Theor. Appl. Climatol.
37,150-157 (1986)
Department of Meteorology and Climatology, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Greece
A Study of the Daily and Hourly Change of Sunshine Duration Values
on Crete island
A. A. Bloutsos and P. J. Pennas
With 3 Figures
Received February 23, 1985
Revised March 12, 1986
Summary
In this paper the daily and hourly values of sunshine
duration, as well as the spells of virtually sunless days
(daily sunshine duration ~< 3.0 hrs) in Crete island are
examined for the decade 1971-1980, which has been
chosen for homogeneity of the existing observations.
We have found that the sunshine duration at mete-
orological stations on the south side of Crete island
exceeds the sunshine duration at the meteorological
stations located on the north side of the island, which
is attributed to the combination of Crete's relief and the
prevalence of the north winds. We have also found that
the sunshine duration measured at the meteorological
stations on the east side of the island during the cold
period of the year (October-March) exceeds the sun-
shine measured at the meteorological stations on the
west side. This excess is attributed to the influence of
the moving cyclones of the Mediterranean Sea especially
during this season.
We also believe that the moving cyclones are re-
sponsible for the same picture which appears when
we study the virtually sunless spells with 1,2 or three
consecutive days at all the examined meteorological
stations, while virtually sunless spells with more than
3 days show a concentration on meteorological stations
on the north side of the island which is caused by the
ground relief and the north-blowing winds.
Finally, we found that virtually sunless spells follow
a modified G. Polya distribution which, using the X2 -test,
gives a very good fit at the 95% confidence level.
Theoretical
and Ap.plied
Climatoiogy
© by Springer-Verlag 1986
551.521.11(495)
Zusammenfassung
Eine Studie der t~lichen und stiindlichen ~aderung der
Sonnenscheindauer auf Kreta
Es werden die t~igliche und sttindliche Sonnenschein-
dauer sowie Tage mit kurzer Besonnung (t~igliche Son-
nenscheiffdauer ~< 3,0 Stunden) auf Kreta fOr die Dekade
1971-1980, die aufgrund der Homogenitat tier Beob-
achtungen ausgew~ihlt wurde, untersucht.
Die Sonnenscheindauer auf der Stidseite der Insel
iibersteigt die auf der Nordseite, was auf das Relief
Kretas und die vorherrschenden Nordwinde zurtick-
gefiilart wird. In der kalten Jahreszeit (Oktober bis
M~irz) tibersteigt die Sonnenscheindauer im Osten die
im Westen. Dieser Unterschied dtirfte auf den zu dieser
Zeit starken Einfluf~ der wandernden Zyklonen im
Mittelmeer zurtickzufiihren sein.
Es wird vermutet, dat~ das vermehrte Auftreten
von ein bis drei aufeinanderfolgenden, praktisch sonnen-
freien Tagen im Westen auf die gleiche Ursache zuriick-
zufiihren ist, w~ihrend mehr als drei sonnenfreie Tage
konzentriert im Norden auftreten, wohl wegen des
Reliefs und des Nordwinds.
SchlieNich wird gezeigt, dat~ die praktisch sonnen-
freien Tage elner modifzierten Polya-Verteilung folgen.
Ein X2-Test ergibt eine gute Obereinstimmung mit
einem 95% Konfidenzintervall.
1. Introduction
Diffuse and direct incident solar radiation plays
an i m p o r t a n t role in controlling the air tern-
 Daily and Hourly Change of Sunshine Duration Values on Crete Island
2 4" oo'
q 3~'06
Fig. 1. Map of Crete showingthe relief
perature of the environment in which human
activity is present and helps in the growth of
animals and plants, which are also very im-
portant factors in ecological equilibrium.
Greece is characterized on the one hand by
a large dispersion of islands in the Aegean Sea
in an area twice large as more than continental
Greece and a lack of fossil fuels on the other, so
the use of solar energy will help us to solve vital
energy problems. Thus, the necessity of knowl-
edge, on a climatological basis, o f the available
solar energy is very clear.
Unfortunately, the majority of existing
meteorological stations do n o t measure solar
radiation. Thus we try to estimate the incoming
solar energy using indirect methods and such a
method, possibly the most convenient, is to use
the sunshine duration in our calculations. For
this purpose many other scientists have also
worked on this topic, among whom we must
refer to Macris (1976), Karapiperis etal. (1974),
Flocas (1980), Helmes and Jaenicke (1984).
From the whole Greek area we have chosen
to study the sunshine duration on Crete island
because, in our opinion , it fulfills the following
requirements:
(a) It is the most southern and the largest
island of the Creek territory and also one of
the largest islands in the Mediterranean area.
(b) The people on this island have mainly
agricultural jobs and specialize in the production
of early season vegetables.
(c) Crete is o n e of the most well-developed
Greek tourist areas.
(d) Last but not least, Crete is covered by a
satisfactory network of meteorological stations
151
25" oo' 26"00'
36"00"
35"30"
_ 35o00 '
ilMBAK~ON~___,~ A P ETRA
measuring the sunshine duration using the same
instrument (Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder).
The locations of these meteorological stations
are shown on the map of Crete in Fig. 1.
2. Data and Method
The data on which this paper is based have
been gathered from the archives of the National
Meteorological Service (EMY) for the six mete-
orological stations of the island which contain
records for the hourly sunshine duration for
every day. The sunshine duration at all the
meteorological stations is measured using
Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorders (WMO 1971)
which measure sunshine duration with an error
of -+5 min. Obstructions which could cause
errors in the measurement of sunshine duration
are negligible at all the examined meteorological
stations. The time period between 1971-1980
will be examined because of the completeness
of data during this time.
The daily sunshine duration is grouped into
6 classes, 0.0, 0.1-3.0, 3.1-6.0, 6.1-9.0,
9.1 - 12.0 and > 12.1 hrs per day. In this work
we study the annual distribution of the mean
hourly values for each time interval and also
the mean monthly values for every meteo-
orological station separately. Moreover, when
we consider as "sunless" those days for which
the daily sunshine duration does not exceed
3.0 hrs, we calculate the number of 1, 2, 3 , . . .
consecutive sunless days for the cold period
of the year, i.e. October, November, December
of one year and January, February and March
152 A.A. Bloutsos and P. J. Pennas

