Data Questions¶

• Solar: The data are available in their original source spatial resolution.
• Meteorology: The data are available in their original source spatial resolution.

• Solar: The data was initially produced on 3-hourly time increments which are averaged to provide daily values. The daily averaged values are used to calculate climatologically averaged monthly values.
• Meteorology: The data was initially produced on 1-hourly time increments which are averaged to provided daily values. The daily averaged values are used to calculate climatologically averaged monthly values.

The POWER solar data are inferred via radiative transfer models from satellite observations.

• Solar: The data is from NASA's GEWEX/SRB archive and various versions of NASA's CERES FLASHFlux project.
• Meteorology: The data is from NASA's GMAO MERRA-2 assimilation model and GEOS 5.12.4 FP-IT.

Specific time periods associated with each project are listed in the Methodology: Data Sources Page.

The POWER Data Archive can be downloaded as daily time series analysis ready data files or as climatologically monthly averaged values. For more information on the way the POWER Data Archive data is distributed to the public see the POWER Data Services.

Data values in the POWER APIs are provided in units that are tailored to the selected community. If you access data directly from the Zarr datastores without using the API, the units may not be community-specific, and you would need to convert them accordingly. For more information about data units served via the APIs, please visit the Parameter Dictionary.

The accuracy of both the solar and meteorology data are evaluated through direct comparisons with surface site observations. Results from the comparisons are documented in the POWER Methodology.

The POWER data, including the elevation value, represent average values over their original source spatial resolution. In complex terrain, such as mountains, the averaged elevation of the grid cell can be substantially different from the local elevation of a local surface site.

For hourly data, the timestamp notes the last day for which data was provided; it includes all 24 hours of the requested date.

Collectively the POWER Data Archive consists of a 2-3 day latency for meteorological parameters and a 5-7 days for latency for solar parameters. For the current status of latency please see the POWER Services Status Dashboard.