Communities¶
The POWER Project targets three user communities: Renewable Energy (RE), Sustainable Infrastructure (formerly Sustainable Buildings) (SB), and Agroclimatology (AG). The respective community-specific parameters and outputs are given in formats, naming conventions, and units that are commonly employed in each user community. All community specific parameters and outputs are derived from the same underlying solar and/or meteorological data values in the POWER Data Archive.
| Abbreviation | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| RE | Renewable Energy | The Renewable Energy (RE) solar and meteorological parameters are available in an hourly and daily time series format, as well as climatologically and inter-annual (monthly and annual) averaged values for user selected grids. All RE parameters are provided on the original resolution grid, which is dependent on the parameter. The hourly and daily time series include the basic solar and meteorology parameters as well as additional calculated parameters such as diffuse and direct normal radiation. The monthly and annually averaged parameters are provided as monthly and annual averaged values by year for each of the base solar and meteorological data parameters. The climatologically averaged parameters are calculated to support applications such as solar cooking, sizing solar panels, and sizing battery backup systems. |
| SB | Sustainable Buildings | The Sustainable Buildings (SB) solar and meteorological parameters are available in hourly and daily time series formats, as well as climatologically, monthly, and annually average values. All parameters are provided on the original resolution grid, which is dependent on the parameter. The hourly time series include a range of the basic solar and meteorology parameters as well as additional calculated parameters such as diffuse and direct normal radiation, heating and cooling degree days, climate zones, etc. The daily time series is a larger subset of the solar and meteorology parameters. Monthly and annually averaged parameters are provided as monthly and annual averaged values by year. The climatologically averaged parameters are calculated to support the preliminary design and site selection for building projects. |
| AG | Agroclimatology | The Agroclimatology (AG) solar and meteorological parameters are available as daily mean time series formats. All parameters are provided on the original resolution grid, which is dependent on the parameter. The hourly time series include the basic solar and meteorology parameters to support agricultural decision support tools such as the Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer. The daily time series is a larger subset of the solar and meteorology parameters. |
Finding Parameters
- Full list of parameters is available through the Parameter Dictionary located on the POWER Homepage under the Resources Section.
- Tailored list of parameters is available by community and temporal level through the Data Access Viewer (DAV) widget's Parameters Section.
For more information on how to find the available POWER parameters please see the POWER Parameters Tutorial.
POWER now has enhanced tools to provide full parameter information. These include an enhanced Application Programming Interface (API) supporting a queryable parameter dictionary and allowing for direct URLs to list community and temporal level parameter availability.
General Data Set Information
- All parameters are available on original resolution latitude and longitude global grid.
- Solar parameters are derived from NASA's GEWEX SRB Release 4-Integrated Product (4.0-IP) archive (Jan. 1, 1984 – Dec. 31, 2000) and NASA’s CERES SYN1deg and FLASHFlux projects (Jan. 1, 2001– to the previous year).
- Meteorological parameters are derived from the NASA's GMAO MERRA-2 assimilation model (Jan. 1, 1981 to the previous year).
Temporal Availability
- Hourly Parameters: Provides parameters by hour with average values.
- Daily Parameters: Provides parameters by day with average, maximum, and/or minimum values.
- Monthly and Annual Parameters: Provides parameters by year; the annual and each month's average, maximum, and/or minimum values.
- Climatology Parameters: Provides parameters as climatologies for a pre-defined period with monthly average, maximum, and/or minimum values available.