Table 1. Geographical Coordinates of the Meteorologieal Stations o f Crete Island and the Mean Daily Sunshine Duration
for Every Month and Corresponding Standard Deviation for the Period 1971-1980

Khania Suda Tymbakian Iraklion Ierapetra Sitia

= 35°30 ' ¢= 35°33 ' ~0= 35°04 ' ~o= 35020 ' ~o= 35°00 ' ~0= 35°12 '
X = 24°02 ' X = 24007 ' X = 24°45 ' X = 25°11' X = 25°45 ' X = 26006 '

M o M o M o M o M o M o

Jan (310) 3.41 3.07 3.61 3.12 4.69 2.79 3.68 2.94 5.10 2.67 3.81 2~90
Feb (283) 3.98 3.32 4.08 3.36 5.24 3.26 4.17 3.32 5.65 2.99 4.47 3.23
Mar (310) 5.93 3.53 6.03 3.63 6.88 3.15 6.02 3.46 6.71 3.00 6.23 3.27
Apt (300) 7.49 3.92 7.63 3.94 7.81 3.65 7.47 3.90 7.62 3.64 7.26 3.92
May (310) 9.82 3.26 9.79 3.30 9.74 3.10 9.81 3.13 9.95 3.06 9.77 3.29
Jun (300) 11.98 1.80 11.78 1.96 11.60 1.86 11.86 1.97 12.09 1.73 11.86 1.83
Jul (310) 12.19 1.15 12.12 1.12 12.16 0.94 12.10 1.15 12.36 0.99 12.03 1.04
Aug (310) 11.41 1.22 11.44 1.31 11.63 1.54 11.14 1.28 11.90 0.78 10.90 1.05
Sep (300) 9.28 2.43 9.29 2.54 9.85 2.04 9.37 2.22 11.06 1.74 9.22 2.05
Oct (310) 6.02 3.53 6.35 3.50 7.31 2.94 6.22 3.40 7.65 2.79 6.42 3.13
Nov (300) 4.94 3.14 5.15 3.12 5.92 2.77 5.10 2.88 6.68 2155 5.37 2.78
Dec (310) 3.58 3.04 3.74 3.00 4.60 2.83 3.79 2.96 5.18 2.84 3.89 2.94
Annual(365.3)7.52 4.32 7.65 4.77 8.13 3.79 7.58 4.17 8.34 3.65 7.62 4.02

