Australian Gridded Solar Climatology Web Data Services

These datasets are long term averages of solar radiation at the surface over the Australian land mass. Applications of these data include solar energy, agriculture, building thermal design and water balance modelling. Climatologies are given for two radiation parameters: the global horizontal exposure, which is the total amount of solar energy falling on a horizontal surface over a time interval; and the direct normal exposure which is the total of the component of radiation from the sun’s disk on a plane perpendicular to the beam. Climatologies of daily exposure are given as an annual average and as a set of twelve monthly averages. Climatologies of the diurnal cycle are given as monthly averages of hourly exposures through the day. These data sets are derived from 23 years (1990 - 2012) of data from satellites operated by Japan Meteorological Agency and the US National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration. NEII