Ground-based sky imaging and irradiance prediction system

An apparatus, comprising:

• an omnidirectional ultra-panoramic camera configured to be located at a ground-based mounting location and to provide images having a view of an entire sky located above the camera and a horizon-to-horizon view of ground and ground-based objects surrounding the camera;
• a processor configured to execute one or more processes;
• and
• a memory configured to store a process, the process, when executed by the processor, operable to:
• obtain, from the omnidirectional ultra-panoramic camera, an image having a view of an entire sky located above the camera and a horizon-to-horizon view of ground and ground-based objects surrounding the camera;
• calibrate a relationship between locations of pixels of the image and real-world three-dimensional coordinates based on known intrinsic properties of the camera and determined extrinsic position and orientation properties of the camera according to matching the horizon-to-horizon view of ground and ground-based objects surrounding the camera to known ground-based control points and a digital elevation model associated with the ground-based mounting location;
• identify pixels within the image that contain clouds;
• georegister the clouds to real-world three-dimensional coordinates according to the calibrating;
• estimate an attenuation level of the clouds;
• generate a solar irradiance map based on the georegistration of the clouds, a position of the sun, and estimated attenuation level of the clouds, the solar irradiance map indicating an estimation of solar irradiance to reach an area of ground surrounding the camera;
• determine motion of the clouds;
• predict a future georegistration of the clouds for a given time in the future based on the motion of the clouds;
• and
• generate a forecast solar irradiance map based on the predicted future georegistration of the clouds, a future position of the sun, and the estimated attenuation level of the clouds, the forecast solar irradiance map indicating a forecast estimation of solar irradiance to reach an area of ground surrounding the camera at the given time in the future.

A tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing program instructions that cause a computer to execute a process executable by a processor, the process comprising:

• obtaining, from an omnidirectional ultra-panoramic camera located at a ground-based mounting location, an image having a view of an entire sky located above the camera and a horizon-to-horizon view of ground and ground-based objects surrounding the camera;
• calibrating a relationship between locations of pixels of the image and real-world three-dimensional coordinates based on known intrinsic properties of the camera and determined extrinsic position and orientation properties of the camera according to matching the horizon-to-horizon view of ground and ground-based objects surrounding the camera to known ground-based control points and a digital elevation model associated with the ground-based mounting location;
• identifying pixels within the image that contain clouds;
• georegistering the clouds to real-world three-dimensional coordinates according to the calibrating;
• estimating an attenuation level of the clouds;
• generating a solar irradiance map based on the georegistration of the clouds, a position of the sun, and estimated attenuation level of the clouds, the solar irradiance map indicating an estimation of solar irradiance to reach an area of ground surrounding the camera;
• determining motion of the clouds;
• predicting a future georegistration of the clouds for a given time in the future based on the motion of the clouds;
• and
• generating a forecast solar irradiance map based on the predicted future georegistration of the clouds, a future position of the sun, and the estimated attenuation level of the clouds, the forecast solar irradiance map indicating a forecast estimation of solar irradiance to reach an area of ground surrounding the camera at the given time in the future.