As part of WP3-NETWAT, in connection with Léo Clauzel’s PhD (Clauzel, L., 2024, PhD UGA), we compared the GHI simulated with three models (WRF-Only ; WRF-Solar ; WRF-CHIMERE) for the two dust events studied in Léo’s thesis (Bodélé ; Atlas-Bodélé, cf L. Clauzel’s thesis). This work follows recent work by Sawadogo et al (2023) for Ghana. This study was carried out as part of Lilian Renou’s internship (Renou, L., 2024).

Taking dust into account is thus becoming increasingly complex : WRF-Only, ERA5 forcing, without taking dust into account specifically ; ii) WRF-Solar, designed specifically for solar applications (Jimenez et al., 2016), takes into account the direct effects of aerosols on radiation ; WRF-Solar is forced by ERA5 and CAMS reanalysis to describe the presence of dust ; iii) WRF-CHIMERE, with the CHIMERE transport chemistry model, the aerosol life cycle (emission, transport, deposition) is here explicitly taken into account, limited to mineral dust.

On average, the performance of WRF-Solar (+CAMS) is comparable to that of WRF-CHIMERE (Figure 1), but there are significant differences when we examine the power generated at the Zagtouli power plant scale, taking into account simulated temperatures and GHIs (Figure 2).

Figure 1 : Point cloud density for cross-evaluation of GHI simulations with WRF-only (left), WRF-Solar (middle) and WRF-CHIMERE (right) for the Atlas-Bodélé event.

Figure 2 : Electrical power generated at the Zagtouli power plant for a) Dust case only (Bodélé case), b) Dust + cloud case (Atlas-Bodélé case) for different simulation configurations WRF-only (green), WRF-Solar (blue) and coupled WRF-CHIMERE model (red). Observations are shown in black.

• Clauzel, L., 2024, Contribution des poussières désertiques dans l’estimation de la ressource photovoltaïque en Afrique de l’Ouest lors de la saison sèche, Thèse de l’Université Grenoble Alpes, https://theses.hal.science/tel-04952447
• Jimenez, P.A., Hacker, J.P., Dudhia, J., Haupt, S.E., Ruiz-Arias, J.A., Gueymard, C.A., Thompson, G., Eidhammer, T., Deng, A., 2016. WRF-Solar : Description and Clear-Sky Assessment of an Augmented NWP Model for Solar Power Prediction. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 97, 1249–1264. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00279.1
• Renou, L., Les enjeux de l’électrification solaire en Afrique de l’Ouest. Prévision mé- téorologique avec prise en compte des poussières, 2024, Rapport de Projet de Fin d’Etudes, IMT Atlantique.
• Sawadogo, W., Fersch, B., Bliefernicht, J., Meilinger, S., Rummler, T., Salack, S., Guug, S., Kunstmann, H., 2024. Evaluation of the WRF-solar model for 72-hour ahead forecasts of global horizontal irradiance in West Africa : A case study for Ghana. Solar Energy 271, 112413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2024.112413

Updated on 26 mai 2025