Format of the Hourly Data Files

Each file contains one header line, followed by many data lines. Solar radiation units are Watt-hour/square meter. The following tables describe the format of the file headers and of the data, the source flag codes, and the uncertainty flags:

Table 1. Header Elements In the Hourly Data Files ¹
Table 2. Data Elements in the Hourly Data Files ²
Table 3. Solar Radiation Source Flags ³
Table 4. Solar Radiation Uncertainty Flags ⁴

The complete CD-ROM set of hourly solar and meteorological data from the National Solar Radiation Data Base is available from the National Climatic Data Center as the Solar And Meteorological Surface Observation Network (SAMSON) data.

¹ Identical to Table 3-1 of the National Solar Radiation Data Base User's Manual.

² Identical to Table 3-2 of the National Solar Radiation Data Base User's Manual.

³ Identical to Table 3-3 of the National Solar Radiation Data Base User's Manual up through field position 46.

⁴ Identical to Table 3-4 of the National Solar Radiation Data Base User's Manual.

http://www.nrel.gov/rredc