o f the following year for each meteorological next one, E ni is the total number o f the con-
station. For the winter 1970-1971 only the secutive days, S i = x - - 1, x = 1 , 2 , 3, . .
months January, February and March were The number o f the expected occurrence of
used while for the winter 1980-1981 only the an event among N trials is given b y the equation
months October,, November and December v = P'N.
were used.
We must also note here that for some spells The modified Polya m e t h o d gives the number o f
we calculate the number o f consecutive days spells o f consecutive days using the formulas
using either the last days of September or the 2 m e -m
first days o f April. N(1) = k N " m+d (1)
Finally we give a theoretical distribution for (l+d) a
the nearly sunless spells for each meteorological
•(rn + d)
station using a slightly modified Polya method N(2) = X N(1 ) (2)
4(1 + d)
(Arley et al. 1973) because we found that
Polya's m e t h o d does not fit well to empirical m+(x--1)d
N(x) = N(x 1),x=2,3,4,...(3)
data while the modified distribution, using the x(l +d)
X2-test, fits better at the 95% confidence level.
where k, X are empirical parameter. The fit o f
According to Polya's method the probability
theoretical to empirical data is tested by using
of having N ( x ) spells of x consecutive days is
the ordinary ×2-test.
given by the equation
Px = P x - 1 ( m + ( x - - 1 ) d ) / x (1 + d ) ,
3. Discussion
where Po = 1 / ( l + d ) m/a, m = ( N - - ~ n i ) / ~ n i
is the expected number o f days (mean), 02
= ( ~ n i s 2 / ~ , n i ) - - m 2 is the variance, N is the
3.1 General
total number o f days, d = (o 2/m) 1 is a pa- Table 1 gives the name o f the meteorological
rameter o f the influence Of an event on the station, its geographical coordinates, the mean
 Daily and Hourly Change of Sunshine Duration Values on Crete Island
daily sunshine duration values for every month
with the corresponding standard deviation as
well as the number of observations per month,
common to every meteorological station, for
the period 1971-1980. As we can see from the
above table or as has been mentioned by other
scientists, e.g. Pennas (1976), Crete island could
be divided, regarding the geographical distri-
bution of sunshine duration values, into two
individual parts using an axis from West to East
along the mountain crest (Fig. 1), i.e. into the
north part and the s o u t h one. Thus, on an
annual basis the excess in sunshine duration
values of the south side o f the island is about
300 hrs/year while on a monthly basis this
could rise up to 50 hrs/month. This difference
between the two sides of the island is attri-
buted to the more fregment formation of clouds
on the slopes of the mountains exposed to the
north winds, due to the forced upward motion
of the prevalent north winds during the year in
this area (WMO ! 964).
But differences in sunshine duration values
are also apparent between the meteorological
stations of the same zone during the cold
months, in that the values for the meteoro-
logical stations located on the east edge of eacl~
zone exceed those located on the west side of
the same zone. The above differences during the
cold period are to be attributed, in our opinion,
more to the peculiarities of the atmospheric
circulation above the studied area, Machairas
(1983), Karoulias (1975) and less to the ground
relief.
In fact, during the cold period of the year,
cyclones of the Mediterranean Sea traverse this
area with a general direction from SW to NE
and as a result they influence first and more
strongly the west side o f thee island.
All t h e differences mentioned above are
statistically tested at the 95% confidence level
and found to be significant.
3.2 Study o f Hourly Values
The mean values of sunshine duration in units
of hours per month for each hour of the day
and for every month have been calculated from
our analytical records and are shown in Fig. 2
(a to f) where for every meteorological station
isolines of sunshine duration appear.
153
From Fig, 2 we can see that t h e sunshine
duration exceeds 30 hrs/month for every hour
interval from 08:00 to 16:00 L T (06:00 to
14:00 GMT) for July and A u g u s t .
Low sunshine duration values which are
apparent during the winter months, especially
in the morning and late afternoon hourly time
intervals are mainly attributed to the short
duration of the day. For the winter months,
the sunshine :duration for each hour interval
from 08:00 to 16:00 LT has such values that
often exceed 10 hrs/month.
The isoline of 25 hrs/month for each hour of
the day, which correspond to a value of more
than 80% of the maximum possible sunshine
duration, is between 08:00 to 16:00 LT during
the months from May to September for all the
examined meteorological stations, while for
the meteorological stations located on the east
side of the island, these isolines are extended
till October.
3.3 Daily Values
Grouping the 3653 daily sunshine duration
values for every meteorological station for the
decade 1971-1980 into six classes according to
the limits mentioned at the beginning of this
article, and calculating percentages of occur-
rence, we draw Fig. 3 (a to f). When we study
this figure we can see that, if we exclude the
completely sunless days and the days where the
sunshine duration is greater than 12 hrs/day,
there is not any sufficient difference between
the east and west side of the island.
But when we study only the completely sun-
less days (sunshine duration 0.0 hrs/day) we
can see that the percentage of their appearance
on the meteorological stations of the west side
is sometimes twice to three times greater than
the percentage for the meteorological stations
on the east side of the island.
3.4 Sunless Spells
Here we are going to examine the nearly sunless
spells only during the cold period of the year.
As a nearly sunless day we consider a day where
the sunshine duration does not exceed 3.0 hrs/
day. The total number of such days for any
meteorological station are about 25% of the
 154 A.A. Bloutsos and P. J. Pennas: Daily and Hourly Change of Sunshine Duration Values on crete Island

