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（公法111-5）资助的。这个项目，建立和测试一个经济实惠的太阳辐照度传感和跟踪系统（ASSIST），提出了一个分层结构，其中少量昂贵和高度校准的天文台得到大量廉价但未经校准的ASSIST节点的补充。ASSIST节点将经济独立的无线全球辐射传感器与新的圆顶传感器集成在一起，避免了昂贵的移动部件和自动太阳跟踪器（ast）， ASSIST节点应该适应无线通信信道的变化，以及集成中许多节点可能出现的故障。这项工作针对的是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，即缺乏地面太阳辐照度（直接正常辐照度和全球辐照度）的可靠数据。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（热太阳能集热器和光伏太阳能集热器工作的地方）的太阳辐照度在很大程度上取决于局部和复杂的大气条件。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实现的时空分辨率观察环境系统。传感器系统与“智能”网络相结合的愿景，通过总体网络基础设施与可视化工具相结合，为世界各地积极参与太阳辐照度监测的学科所共享，并且当此类系统在天文台工作之前开发出来时，很可能实现。该系统在加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观测站相结合。ASSIST旨在作为一个模型传感器和信息技术系统，用于直接和定量地观测云层覆盖、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用性降低到到达高层大气的太阳辐照度的一小部分。从运营的角度来看，电网供需高峰的平衡需要详细考虑太阳能的可用性，因为美国采用了更可再生的能源利用方式。因此，对可用日照量的预测使信息技术能够成功实施包括电网供电在内的任何政策。吸引学生和研究人员，这个端到端传感器系统支持太阳系科学的天文台尺度科学，为少数民族服务的大学提供了一个具有良好特征的、科学驱动的设计试验台。更广泛的影响：该项目使工程师和科学家能够在目前不可用的空间和时间尺度上量化DNI数据。这项工作开发的分布式仪器是自配置的，不需要昂贵和难以维护的移动部件，并且比目前的太阳观测技术仪器便宜得多。该系统将用于学生体验；它提供了访问重要数据的途径；它的发现可能会被其他天文台采纳。除了对环境、计算机科学、电气和机械研究和教育指令产生预期的重大影响外，该项目还为少数民族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.