Measuring Insolation and Soil Temperature in the Rocky Mountains

Insolation, incoming solar radiation, is essential for life on Earth and is integral to physical, chemical, and biological processes in our world. Insolation has direct effects on water and energy balances and therefore indirectly affects evapotranspiration, photosynthesis, wind conditions, snow melt, as well as air and soil temperature. In this study the main focus was soil temperature. Pinde Fu and Paul M. Rich used digital elevation models (DEMs) and insolation models that accounted for a variety of variables including elevation, atmospheric conditions, and varied topography to create an insolation model for an area near the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Colorado. 

Digital Elevation Model for the study area

Most interpolation methods to this point are for use on broad scales such as country or continent, but a finer method for smaller areas is not as common. Variables such as elevation, surface orientation (slope), and vegetable cover end up creating a gradient of insolation that changes with the topography. Most methods of interpolating insolation require tremendous data input and computation which in turn require expensive and sophisticated software. Other methods tend to be inaccurate and don’t account for all the aforementioned variables. The goal of this study was to create high resolution temperature maps for the study area using a few measurements from high resolution insolation models. They used Solar Analyst to derive average solar conditions/insolation for the study area. They combined physical soil temperature data samples with their temperature model to calculate temperature gradients based on elevation, topography, and vegetation cover. The result was an accurate and high resolution temperature map of their study area. The temperature and insolation data have applications in both agriculture and forestry. Looking at and understanding the levels and distribution of inoslation over different topographies could be used to determine the best areas to plant crops or which areas of forest are at risk for fires.

 Finished soil temperature map

Fu, P., & Rich, P. M. (2002). A geometric solar radiation model with applications in agriculture and forestry. Computers and electronics in agriculture, 37(1), 25-35.