a b
hrsI . . . . . . . . . . . . hrs 1 . . . . . . . . . . .

,, -°\\\\, o..- ,.! -.:o.X.\-x\ k._) ;/'/o~

hrs/ ; : : : , , , , , , , i

I0, o o I

e d ~ ~, i ,~ J J ~ ~ 8 . ~ J / ~ i ~ ,I -I k ~"6 N~

hr: . . . . . . . . . . . . h!s f . . . . . .

Fig. 2. (a-f) Mean monthly sunshine duration (hrs) for each meteorological station
 a b
1

F F

i IJ:,~,>~,:~:,:~,~:,;.~l KHANIA ]
,;;~, :.'.~,,~7~b~:!'~ !~:7'/~.~"::i ~' ;3 ~' ~.7~:-,,7
. i
~' " '!~i:!'~':~.~x,':S'.'-,",~'~Ti,~:[~./~"); "~'~:,~ ~:~;"."V~
I: i/Af/llllllltlll.*l~ . (':.,t .~:,'-.~,,~'. ,;177 ~..;~ .,t:.' D:A~:. ,.t .- 4 :..~,~. ~-~,:~,:,:; ~D',';u

om ~ ~ ~ ' ; , ) ~ 7 ~ j
mm~)iii!,):7:~{i
){!i ii)~)))ii~: ~ ; ! 1
o ~!;:
o- io ~ loo;/o
C d

ii ~i !! ~ ,~ " i!. ,t~: x:( '~,-'. ~:.>.:: 7 "c~ )

o ~ii: /
0 20 60 100% 0 20 60 100%

e f
l)))iiiii!)i!)iiii)))i))))))i~!l
~! i "~ ~ ~ ~L~;~~,~ ' ~t~+"h.

I ~,~'. W. ,~ ~.~ "

7 "i' "> .")"c2f, r 7Y. L~'~

I 1 ~. ;:'D :, D:;:~,., ;:,~, x,, A,~,..I TIMBAKION] ~ ~{!ii~'7)i;~;l IERAPETR7A
B, ;, ;,~.s ,v, P,'~-'~'~ ~v :, v :,Z'l

IJ "..r/il/I/I/Ij[fT,.,,G, ~3~+i,~y<')/~'.:3',.::.'!-,~::L~,y
~ ..;7:.'..~:~i ~ 7' 7.~% ;tt~L,7..i'7 /

° 17 I ~ / ~ ;iil!:~71!}:i!'iTi;~i:i!;!i~il
o °

m 0,0 0.I-30
NNN
).I-60 6.1-9.0 g.l-12J) ~-1211
m
Fig. 3. (a-f) Percentage of occasions of daily sunshine totals for each meteorological station
156 A.A. Bloutsos and P. J. Pennas

