tally a specified distance or vertically to the top of the
atmosphere; the latter is of present interest. It is to be
remembered that, because of pressure broadening, a unit
mass of absorber attenuates a beam more strongly when
the absorber is located at sea level than at high altitude.
Consequently, allowance has been made for the vertical
distribution of water vapor and ozone as affected by
climate type. As an example, the tropical-climate atmos-
phere contains 4.2cm of precipitable moisture in a
vertical path from sea level, but this is equivalent only to
3.35 cm if located at sea level. And although the first km
above sea level contains but 11 per cent of the air mass, it
contains 38 per cent of the effective or equivalent
sea-level water vapor.
Other absorbers and scatterers are assumed to be in
constant ratio independent of temperature, pressure, or
climate type, but their equivalent sea level quantities must
be calculated. From such data plots have been prepared
by McClatchey et al.[2] which permit calculation, by a
graphical method due to Altschuler [3], of monochromatic
transmittance at any solar wavelength from any altitude A
horizontally a specified distance, or slanting upward to the
top of the atmosphere. A program, LOWTRAN 2, has
been written to carry out similar calculations [4]. Figure 1,
based on 581 wavelength intervals, is an example of
application of the program to determine the wavelength
variation of transmittance of the 1962 Standard Atmos-
phere over a path length from outside the earth's
atmosphere to sea level when the air mass is 2 (600 zenith
angle of the sun) and the visibility is 23 km.
It is to be noted that the wavelength scale of Fig. 1 is
non-linear. Figure 2, based on Thekaekara's tabulated
spectral distribution of extra-terrestrial solar energy [5], is

129
130 H.C. HOTTEL

Fraction of solar constant below wavelength, X

0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 06 0.7 0.8 09 I0
1.0 I I r I i I ; I I I I
09

0.8
07

0.6

05

0.4

0.3

0.2

0.~
b I J t E IIIIIL
00.3 0.4 05 06 0.7 08 0.9 I0 1.2
Wavelength X , ,u.m

Fig. 1. Transmittance of solar energy vs wavelength. (Receiver at sea level, zenith angle of sun 600 (Air mass 2),
(Visibility23 km).) Wavelength scale from Fig. 2. 1962Standard Atmosphere.

1.0

.•0.8

0.6

04

0.2

._~
5
Wavelength ~, #m

Fig. 2. Spectral distribution of extraterrestrial solar energy (from tabulation of Thekaekara [4]).

a plot, vs A, of the fraction f~ of the sun's energy lying at
wavelengths less than A.t The abscissa scale of Fig. 1 is
linear in fA, in consequence of which the total area under
the curve--to1 ~'~ dfx--is the direct transmittance r of the
atmosphere for total solar energy, 0.476 for the present
example. If ~'~ were truly a monochromatic value,
changing the zenith angle of the sun to make the path
length change from LI to L2 without changing A would
change the effective amounts of all absorbers or scatterers
by the same ratio L2/L~. Then rx.L2= (r~.L,)L2tL', and a plot
of In ~'~ vs L would be a straight line through (0,0). But the
total transmittance ~- would not obey such a relation
unless the atmosphere were gray.
The LOWTRAN 2 program has been used here to
obtain r for each of several air masses (sec z) and each of
several altitudes A : each value of r required 581 z / s to
permit integration. The results appear in Table 1, and Fig.
3 shows some of them plotted, ~"on a log scale vs air mass,
arithmetic. The lines, as expected, are not straight. They
could be represented with any desired accuracy by a
power series, but a model which has had good success in
representing highly non-gray combustion gases in indus-
trial furnaces and in some problems in stellar radiation
will require fewer constants to fit the data. That is the
e-function series or mixed-gray-gas model[6], with
transmittance ~" given by

tit is interesting to compare the Stefan-Boltzmann temperature

of the sun, 5762°K (the black-body temperature of a disk
subtending 0.009305 rad at the earth and yielding a solar constant
r = ~ a,e -k~L
i=O
)
a, = 1 (1)

of 1.353kw/m2) with the temperature 5612 K which a black body

must have in order that half its energy is on either side of The facts that the curvature of the lines of Fig. 3 is not
wavelength 0.7318/~m as read from Fig. 2. great and that there is no present interest in ~- at L near
 Transmittance of direct solar radiation 131

Table 1. Direct clear-day transmittance of solar energy (by integration over solar spectrum)
Elevation Zenith
Climate Model
above Angle I'
Haze sealevel~ of 1962 Std Tropical M i d - l a t i t u d e Subarctic Mid-latitude
Model Km Sun* Atmosphere (T) Summer(MLS) Summer(SAS) Winter(MLW).

