Validating surface downwelling solar irradiances estimated by the McClear model under cloud-free skies in the United Arab Emirates

•McClear, a physical model, uses inputs from MACC to estimate the solar irradiances.•We validate the solar irradiance estimates of McClear under cloud-free skies.•We compare MACC and AERONET AODs to understand the errors of McClear.•McClear performs notably better in DNI estimations when compared to...

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