Specifications

TEAM Climate Monitoring Protocol 3.0
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4.2 Level 1 Siting
Ideally, and to fulfill the requirements of the global solar radiation sensor, the climate station
should be located in a clearing that is large enough to allow for a nearly complete view of the sky
dome; no obstacles above 5 degrees from the horizon should obstruct the view of the sky, since
incident and diffuse radiation above 5 degrees are not negligible. To fulfill this requirement, the
distance to an obstacle of height H should be H/tan(5*2 ! / 360). For example, if the climate
station is in a clearing and the forest at the edge of the clearing is 25 m high, then the station
should be at least 285 m away from the forest edge which would require a clearing at least of 570
m in diameter (assuming the forest around it is more less uniform in height and there is no local
topography).
This requirement is unattainable in most tropical forest areas, not only because clearings of this
size are not often available, but also because of topographic features. Local mountains and hills
will usually preclude the view of the sky no matter how big the size of the clearing. Unless the
site is located in a flat area and a large clearing is available, the climate station should be sited
using the process described in Level 2 Siting (see next section).