Surface Solar Energy (SSE) Monthly Data in ASCII

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Unknown

Publication_Date: Unknown

Title: Surface Solar Energy (SSE) Monthly Data in ASCII

Description:

Abstract:

This is Version 1.0 of a satellite-derived surface solar energy data set formulated for the Renewable Energy Industry. It contains 52 monthly-averaged parameters, specified by the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which are useful in the application of solar energy technologies. The Surface Solar Energy (SSE) data set was created by the NASA Langley Research Center and Analytical Services and Materials, Inc. under sponsorship of the NASA Mission to Planet Earth program. This SSE data set is a synthesis of the World Climate Research Program/Surface Radiation Budget (WCRP/SRB) shortwave data set (Version 1.1), ISCCP-C1 (International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project) 3-hourly satellite data, and ISCCP-C2 monthly mean cloud fraction data. ISCCP provides global coverage of satellite data on an equal-area grid (6596 cells). Each cell represents an area equal to that of a 2.5 degree latitude/longitude cell at the equator (approximately 280 square km). Comparison with data from approximately 500 ground sites suggest that the satellite-derived values are generally within 10 percent of surface measured values for most regions of the world. However, there are two notable exceptions. 1. These Version 1.0 values may be as much as 30 percent high in regions of large-scale biomass burning in those months when total precipitation is less than 24mm. These regions are mostly in Africa and South America; however, other parts of the world may be affected to a lesser degree. The error is caused by the fact that the Version 1.1 WCRP/SRB data set did not account for high levels of smoke in the atmospheric aerosols. The full extent of biomass burning and its effect on surface solar energy is not yet known by the scientific community. Efforts are underway at NASA Langley Research Center to correct this problem. It is planned that a Version 2.0 SSE global data set will be available during 1998 which accounts for the majority of the effects of biomass burning. 2. These Version 1.0 values may be as much as 40 percent low over bare snow or ice surfaces. The problem is caused by the fact that the ISCCP C2 data cannot separate clouds from bare snow or ice because of the satellite channels that were used in that product. Comparisons with ground site data suggest that errors are within 10 percent for those snow regions with significant vegetation or topography to cause dark contrast or shadows. Again, it is expected that the future version of this SSE data set will contain more accurate values over snow and ice. The following parameters will be included for each cell for each of the 12 months. The values for each month will be either the average, minimum, or maximum over the existing SRB data set 4-year period (3 years for January and February). The convention that is used is the following: total irradiance = direct irradiance + diffuse irradiance. 1. CELL NUMBER, [1 - 6596]. UNITS - dimensionless 2. CELL CENTER, LATITUDE [+90N, -90S]. UNITS - decimal degrees 3. CELL CENTER, LONGITUDE [0E - 360E]. UNITS - decimal degrees 4. CELL BOUNDARIES, LATITUDE [+90N, -90S]. UNITS - decimal degrees 5. CELL BOUNDARIES, LONGITUDE [0E - 360E]. UNITS - decimal degrees 6. AVERAGE TOP-OF-ATMOSPHERE DOWN. UNITS - kwhm-2 per 24h day 7. AVERAGE TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN. UNITS - kwhm-2 per 24h day 8. MINIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN. UNITS - kwhm-2 per 24h day 9. MAXIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN. UNITS - kwhm-2 per 24h day 10. AVERAGE AEROSOL OPTICAL DEPTH. UNITS - dimensionless 11. AVERAGE TOTAL COLUMN PRECIPITABLE WATER. UNITS - cm 12. AVERAGE NEAR SURFACE PRECIPITABLE WATER. UNITS - cm 13. AVERAGE NEAR SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE. UNITS - deg k 14. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD FRACTION. UNITS - dimensionless 15. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH. UNITS - dimensionless 16. AVERAGE TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN @ 0 Z. UNITS - wm-2 17. AVERAGE TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN @ 3 Z. UNITS - wm-2 18. AVERAGE TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN @ 6 Z. UNITS - wm-2 19. AVERAGE TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN @ 9 Z. UNITS - wm-2 20. AVERAGE TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN @ 12 Z. UNITS - wm-2 21. AVERAGE TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN @ 15 Z. UNITS - wm-2 22. AVERAGE TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN @ 18 Z. UNITS - wm-2 23. AVERAGE TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN @ 21 Z. UNITS - wm-2 24. AVERAGE SOLAR ZENITH ANGLE COSINE @ 0 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 25. AVERAGE SOLAR ZENITH ANGLE COSINE @ 3 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 26. AVERAGE SOLAR ZENITH ANGLE COSINE @ 6 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 27. AVERAGE SOLAR ZENITH ANGLE COSINE @ 9 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 28. AVERAGE SOLAR ZENITH ANGLE COSINE @ 12 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 29. AVERAGE SOLAR ZENITH ANGLE COSINE @ 15 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 30. AVERAGE SOLAR ZENITH ANGLE COSINE @ 18 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 31. AVERAGE SOLAR ZENITH ANGLE COSINE @ 21 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 32. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD FRACTION @ 0 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 33. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD FRACTION @ 3 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 34. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD FRACTION @ 6 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 35. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD FRACTION @ 9 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 36. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD FRACTION @ 12 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 37. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD FRACTION @ 15 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 38. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD FRACTION @ 18 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 39. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD FRACTION @ 21 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 40. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH @ 0 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 41. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH @ 3 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 42. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH @ 6 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 43. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH @ 9 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 44. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH @ 12 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 45. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH @ 15 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 46. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH @ 18 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 47. AVERAGE DAYLIGHT CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH @ 21 Z. UNITS - dimensionless 48. MINIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER ONE 24H DAY. UNITS - kwh/m**2 49. MINIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER 3 DAYS. UNITS - kwh/m**2 50. MINIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER 7 DAYS. UNITS - kwh/m**2 51. MINIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER 14 DAYS. UNITS - kwh/m**2 52. MINIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER 21 DAYS. UNITS - kwh/m**2 53. MAXIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER ONE 24H DAY. UNITS - kwh/m**2 54. MAXIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER 3 DAYS. UNITS - kwh/m**2 55. MAXIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER 7 DAYS. UNITS - kwh/m**2 56. MAXIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER 14 DAYS. UNITS - kwh/m**2 57. MAXIMUM TOTAL HORIZONTAL-SURFACE DOWN OVER 21 DAYS. UNITS - kwh/m**2