Table 2. Observed and Expected Spells of Consecutive Actually Sunless Days (sunshine duration ~< 3.0 hr/day)as Well
as Coefficients and Chi-Square Value for Each Meteorological Station

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 K X Chi-square
value

Khania obs 150 53 29 14 14 9 4 2 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 1 1 1.5 0.333 16.263

exp 130 47 29 19 12 8 6 4 3 2 1 1 1 i 0 0 0
Suda obs 150 53 29 12 12 6 4 2 5 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 0 1.5 0.333 12.011
exp 140 50 30 19 13 8 6 4 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 .0
Iraklion obs 159 60 39 8 13 10 4 2 0 .1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1.5 0 . 3 3 3 32.076
exp 182 63 36 21 13 8 5 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Sitia obs 166 50 30 15 15 5 0 5 2 1 1 0.33 25.024
exp 135 46 25 14 8 5 3 2 1 1
Tymbakion obs 179 65 20 4 4 0 1 1 1 1 0.333 14.745
exp 198 51 22 10 4 2 1 0 0
Ierapetra obs 166 51 12 4 1 0.5 1 14.308
exp 134 70 17 4 1

total o f e x a m i n e d days o f the cold period of
the decade 1971-1980. The number o f nearly
sunless days f o r every meteorological station
with 1, 2, 3 etc. consecutive days are given in
Table 2.
As we can see from this table, the mete-
orological stations on the south side of Crete
island (Tymbakion and Ierapetra) do not have
more than one spell o f 9 consecutive nearly
sunless days while the meteorological stations
on the n o r t h side have at least one spell with
10 or more consecutive days, up to one spell
with l7 consecutive days.
Another difference between the east and
west side o f the island is also apparent in the
m a x i m u m number of consecutive sunless days
where longer and more spells are observed on
the west side. If we omit the spells with more
than 3 consecutive sunless days then all the
meteorological stations have an almost equal
number of spells and there is no difference
either between any o f the meteorological
stations.
We believe t h a t the uniform distribution of
the spells with one or two consecutive days is
to be attributed to a factor common to all the
meteorological stations and this factor we con-
sider to be the influence of moving cyclones
which over the examined area have a direction
from SW to NE.
On the other hand, the difference in the
number o f spells with more than 3 nearly sun-
less days can be attributed, we believe, to a
combination of the ground relief and the pre-
valence o f n o r t h winds.
Using the eqs. (1), (2) and (3) with appropri-
ate k and X coefficient values, given also in
Table 2, o f the modified Polya method, the
theoretical expected numbers o f spells for
meteorological stations are given again in Table 2,
while the goodness o f fit is tested using ×2-test
at the 95% CL. The results of the above test
show that the fit should be considered satis-
factory for all the meteorological stations
except Iraklion.
4. Conclusions
Concluding at this point what we have previous-
ly analytically discussed, we could say that to
study the sunshine duration, Crete island should
be divided into two parts: the n o r t h side which
is characterized by a shorter sunshine duration
on a daily, m o n t h l y or annual basis and also
with longer nearly sunless spells as compared to
the south side which is characterized by longer
sunshine duration, fewer and shorter spells
with sunless days.
 Daily and Hourly Change of Sunshine Duration Values on Crete Island
There could be a second division o f the island
in to the east and west if we consider the
m o n t h l y sunshine duration during the cold
-period ( O c t o b e r - M a r c h ) where the east part
o f the island exceeds that o f the west. This
difference between the two parts cannot be ob-
served either during the warm period or in an
annual comparison.
The primary reason for the difference o b -
served is the ground relief combined w i t h the
prevailing upslope. North winds, over the
northern part cause the formation o f clouds
while t h e same winds, having downslope charac-
teristics over the southern part help to dissolve
clouds.
Acknowledgement
The authors wish to thank Dr. Ch. Sahsamanoglou for
his very valuable suggestions on this work.
References
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M6thodes et pratiques, pp 136-138, 179
157
Flocas AA (1980) Estimation and prediction of global
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Karapiperis L, Katsoulis B, Papachristopoulos C (1974)
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Authors' address: Dr. A, Bloutsos and Dr. P. Pennas,
Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, Department of
Geology, Sect. Meteorology-Climatology, Thessaloniki
54006, Greece.