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This study deals with the evaluation of the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model’s parameterization schemes when used for global horizontal irradiation (GHI) forecasts, to assess the feasibility of solar energy utilization. The study area is the southeastern Anatolia (SEA) region of Turkey, with favorable weather conditions for solar energy generation. The results indicate that the values in the hourly output of GHI in the model were overestimated for all configurations at all stations compared to observations. The relative mean bias error values at five stations for all configurations vary between 10-21% for clear-sky and 17-30% for partly-cloudy conditions. Similarly, the relative RMSE values at the five stations vary between 20-39% for clear sky and 41-70% for partly-cloudy conditions. However, there are noticeable differences among the various configurations of the WRF parameterizations.

The present study is concerned with the total ozone variation in Ankara, Turkey (39 degrees 57' N;32 degrees 53 E) and developing a total ozone prediction model by Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and single-site aerological data (1984-2006). The daily averages of the total column ozone over Ankara show a seasonal variation, with larger values in spring/winter and lower in autumn/summer and a large day-to-day variability. In this study, in order to forecast the total column ozone over Ankara, a multi-linear regression equation was performed. Predictors are selected by stepwise regression method. The ozone value on the previous day, temperature at the 100 hPa pressure level, previous day's temperature for the 700 hPa pressure level and temperature difference for 50 hPa and 500 hPa are the most important predictors. The success of monthly prognostic total column ozone models built up for Ankara is tested by using Brewer MK III Spectrophotometer data and satellite (OMI) data with the upper-air data in 2007. The Brewer MKIII has been in operation since November 2006 in Ankara. The ground-based one-year data show good agreement with the satellite OMI data.