Purpose:

Not Available

Supplemental_Information:

Not Available

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 19850301

Ending_Date: 19881231

Currentness_Reference:Unknown

Status:

Progress: Complete

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: -180.0

East_Bounding_Coordinate: 180.0

North_Bounding_Coordinate: 90.0

South_Bounding_Coordinate: -90.0

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD SCIENCE PARAMETERS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD PLATFORM

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD INSTRUMENT

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: PROJECT

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ANCILLARY KEYWORDS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO TOPIC CATEGORY

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE > SURFACE AIR TEMPERATURE

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WATER VAPOR > PRECIPITABLE WATER

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > CLOUDS > CLOUD PROPERTIES > CLOUD FREQUENCY

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > CLOUDS > CLOUD MICROPHYSICS > CLOUD OPTICAL DEPTH/THICKNESS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC RADIATION > SHORTWAVE RADIATION

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > SPECTRAL/ENGINEERING > PLATFORM CHARACTERISTICS > VIEWING GEOMETRY > SOLAR ZENITH ANGLE

Theme_Keyword: GMS-3 > GEOSTATIONARY METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE-3

Theme_Keyword: GOES-6 > GEOSTATIONARY OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE 6

Theme_Keyword: GOES-7 > GEOSTATIONARY OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL SATELLITE 7

Theme_Keyword: METEOSAT-2

Theme_Keyword: METEOSAT-3

Theme_Keyword: NOAA-10 > NATIONAL OCEANIC & ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION-10

Theme_Keyword: NOAA-9 > NATIONAL OCEANIC & ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION-9

Theme_Keyword: AVHRR > ADVANCED VERY HIGH RESOLUTION RADIOMETER

Theme_Keyword: MSIR > MULTISPECTRAL IMAGING RADIOMETER

Theme_Keyword: VISSR > VISIBLE AND INFRARED SPIN SCAN RADIOMETER

Theme_Keyword: EOSDIS > EARTH OBSERVING SYSTEM DATA INFORMATION SYSTEM

Theme_Keyword: ISCCP > INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE CLOUD CLIMATOLOGY PROJECT

Theme_Keyword: ESIP > EARTH SCIENCE INFORMATION PARTNERS PROGRAM

Theme_Keyword: SRB > SURFACE RADIATION BUDGET

Theme_Keyword: SSE > SURFACE SOLAR ENERGY

Theme_Keyword: REASON > RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND APPLICATIONS SOLUTION NETWORK