0 O* 0.6413 0.6194 0,6260 0.6335 0.6503

40* 0.5829 -- -- 0.5750 0.5915
60 ° 0.4764 0.4563 0,4618 0.4687 0,4839
65* 0.4312 --
70* 0.3729 -- -- 0.3662 0.3800
75* 0.2973 0.2814 0.2857 0.2913 0,3036

0.5 0* 0.6858
23 K,n 60° 0.5370
Vlsi- 75° 0.3654
billty
l.O 0° 0.7199 0.6986 0.7057 0,7120 0.7287
30* 0.6956 --
40* 0.6733 -- -- 0.6654 0.6820
60* 0.5851 0.5648 0.5710 0.5774 0.5936
70° -- -- -- 0.4869 0.5023
75* 0.4232 0.4050 0.4104 0.4160 0.4305

1.5 0a 0.7465
60* 0.6232
75° 0.4704
2.'0 0* 0.7677 0.7493 0.7554 0.7600 0.7763
60* 0.6534 0.6350 0.6406 0.6452 0.6617
75° 0.5085 0.4914 0.4963 0.5008 0.5163

0 0* 0.4077 -- 0.3964 0.4016 --

60* 0.2059 -- 0.1976 0.2016 --
75* 0.0708 -- 0.0669 0.0688 --

1 0* 0.6147 0.3908 0.6018 '0.6075 0.4145

5 Km 60* 0.4331 0.1945 0.4214 0.4268 0.2104
Visi- 75" 0.2471 0.0652 0.2383 0,2422 0.0733
blllty
2 0° -- 0.5953 -- -- 0.6228
60* -- 0.4163 -- -- 0.4402
75 ~ 0.2344 -- -- 0.2526

* Relation between zenith [Zenith angle, z 10" 30* 40* 60* 65* 70* 75*
angle and aie mass: 1.155 1.305 2.000 2.366 2.924 3.864

0.8 nent). Equation (2) then becomes

07
7 = ail+ ~/i e kl t3)
06
Though one would not dare use such a model at L ~ 0,
the saving feature of the present interest is that L = sec z,
0.5 and that s e c z is never less than 1. For a standard
atmosphere with receiver at sea level and visibility 23 kin,
a least-square fit of eqn (I) to the transmittance at six
04
t-- values of air mass yields

r = 0.1283 + 0.7548 e ~'~....... .

"r- 01283 ÷ 0,7559 e - ° ' ~ a ~ _ ~ , , , ~
03
The maximum error is 0.25 per cent. The easier fit to air
I I '
0 I 2 3 4 masses of l, 2 and 3.864 (z = 0 °, 60 °, 75 °) yields
Air moss
Fig. 3. Relation of direct solar transmittance to air mass, for T =/I. 1283 + 0.7559 e ~3~7.....
receiver at 3 altitudes. Visibility 23 kin. 1962 Standard Atmos-
phere 23 km haze model.
for which the maximum error is 0.26 per cent, and the
average error 0.14 per cent.
zero suggests, on the basis of furnace experience, that the With this encouraging result, eqn (1) was fitted to all the
black-plus-gray-plus-clear gas model will sut~ce. It yields 1962 Standard Atmosphere data. The constants a*, a*
and k* (asterisk to indicate Std. Arm.) appear in Table 2,
f = ao e k,,L+ a~ e -k]L + a2 e -k2L (2) for two haze models and for altitudes at 0.5 km intervals
from 0 to 2.5 kin. Interpolated or extrapolated values
with ko = 0 (clear component) and k2 = ~ (black compo- appear in parentheses. When those values not in
132 H. C. HOTTEL

Table 2. Coefficientsa %*, a *, and k* for use in determining direct solar transmittance of 1962 standard atmosphere,
using the relation
~'=a~+a*e ~. . . . .

