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US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Radiation Monitoring Data (USDARAD)

Information updated on August 18, 2006, 2:31 am GMT


General Data Description

The USDA UV-B Monitoring and Research Program is a program of the US Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (CSREES). The program was initiated in 1992, through a grant to Colorado State University, to provide information on the geographical distribution and temporal trends of UVB (ultraviolet -B) radiation in the United States.

The SGP ARM site is part of the program's climatological network. All sites are instrumented with both UV and Visible MFRSR shadowband radiometers and broadband UV-B meters.

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Data Stream Names

Measurement Description

sgpusdaradX1.00 (before 6/10/2002)

A single record will contain 37 variable-length, comma-delimited fields. A typical record is listed below.

The field order is as follows: 

                      
                                        Units         
   ----------------------------------   --------------
     Head Identification                Integer
     USDA UVB Program Site Code         State code followed by number.  
     Date and Time                      YY/MM/DD hh:mm:ss in UTC
     Open  total horizontal             Watts/m^2  NOTES:
     415nm total horizontal             Watts/m^2   [1] All angles are reported
     500nm total horizontal             Watts/m^2       as degrees
     610nm total horizontal             Watts/m^2  
     665nm total horizontal             Watts/m^2       
     862nm total horizontal             Watts/m^2   
     940nm total horizontal             Watts/m^2    
     Open  diffuse horizontal           Watts/m^2    
     415nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/m^2    
     500nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/m^2    
     610nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/m^2    
     665nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/m^2    
     862nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/m^2    
     940nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/m^2    
     Open  direct normal                Watts/m^2    
     415nm direct normal                Watts/m^2    
     500nm direct normal                Watts/m^2    
     610nm direct normal                Watts/m^2    
     665nm direct normal                Watts/m^2    
     862nm direct normal                Watts/m^2    
     940nm direct normal                Watts/m^2    
     humidity                           % Relative Humidity
     temperature (see below)            degrees C     
     Li-Cor 210SZ photometer            Watts/m^2
         *                              unused field
         *                              unused field
     Yankee UVB-1 (see below)           Watts/m^2
     Yankee UVB-1 dome temperature      degrees C     
     Solar azimuth                      degrees   
     Solar elevation                    degrees  
     Solar zenith angle                 degrees 
     Declination                        degrees
     Air mass
     Relative solar distance

The initial passband on the MFRSR is unfiltered and thus serves as a broadband silicon pyranometer. The remaining passbands are constructed with DF-xxx series integrated photodiode-interference filter assemblies manufactured by EG&G Optoelectronics. These are FWHM 10nm passbands.

Temperature and humidity data are derived from a Vaisala model HMP 35A combination probe. Humidity (%RH) is read directly as signal/10 and temperature in degrees C is computed as (signal - 2895) * 0.090). The computation is based upon a custom circuit board employed by the program.

The downward looking Li-Cor 210z signal is reported as Watts/meter-squared using the the manufacturer's furnished instrument specific calibration. As these instruments are downward looking and intended only as an indication of changed ground albedo their are not re-calibrated on a regular basis. The conversion from mv to Watts/meter-squared by the following relation: W/m^2 = 1000/(manufacturer_supplied__calibration_constant * 683)

The Yankee UVB-1 broadband measures global irradiance in the UV-B spectral range of 280-330 nm. The measurement technique employs a combination of colored glass optical filters to block the sun's visible spectra and a UV sensitive flourescent phorsphor to convert the UVB light to visible light. The converted light is then measured with a solid-state photodiode. Signal output is 0-5 volts DC, low Z. Meter output is multiplied by 0.001968 to create watts/m^2 output. This factor follows the manufacturers recommendation. No attempt has been made to verify this relationship. The dome temperature of the Yankee UVB-1 is computed as degrees C by the relationship (signal*0.0479) + 6.6).

sgpusdauvmfrsrX1.00 (before 6/10/2002)

Angular corrections for the UV-MFRSR solar channels have been made and calibration based upon a standard lamp has been applied. Solar calculations of general utility have been added to the end of each record for the convenience of the user. The format and units of each field within a single record is listed below.

A single record will contain 37 variable-length, comma-delimited fields. A typical record is listed below.

The field order is as follows:                        
                                        Units         
   ----------------------------------   --------------
     Head Identification                Integer
     USDA UVB Program Site Code         State code followed by number.  
     Date and Time                      YYMMDD hh:mm:ss in UTC
     300nm total horizontal             Watts/meter-squared
     305nm total horizontal             Watts/meter-squared
     311nm total horizontal             Watts/meter-squared
     317nm total horizontal             Watts/meter-squared
     325nm total horizontal             Watts/meter-squared
     332nm total horizontal             Watts/meter-squared
     368nm total horizontal             Watts/meter-squared       
     300nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/meter-squared       
     305nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/meter-squared       
     311nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/meter-squared       
     317nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/meter-squared       
     325nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/meter-squared       
     332nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/meter-squared       
     368nm diffuse horizontal           Watts/meter-squared       
     300nm direct normal                Watts/meter-squared       
     305nm direct normal                Watts/meter-squared       
     311nm direct normal                Watts/meter-squared       
     317nm direct normal                Watts/meter-squared       
     325nm direct normal                Watts/meter-squared       
     332nm direct normal                Watts/meter-squared       
     368nm direct normal                Watts/meter-squared       
       Unused
       Unused
       Unused
       Unused
       Unused
       Unused
       Unused
     Solar azimuth                      degrees   
     Solar elevation                    degrees  
     Solar zenith angle                 degrees 
     Declination                        degrees
     Air mass
     Relative solar distance

