MRI: Development of ASSIST: Affordable System for Solar Irrdiance and Tracking

该奖项是根据2009年《美国复苏和再投资法案》(Public Law 111-5)资助的。该项目旨在构建和测试负担得起的太阳辐射传感和跟踪系统(ASSITE)，提出了一种分层架构，其中少量昂贵且高度校准的观测站将得到大量廉价但未校准的ASSY节点的支持。将经济实惠的独立式无线全球辐照度传感器与新型穹顶传感器相结合，避免了昂贵的移动部件和自动太阳跟踪器(AST)，辅助节点应该适应无线通信信道的变幻莫测，以及集成中许多节点可能出现的故障。这项工作解决了在制定促进和利用现有太阳能技术的政策方面的一个主要障碍，即缺乏可靠的地面太阳辐照度数据(直接正常辐照度和全球辐照度)。尽管到达大气层外层的辐射定义明确且易于计算，但到达地面(热能和光伏太阳能集热器工作的地方)的太阳辐射很大程度上取决于局部性和复杂的大气条件。因此，分布式、嵌入式环境传感器系统现在使科学家和工程师能够以以前无法达到的时空分辨率来观察环境系统。世界各地积极从事太阳辐射监测的学科都有这样的设想，即传感器系统与“智能”网络相结合，通过一个重要的网络基础设施与可视化工具相结合，当这类系统在天文台工作之前开发出来时，这一愿景很可能就会实现。该系统在加利福尼亚州中央山谷的中心开发和测试，与已经部署的具有良好特征的基础设施丰富的太阳天文台相结合。ASVISE的目的是作为一个模型传感器和信息技术系统，直接和定量地观测云层、气溶胶含量以及低层大气(水蒸气、二氧化碳)和平流层(臭氧)中参与气体的存在的影响，所有这些都可以将地面直接隔离的可能性减少到到达高层大气的太阳辐射的一小部分。从运营的角度来看，随着美国采用更可再生的能源利用模式，电网供需高峰的平衡需要详细考虑太阳能的可用性。因此，预测可用日照使信息技术能够为任何政策的成功提供包括电网电力在内的信息技术。这个端到端传感器系统吸引了学生和研究人员，支持太阳系科学中的天文台尺度科学，在少数人服务的大学中提供了一个特点良好、以科学为导向的设计试验台。广泛的影响：该项目使工程师和科学家能够在目前无法获得的空间和时间尺度上量化DNI数据。这项工作开发了可自我配置的分布式仪器，不需要昂贵和难以维护的移动部件，而且在太阳观测技术方面明显低于目前的仪器。该系统将用于学生体验；它提供访问重要数据的途径；其结果可能被其他天文台采用。除了预期对环境、计算机科学、电气和机械研究和教育指令的重大影响外，该项目还为一家少数族裔服务机构的学生提供服务。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This project, building and testing an Affordable System for Solar Irradiance Sensing and Tracking (ASSIST), proposes a tiered-architecture where a small number of expensive and highly calibrated observatories get complimented by a larger number of inexpensive, but uncalibrated, ASSIST nodes. Integrating economic stand alone wireless global irradiance sensors with a new dome sensor that avoids having costly moving parts and automatic solar trackers (ASTs), ASSIST nodes should adapt to the vagaries of wireless communication channel, as well as possible failures of many nodes in the ensemble. The work responds to a major obstacle in developing policies that promote and take advantage of existing solar technologies, that of lack of reliable data for ground solar irradiance (direct normal and global irradiance). Despite well-defined and easily calculated radiation reaching outer layers of the atmosphere, solar irradiance reaching ground level (where thermal and photovoltaic solar collectors operate) depends strongly on localized and complex atmospheric conditions. Hence, distributed, embedded environmental sensor systems now enable scientists and engineers to observe environmental systems with previously unattainable spatio-temporal resolution. The vision of sensor systems coupled with 'smart' networking, integrated with visualization tools by an overarching cyberinfrastructure is shared by disciplines actively engaged in solar irradiance monitoring all over the world, and is likely to be realized when such systems are developed ahead of the observatory efforts. The system, developed and tested in the heart of California's Central Valley, is coupled with well-characterized infrastructure-rich solar observatories already deployed. ASSIST aims to serve as a model sensor and information technology system for directly and quantitatively observing the effects of cloud cover, aerosol content, and the presence of participating gases in the lower atmosphere (water vapor, carbon dioxide) and in the stratosphere (ozone), all of which can reduce the availability of direct isolation at ground level to a small fraction of the solar irradiance that reaches the upper atmosphere. From the operational standpoint, the balancing of supply and demand peaks in the electrical grid requires detailed consideration of the availability of solar power as US embraces a more renewable profile of energy utilization. Thus, forecasting the available insolation enables information technology for the success of any policy to include power to the power grid. Engaging students and researchers, this end-to-end sensor system supporting the observatory scale science in solar systems science provides a well-characterized, science-driven design test-bed in a minority-serving universityBroader Impacts: This project enables engineers and scientists to quantify DNI data at spatial and temporal scales currently unavailable. The work develops distributed instruments that are self-configurable, without the need of expensive and difficult-to-maintain mobile parts, and significantly less expensive than current instruments in solar observation technology. The system will be utilized for student experiences; it provides access to important data; and its findings may be adopted by other observatories. In addition to an expected major impact on environmental, CS, electrical, and mechanical research and education directives, the project services student in a minority-serving institution.