Abstract
Net Radiation ($R_N$) is the major driving force for biophysical and biogeochemical processes in the terrestrial ecosystems, which is one of the most critical variables in both measurement and modeling. Despite its importance, there are only 10 weather stations conducting $R_N$ measurements among the 544 stations operated by Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA; KMA, 2008). The measurement of incoming shortwave radiation ($R_S{\downarrow}$) is, however, conducted at 22 stations while that of sunshine duration is conducted at all the manned stations. In this context, the recent research for estimating $R_N$ using $R_S{\downarrow}$ in Korean peninsula by Kwon (2009) is of great worth. The author used a linear regression and the radiation balance methods. We generally agree with the author that, in terms of simplicity and practicality, both methods show reliable applicability for estimating $R_N$. We noted, however, that the author's experimental method and analysis need some clarification and improvement, that are addressed in the following perspectives: (1) the use of daily integrated data for regression, (2) the use of measured albedo, (3) the use of linear coefficients for whole year data, (4) methodological improvement, (5) the use of sunshine duration, and (6) the error assessment.