Altitude above 0 0.5 l 1.5 2 (2.5)

Sea Level, Km

l ao .1283 .1742 .2195 .2582 .2915 (.326)

23 Km
Haze aI .7559 .7214 .6848 .6532 .6265 (.602)
Model
k* .3878 .3436 .3139 .2910 .2745 (.268)

ao .0270 (.063) .0964 (.126) (.153) (.177)

5Km
Haze aI .8101 (.804) .7978 (.793) (.788) (.784)
Model
k* .7552 (.573) .4313 (.330) (.269) (.249)

z = zenith angle of the sun; T = direct solar transmittance

parentheses are used in eqn (3) to calculate the r's
reported in Table 1 under "Standard Atmosphere", the
maximum error is 0.3 per cent of the value of r, quite
within the range of error of the primary data in the
LOWTRAN 2 input.
Although linear interpolation to obtain values from
Table 2 at intermediate altitudes is a source of quite
negligible error, the effect of altitude A can be
represented with less error out to A = 2.5 km by the
following quadratics:
For the 23 km Visibility Haze Model
a~=0.4237-0.00821 ( 6 - A ) 2 A =kin (4a)
a ,*= 0.5055 + 0.00595 (6.5 - A )2 (4b)
a ~ = 0.2538 - 0.0063 (6 - A )2 (5a)
a * = 0.7678 + 0.0010 (6.5 - A )2 (5b)
k* = 0.249+ 0.081 (2.5 - A) 2. (5c)
Although the equations fit the numbers in Table 2 with
an error of less than 0.3 per cent of the value of ~', they are
of an improper structure for extrapolation to higher
values of Altitude A than 2.5 kin. (The fractional number
of solar installations placed at higher altitudes is
anticipated to be low.) Table 2 could be used to generate
better though more cumbersome relations than those
given above. For example, the value of a~ for 23 km
visibility is representable by

k* = 0.2711 + 0.01858 (2.5 - A )2. (4c) a ~ = 0.6(1 - e 0.214(A+,.,2)) (4)

These values appear in Fig. 4. with an accuracy as good as (2a); and (4) is much safer to
For the 5 km Visibility Haze Model, use for extrapolation to high A's. Most users, however,
will find Table 2 adequate.
The integrated transmittances for the other four climate
0.8 models were treated the same way as the 1962 Standard
Atmosphere, and values of ao, a~ and k were determined
0.6 for altitudes of 0, 1 and 2 km for each climate model. The
ratios of the three constants to their Standard Atmosphere
values are given in Table 3, for the 23 km Visibility Haze
0.4
Model. The effect of altitude above sea level is seen to be
small enough almost to be ignored. When mean values, to
three significant figures, of the ratios of ao, a, and k are
*a- 0 3
used, based on 0 km and 1 km data only, and these are
~o combined with the 1962 Std. Atm. coefficients of Table 2,
the estimated r for the four climate types at 0 and 1 km
02
altitude has a mean error of 0.23 per cent and a maximum
error of 0.56 per cent. Because the correction ratios gave
0.15 no weight to the 2-km data, the mean and maximum errors
for that altitude are 0.57 and 1.04 per cent.
Let the ratios ao/aL a~/a~ and k/k* be rounded off to
0.1 I I J I two significant figures and be represented by ro, r~ and rk.
0 05 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5
Altitude of receiver, km
Table 4 gives their values. A change to the 5 km Visibility
Haze Model has negligible effect on r~ and rk and a small
Fig. 4. Constants of equation giving direct transmittance of solar
radiation through the 1962 standard atmosphere. Constants for effect, shown in the table, on ro.
transmittance of Std.Atm. from equation r = a* + a* e-k" sec z, Ratios from Table 4, together with values of a ~, a ~' and
z ~- zenith angle of sun. k* from Table 2 or from eqn (4) and (5) permit the
 Transmittance of direct solar radiation 133

Table 3. Effect of climate type on the ratios of ao, a,. and k to their Standard Atmosphere values

Atmosphere El evati on, ao a 1

Type km a~
o g k*
O 0.1950 0.979 i.024
Tropical 1 0.945 0.986 1.013
2 0.970 0,986 1.024

