Renewable Energy, Vol.34, No.3, 544-554, 2009
A software tool for the creation of a typical meteorological year
The generation of a typical meteorological year is of great importance for calculations concerning many applications in the field of thermal engineering. In this context, a method has been proposed by Hall et al. focusing on the generating of typical data, and improving the criterion for final selection of typical meteorological month (TMM). The final selection of the most representative year was done by examining a composite score S, which was calculated as the weighed sum of the scores for the four used meteorological parameters. These parameters were air dry-bulb temperature, relative humidity, wind velocity and global solar radiation intensity. This work reports a new modern software tool using Delphi 6.0 utilizing the Filkenstein-Schafer statistical method for the creation of a typical meteorological year for any site of concern. Whereas, an improved criterion for final selection of typical meteorological month was employed. Such tool allows the user to perform this task without an intimate knowledge of all of the computational details. Using this software tool, a typical meteorological year was generated for Damascus, capital of Syria, as a test run for example. The data processed used were obtained from the Department of Meteorology and cover a period of 10 years (1991-2000). (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.