Theme_Keyword: Aerosol Optical Depth

Theme_Keyword: Daylight Cloud Fraction

Theme_Keyword: Daylight Cloud Optical Depth

Theme_Keyword: Eosdis

Theme_Keyword: Idn_node Gsfc/larc_daac

Theme_Keyword: Monthly Data

Theme_Keyword: Near Surface Precipitable Water

Theme_Keyword: Surface Sw Irradiance

Theme_Keyword: Top-of-atmosphere

Theme_Keyword: Wcrp

Theme_Keyword: CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE

Theme_Keyword: GEOSCIENTIFIC INFORMATION

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > GLOBAL

Temporal:

Temporal_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD

Temporal_Keyword: Monthly

Temporal_Keyword: Monthly - < Annual

Access_Constraints: Not Available

Use_Constraints:

Not Available

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: ROBERTA C. DIPASQUALE

Contact_Position: TECHNICAL CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: AS&M, Inc.

Address: One Enterprise Parkway

Address: Suite 300

City: Hampton

State_or_Province: VA

Postal_Code: 23666

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: (757) 827-4623

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: r.c.dipasquale@larc.nasa.gov

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

Not Available

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Not Available

Completeness_Report:

Not Available

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Not Available

Process_Date: Unknown

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:

Geographic:

Latitude_Resolution: 1 Degree

Longitude_Resolution: 1 Degree

Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal degrees

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC > Atmospheric Science Data Center, Science Directorate, Langley Research Center, NASA

Contact_Person: ASDC USER SERVICES

Contact_Position: DATA CENTER CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center

Address: User and Data Services

Address: NASA Langley Research Center

Address: 2 South Wright Street

Address: Mail Stop 157D

Address: Building 1268C

City: Hampton

State_or_Province: VA

Postal_Code: 23681-2199

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 757-864-8656

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 757-864-8807

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: larc-asdc-uds@lists.nasa.gov

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: NASA/LARC/SD/LARC_DAAC > Langley Research Center Distributed Active Archive Center, Science Directorate, Langley Research Center, NASA

Contact_Person: ASDC USER SERVICES

Contact_Position: DATA CENTER CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center

Address: User and Data Services

Address: NASA Langley Research Center

Address: 2 South Wright Street

Address: Mail Stop 157D

Address: Building 1268C

City: Hampton

State_or_Province: VA

Postal_Code: 23681-2199

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 757-864-8656

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 757-864-8807

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: larc-asdc-uds@lists.nasa.gov

Resource_Description: SSE_MONTHLY

Distribution_Liability:

Not Available

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: Not Available

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/

Access_Instructions:

DATA CENTER URL

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/

Access_Instructions:

DATA CENTER URL

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/PRODOCS/sse/table_sse....

Access_Instructions:

Access SSE Data.

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://gcmd.nasa.gov/getserf.htm?RETScreen

Access_Instructions:

The RETScreen International Renewable Energy Decision Support Centre seeks to promote the deployment of renewable energy systems by building the capacity of planners, decision-makers and industry to implement more projects successfully. The broad aim of the Centre's partners is to foster increased market uptake of renewable energy technologies (RETs) that reduce the reliance on conventional energy sources and which help to protect the global environment. The Centre builds upon the success of the RETScreen International Renewable Energy Project Analysis Software, which is now being used by more than 21,000 people in 185 countries around the globe and which is growing at 150 new users every week. The Centre develops enabling tools that allow stakeholders to better analyse the technical and financial viability of possible projects. These tools make it easier for people to consider renewable energy projects at the critically important initial planning stage while significantly reducing the costs of assessing potential projects. Some of the enabling tools include renewable energy project analysis software models and manuals; international product and weather databases; project case studies; and university textbooks. Given the broad aim of the Centre's partners, the Centre provides these valuable enabling tools free-of-charge to users around the globe via the Internet and CD-ROM.

Fees: Not Available

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date:

Metadata_Review_Date: 20050907

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: ASDC USER SERVICES

Contact_Position: DIF AUTHOR

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center

Address: User and Data Services

Address: NASA Langley Research Center

Address: 2 South Wright Street

Address: Mail Stop 157D

Address: Building 1268C

City: Hampton

State_or_Province: VA

Postal_Code: 23681-2199

Country: USA

Contact_Voice_Telephone: 757-864-8656

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 757-864-8807

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: larc-asdc-uds@lists.nasa.gov

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time