0 0.974 0,986 1.024

Midlatitude 1 0.969 0.990 1.017
Summer 2 0.982 0.991 1.023

0 1.049 1.007 1.005

Midlatitude I 1.011 1.009 0.988
Winter
2 1.022 1.004 0.998

0 9.997 0.992 1.017

Subarctic 1 0.975 0.996 1.004
Summer
2 0.996 0.992 1.021

Table 4. Recommended correction factors to allow for climate type

Climate type rQ rI Pk
Z3 km 5 km
lisibllity Visibility

Tropical 0.95 0.92 0.98 1.02

Mid-latitude Summer 0.97 0.96 0.99 1.02
Subarctic Summer 0.99 0.98 0.99 1.01
Mid-latitude Winter 1.03 1.04 1.01 1.00

ro z aola~ ; r l ~ a11a~ ; r k z k/k*

determination, through use of eqn (3), of the transmit-
tance of the atmosphere for each of five climate types and
two haze models, with the sun at any zenith angle from 0
to 80 o and the receiver at any altitude from sea level to
2.5 kin. The difference between values so obtained and
those coming from a rigorous and time-consuming
integration throughout the solar spectrum is well within
the accuracy of primary data, as indicated by the
following: the use of eqn (3) to calculate f at 0 = 400 with
constants from Tables 2 and 4 produces results which have
average and maximum differences from the spectral
integration of 0.21 per cent and 0.42 per cent at sea level,
for all four climate types; 0.23 per cent and -0.43 per cent
at I km altitude; 0.58 per cent and -1.14 per cent at 2 km
altitude (0.4 per cent at sea level and air-mass 1.5 is
equivalent to an altitude error of only 19 m). Since the

026

I ~ 0 22 o /.
0.20

~018
~ 016
t/ ~ t
P 0~4

W-~ 0 [2
OtO

~oo8
c~006
OO4
OO2
0 I I i i ~ i I I
0 0 q 0.2 03 04 05 06 ~ 017 018 09 I0
(Daily direct)/(Extraterrestriul), (H-D or t Y - D ) / H o

Fig.5. Relation of (daily diffuse radiation)/(extraterrestrial radiation H,) to (daily direct radiation, H-
D)/(extraterrestrialradiation Ho). Also, relation between monthly-average values of the above, designated by
overbars (adapted from Liu and Jordan[7]). Adaptation of Liu and Jordan's recommendation for estimating diffuse
radiation. H,Dailytotal rad'n on horiz, surface; D,Dailydiffuse rad'n on horiz, surface: H,, Extraterrestrial rad'n on
horiz, surface. Overbars indicate monthly-average values.
134 H.C. HOTTEL

