SWERA Specific Metadata Fields

SWERA Item Type:   Data
SWERA Energy Category:   All Solar

Citation Information

Author or developer (Originator):  U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Name or title (Title):  Solar: monthly and annual average direct normal (DNI), global horizontal (GHI), latitude tilt, and diffuse data and GIS data at 40km resolution for South America from NREL
Publication or Release Date (Publication Date):  2006-Jul

Description

Abstract or brief narrative description containing detailed information (Abstract):  Monthly Average Solar Resource for horizontal and tilted flat-plates, and 2-axis tracking concentrating collectors.
Purpose for developing the Product including any objectives and concerns (Purpose):  Provide information on the solar resource potential for the data domain. The insolation values represent the average solar energy available to solar collectors.

Additional information describing the Product content (Supplemental Information):   These data provide monthly average and annual average daily total solar resource averaged over surface cells of approximately 40 km by 40 km in size. The solar resource value is represented as watt-hours per square meter per day for each month. The data were developed from NREL's Climatological Solar Radiation (CSR) Model. This model uses information on cloud cover, atmospheric water vapor and trace gases, and the amount of aerosols in the atmosphere to calculate the monthly average daily total insolation (sun and sky) falling on a horizontal surface. Existing ground measurement stations are used to validate the data where possible. The modeled values are accurate to approximately 10% of a true measured value within the grid cell due to the uncertainties associated with meteorological input to the model. The local cloud cover can vary significantly even within a single grid cell as a result of terrain effects and other microclimate influences. Furthermore, the uncertainty of the modeled estimates increase with distance from reliable measurement sources and with the complexity of the terrain.

Time Period Information

Starting Date (Beginning Date):  1985-Jan-01
Ending Date (Ending Date):  1991-Dec-31
Interpretation of the starting and ending date(Currentness Reference):  Publication Date

Status

Current status or state (Progress):   Complete
Frequency of update (Maintenance and Update Frequency):   None Planned
Restrictions to acquisitions (Access Constraints):    None
Restrictions to use (Use Constraints):   None. Please cite NREL and UNEP SWERA.

Bounding Coordinates

Keywords

Subject or content keywords (Theme Keywords):   solar, direct normal, DNI, global horizontal, flat plate, insolation
Theme keyword thesaurus   Medium resolution solar resource map, Solar Atlas
Geographic Area:  
Geographic or location keywords (Place Keywords):   South America

Metadata Development

The date the metadata were written or last updated (Metadata Date):   2007-Oct-30

Contact Information

Name of the person to contact concerning the Product (Contact Person):   Ray George
Name of the contact person's organization (Contact Organization):   U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)
Address of the contact (Address):   1617 Cole Blvd
City of the address (City):   Golden
State or province of the address (State or Province):   CO
Postal code of the address (Postal Code):   80401
Country of the address (Contact Country):   United States
Telephone number (Contact Voice Telephone):   303-275-4669
Email address (Contact Email Address):   ray_george@nrel.gov

File Upload Information

Uploaded file:   csrsoamdata_232.zip
The file upload version:   1
Online link to the Product, if any (Online Linkage):