Details:

Journal Title:
Journal of Hydrometeorology
Personal Author:
Slater, Andrew G.
NOAA Program & Office:
CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; CPO (Climate Program Office)
CIRES (Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences) ; OAR (Oceanic and Atmospheric Research) ; CPO (Climate Program Office) Less -
Description:
Observations of daily surface solar or shortwave radiation data from over 4000 stations have been gathered, covering much of the continental United States as well as portions of Alberta and British Columbia, Canada. The quantity of data increases almost linearly from 1998, when only several hundred stations had data. A quality-control procedure utilizing threshold values along with computing the clear-sky radiation envelope for individual stations was implemented to both screen bad data and rescue informative data. Over two-thirds of the observations are seen as acceptable. There are 15 different surface solar radiation products assessed relative to observations, including reanalyses [Twentieth-Century Reanalysis (20CR), CFS Reanalysis and Reforecast (CFSRR), ERA-Interim, Japanese 55-year Reanalysis Project (JRA-55), MERRA, NARR, and NCEP–NCAR Reanalysis 1 (NCEP-1)], derived products [observations from the CRU and NCEP-1 (CRU–NCEP); Daily Surface Weather and Climatological Summaries (Daymet); Global Land Data Assimilation System, version 1 (GLDAS-1); Global Soil Wetness Project Phase 3 (GSWP3); Multiscale Synthesis and Terrestrial Model Intercomparison Project (MsTMIP); and phase 2 of the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS-2)], and two satellite products (CERES and GOES). All except the CERES product have daily or finer temporal resolution. The RMSE of spatial biases is greater than 18 W m−2 for 13 of the 15 products over the summer season (June–August). None of the daily resolution products fulfill all three desirable criteria of low (<5%) annual or seasonal bias, high correlation with observed cloudiness, and correct distribution of clear-sky radiation. Some products display vestiges of underlying algorithm issues [e.g., from the Mountain Microclimate Simulation Model, version 4.3 (MTCLIM 4.3)] or bias-correction methods. A new bias-correction method is introduced that preserves clear-sky radiation values and better replicates cloudiness statistics. The current quantity of data over the continental United States suggests that a solar radiation product based on, or enhanced with, observations is feasible.
Keywords:
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Climatology Meteorology Modeling Reanalysis Data Satellite Observations NOAA Modeling, Analysis, Prediction and Projections (MAPP)
Source:
Journal of Hydrometeorology, 17(1), 401-420.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-15-0087.1
Document Type:
Journal Article
Place as Subject:
North America
Rights Information:
Other
Compliance:
Submitted
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:8cdc16bc6195e8e095c0fb37f7d8f6486dda6597c3f773c716b2763d5ecd1558
Download URL:
https://repository.library.noaa.gov/view/noaa/28954/noaa_28954_DS1.pdf
File Type:

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