===   CONFRRM ===
 
Solar Energy Resource Data  

Data File Description

Solar data elements measured and reported by the CONFRRM sites include global horizontal irradiance (GHI), direct normal irradiance (DNI), diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI), and global horizontal irradiance measured with a LI-COR pyranometer. Meteorological data include air temperature, relative humidity, pressure, wind speed, wind direction and peak wind speed. Data logger temperature and battery voltage may also be reported. Some sites measure only two of the three broadband solar components (global horizontal, direct normal and diffuse horizontal irradiance), while others include several meteorological measurements as well as the solar measurments.. Table 1 lists all fields which may be found in a CONFRRM data file, and indicates the format for each field. Sites which include this field in their data files are also indicated in the table. For a list of measurements made at each site, and their order in the data record, please see Table 2.

The format of the data files is comma delimited ASCII, each file containing one calendar month of quality assessed data. Data quality assessment is performed on the broadband solar radiometric data using SERI_QC, which assigns data quality flags to every solar radiation component at every point in the data file. Flags assigned to other data indicate that the measurement passed or failed minimum/maximum tests; or, in the case of a blank flag field, that no data quality tests were performed.

The CONFFRM solar radiation data files are comma delimited ASCII text files. Table 1 lists the fields possible in a CONFRRM solar data file, indicating which sites measure each parameter. For a list of the parameters meaasured at each site and their order within a data record see Table 2.

The following is an example of a CONFRRM solar radiation data file, this one from Elizabeth City State University (EC):

1997,8,1,12,0,781.21,14,821.77,15,53.02,15,27.50,01,38.88,01,30.38,01
1997,8,1,12,5,779.49,14,818.92,15,52.46,15,27.41,01,39.68,01,30.50,01
1997,8,1,12,10,779.38,14,816.37,15,52.51,15,27.24,01,41.16,01,30.48,01
1997,8,1,12,15,778.82,14,816.09,15,52.65,15,27.25,01,42.16,01,30.55,01
1997,8,1,12,20,778.53,10,814.33,11,52.61,11,26.98,01,43.12,01,30.45,01
1997,8,1,12,25,778.87,10,814.85,11,52.43,11,26.88,01,42.90,01,30.46,01
1997,8,1,12,30,778.60,14,816.57,15,53.50,15,27.00,01,42.98,01,30.36,01
1997,8,1,12,35,776.30,10,814.61,11,53.45,11,27.13,01,42.82,01,30.31,01

Following these first five fields are the actual measured data. From Table 2, we see that in the first line the global horizontal irradiance was 781.21 W/m², and was given a flag 14 by SERI_QC.

NOTE: Some of the files are are 750 KB or larger, making them too large for viewing online. To download a file to your harddrive, position your mouse over the date of interest in the file list. If you are using a dual-button mouse, hold down the right button until a small menu comes up. If you are using a single-button mouse (e.g., MacIntosh) simply hold down the mouse button until the menu appears. Choose "Save this link as..." and enter the required information.