summary: SciDoSol is a five year (2022-2027) sponsorship chair hosted by the Centre Observation, Impacts, Energy of MINES Paris – PSL, Sophia Antipolis, France. The objective of SciDoSol is to use data sciences for Earth Observation data to enhance the characterization, forecasting and exploitation of the solar resource within the context of the energy transition. As such, within the context of SciDoSol a high-quality solar monitoring station has been commissioned in 2024. This station has several objectives. Firstly, such data may be used to characterize the solar resource in Sophia Antipolis in the southeast of France. Secondly, it may be used to support the validation of satellite-based and numerical weather models. Thirdly, the station is used for showcasing solar measurement instrumentation for training and teaching purposes. Finally, the site is used to host the testing of new low-cost apparatus to monitor the downwelling solar resource. The station is a Tier 1 station, measuring the three components (global horizontal irradiance, beam normal irradiance, and diffuse horizontal irradiance) of the downwelling surface solar irradiance with separate instruments of high accuracy (Class A for the global and beam), provided at a temporal resolution of 1 min (the average of 60 second measurements).