The passbands on the UVMFRSR are constructed with DF-xxx series integrated photodiode-interference filter assemblies manufactured by EG&G Optoelectronics. These are FWHM 2 nm nominal passbands.

sgpusdauvmfrsrX1.00 and sgpusdaradX1.00 (beginning 6/10/2002)

See description of measurements at: USDA site

sgpusdaradauxX1.00 and sgpusdauvmfrsrauxX1.00 (beginning 6/10/2002)

See description of measurements at: USDA site

Temporal Coverage

DatastreamStart Date End Date
sgpusdaradX1.00 02/17/1999
sgpusdaradauxX1.00 06/10/2002
sgpusdauvmfrsrX1.00 02/17/1999
sgpusdauvmfrsrauxX1.00 06/10/2002

Data are available in daily files at the ARM Archive a few days after data collection.

Area Covered

The instruments are located at the SGP site at latitude 97.5, longitude 36.6, elevation 317 (m).

Data Stream Inputs

Data have not been converted to netCDF.

Notification Form Link

Notification form

Related Links

Contacts

Data Source

Processing History

Beginning on June 10, 2002, to minimize space and processing times the auxiliary data (e.g., humidity, air temperature, barometer, instrument temperatures, etc.) are now in a file separate from the UVMFRSR irradiance data.

Example Data

sgpusdaradX1.00 both before and after 6/10/2002

217,OK01,20021111 13:09:00,5.822985,0.015465,0.013223,0.005211,0.005687, 0.000000,0.000000,5.822985,0.015465,0.013223,0.005211,0.005687,0.000000, 0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000, 0.000000,111.889999,0.510000,89.489998,-17.459999,31.286600,0.990000,

217,OK01,010806 23:51:00,255.749588,0.287717,0.386357,0.329288,0.311042, 0.268259,0.026877,78.570587,0.204029,0.203404,0.125024,0.102836,0.058348, 0.005226,548.231628,0.261901,0.569240,0.636121,0.649618,0.654808,0.072275, 17.000000,38.160000,5.800000,-9998.000000,-9998.000000,0.208608,45.494800, 276.890015,18.850000,71.150002,16.459999,3.069800,1.014200

sgpusdaradauxX1.00

217,OK01,20021111 00:00:00,62.700001,12.690000,0.000000,-9998.000000, -9998.000000,37.447601,38.264065,1.000000,47.000000,-3.000000,-3.000000, -2.000000,-33.000000,-43.000000,253.800003,-7.270000,97.269997,-17.309999, -1.000000,0.990100,bt;

sgpusdauvmfrsrauxX1.00

303,OK02,20021111 00:00:00,-9998.000000,-9998.000000,-9998.000000,-9998.000000, -9998.000000,-9998.000000,41.937222,-3.000000,-1.000000,1.000000,2.000000, -4.000000,0.000000,0.000000,253.809998,-7.270000,97.269997,-17.309999, -1.000000,0.990100,

sgpusdauvmfrsrX1.00 - both before and after 6/10/2002

303,OK02,20021111 13:09:00,0.000000,0.000000,0.000026,0.000303,0.000000, 0.004131,0.008851,0.000000,0.000000,0.000026,0.000303,0.000000,0.004131, 0.008851,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000,0.000000, -9998.000000,111.900002,0.510000,89.489998,-17.459999,31.203899,0.990000,so;co;

299,OK02,010806 00:51:00,0.000035,0.000077,0.000783,0.005853,0.019680,0.032361, 0.052470,0.000035,0.000077,0.000783,0.005811,0.019498,0.032947,0.053159, 0.000028,0.000077,0.000040,0.000387,0.001548,-0.000456,0.000048,-9998.000000, -9998.000000,-9998.000000,-9998.000000,-9998.000000,-98.000000,-9998.000000, 285.540009,7.300000,82.699997,16.730000,7.447700,1.014300

Acronyms

CSREES	Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service 
MFRSR	Multi-Filter Rotating Shadow-band Radiometer
SGP	Southern Great Plains
USDA	US Department of Agriculture
UV-B	Ultra-violet-B

Citable References

Bigelow, D.S.; J.R. Slusser; A.F. Beaubien and J.H. Gibson. 1998. The USDA Ultraviolet Radiation Monitoring Program. Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc.,79, 601-615.

Harrison, L.; Michalsky, J.; Bernt, J.; Automated multi-filter rotating shadow-band radiometer: and instrument for optical depth and radiation measurement. Applied Optics 33(22) 1994.

For more information about the Yankee UVB-1 broadband see: Yankee Environmental Systems, Inc. Bulletin UVB-1S. PO Box 746, Montague Industrial Park, Turners Falls, MA. 01376 USA.