solar constant itself is not claimed to be known with an
error of less than 1.5 per cent, and pyrheliometric
measurements are reliable to about one per cent, it is clear
that the black-plus-gray-plus-clear-gas model is an ade-
quate representation of clear-sky transmittance.
Although it is not the object of this paper to indicate
how best to use estimates of clear-sky transmittance,
some comments are in order on diffuse radiation. Liu and
Jordan [7] have shown the existence of a relation between
the daily diffuse radiation D and the daily total radiation
H on a horizontal surface, both expressed as fractions of
the daily extraterrestrial radiation H. By generalizing the
distribution of daily total around its mean value for a
month, they also established a relation between the
monthly-average D, called/9 and expressed as a fraction
of Ho, and the monthly-average H, called /4 and
expressed as a fraction of/4,,. From these relations D/Ho
can be expressed as a function of (daily direct,
H-D)/(daily extraterrestrial, Ho), analogous to the
transmittance ~" of this paper; D/Ho, the monthly-average
fractional diffuse radiation, can similarly be expressed as
a function of (/4 - D)/Ho, the monthly-average fractional
direct transmittance. These curves appear in Fig. 4. Other
useful relations are those for determining the distribution,
throughout the hours of the day, of the daily total of total
radiation[8] and of diffuse radiation[7] on a horizontal
surface.
Time has not permitted examination of the relation
between cloudiness or per cent sunshine and the direct
transmittance values calculated by the method developed
in the present paper. If such a relation were established,
Fig. 5 and Tables 2 and 4 of the present paper would
permit generation of a model of solar incidence as a
function of climate type, cloudiness or per cent sunshine,
and altitude, for any latitude and season. There would be
merit in expressing the performance of solar-conversion
devices in terms of such a model of solar input.
Acknowledgements--Thanks are due Mr. D. J. Conklin for ~be
computations of Table 1, and to Dr. A. F. Sarofim for alway~
stimulating discussions.
REFERENCES
1. J. A. Duffle and W. A. Beckman, Solar Energy Thermal
Processes, pp. 29-53. Wiley, New York (1974).
2. R. A. McClatchey, R. W. Fenn, J. E. A. Selby, F. E. Volz and J.
S. Garing, Optical properties of the atmosphere (Third Edition).
Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, AFCRL-72-0497,
Environmental Research Paper No. 411 (1972).
3. T. L. Altschuler, Infrared transmission and background
radiation by clear atmospheres. G. E. Report 61SD 199,
AD401923 (1961).
4. J. E. Selby and R. M. McClatchey, Atmospheric transmittance
from 0.25 to 28.5 ,o.m: computer code LOWTRAN-2. Air
Force Cambridge Research Laboratories, AFCRL-72-0745,
Environmental Research paper No. 427 (29 Dec. 1972).
5. M. P. Thekaekara, Solar energy outside the earth's atmosphere.
Solar Energy 14 (2), 109 (1973).
6. H. C. Hottel and A. F. Sarofim, Radiative Transfer, pp.
247-252. McGraw-Hill, New York (1967).
7. B. V. H. Liu and R. C. Jordan, Solar Energy 4, 1 (1960).
8. H. C. Hottel and A. Whillier, Trans. Conf. on Use of Solar
Energy: The Scientific Basis, II, Pt. I, Sec. A, pp. 74--104 (1955).

Resumen--La transmitancia r de todas las longitudes de onda en dias claros de radiaci6n solar a trav6s de la atm6sfera
standard de 1962 hacia la superficie a la altitud a estfi basada en un modelo simple de mezcla gris-gas (I negro, 1 gris, 1
claro) con un error m~iximo de 0,4%. Esta relaci6n es:

z = ao+a~ e -k/c°s z

donde z es el ~ingulo zenital del sol. Las constantes ao, a, y k son funciones solo de la altitud y de la turbiedad del
modelo (rango de visibilidad). Modificando las 3 constantes seg~n fndices que dependen solamente del tipo de clima
(tropical, verano e invierno en latitudes medias, y verano sub-artico) y que varfan entre 0,92 y 1,04 sin depender de la
altitud ni de la turbiedad, se tiene en cuenta el efecto de cuatro tipos distintos de clima. Este modelo simple podr/a ser
capaz, combinS.ndolo con registros de heliofanfa o nubosidad y generalizaciones que cubran la radiaci6n difusa, de
predecir la insolaci6n para su uso en optimizaci6n de disefios.

R6sum6--La ransmittance d'une atmosphere standard 1962, pour le rayonnement solaire de toutes longueurs d'onde
parvenant par jour clair sur une surface ~ ?altitude A, est trouvd correspondre ~, un module simple de m61ange de gaz
gris (1 noir, I gris, 1 clair) avec une erreur maximum de 0,4%. La relation est:

,r = a o + a l e k/cosz

ofl zest l'angle z6nithal du soleil. Les constantes ao, a~ et k, sont seulement fonction de l'altitude et du mod/~lede brume
(domaine de visibilitd) On tient compte de l'effet de quatre climats types (tropical, 6t~ et hiver en latitude moyenne, dtd
subartique) en modifiant les trois constantes par des rapports qui d6pendent seulement du type de climat (et non de
l'altitude et du mod61e de brume) et qui se situent entre 0,92 et 1,04. Ce mod61e simple devrait 6tre susceptible d'6tre
combing avec les enregistrements d'ensoleillement et de ndbulosit6, ainsi qu'avec des gdn6ralisations comportant le
rayonnement diffus, pour permettre des pr6dictions d'ensoleillement utilisables dans l'optimisation des concepts.