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World Solar Radiation Distribution (polygon), 1996
- Identification Information
- Data Quality Information
- Spatial Data Organization Information
- Spatial Reference Information
- Entity and Attribute Information
- Distribution Information
- Metadata Reference Information
- Identification Information
- Citation
- Originator
- Environmental Systems Research Institute (Redlands, Calif.)
- Publication Date
- 1996
- Title
- World Solar Radiation Distribution (polygon), 1996
- Geospatial Data Presentation Form
- vector digital data
- Series Information
- Series Name
- ArcAtlas
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Redlands, Calif.
- Publisher
- ESRI
- Online Linkage
- https://www1.columbia.edu/sec/acis/eds/dgate/studies/C1301/data/esri_1996_world_solarpoly.zip
- Abstract
- World Solar Radiation Distribution (polygon), 1996 is a polygon theme representing the distribution of Solar Radiation worldwide.
- Purpose
- For educational, non-commercial purposes. This dataset is appropriate for use in a GIS.
- Supplemental Information
- Information on solar radiation is extremely important in any analysis of weather and climate because radiation from the sun is the main source of energy for the earth's natural physical, chemical, and biological processes. The principal factors affecting the amount of solar radiation that reaches a location on the earth's surface are latitude, sun elevation, the optical characteristics of the atmosphere such as aerosol content and water vapor content, and surface characteristics. Solar energy reaches the earth's surface both as direct radiation and diffuse radiation. Some of the radiation is reflected from clouds and the earth's surface and goes back out to space. The rest is mostly absorbed. The atmosphere absorbs one-third of all the solar radiation that reaches the earth's system. In cloudless conditions, about 20 percent of all radiation that reaches the upper boundary of the atmosphere is scattered and absorbed by gases and aerosols. A much smaller portion of solar radiation is transformed to chemical energy by dissociation of atmospheric gases and photosynthesis. Total solar radiation is the sum of direct and diffuse radiation from the sun that reaches the horizontal surface of the earth. When solar radiation passes through the atmosphere it changes in intensity and wavelength. The changes are due to scattering and absorption of the radiation by atmospheric gases and liquid and solid particles suspended in the atmosphere. The energy is transformed to heat that warms the earth's surface and air. Potential solar radiation is the amount of radiation that would be expected under cloudless conditions. Globally, more than half of the annual potential solar radiation reaches the earth's surface, *with the exclusion of some small, mainly equatorial, regions. The proportion of annual potential solar radiation actually reaching the surface in the temperate latitudes ranges from 60 to 70 percent. It ranges from 40 to 60 percent in the equatorial zone of South America and Africa as well as in continental areas that have summer monsoon circulation. In some seasons the numbers can be smaller. Tropical and subtropical latitudes receive the largest proportion of potential solar radiation -- more than 70 to 80 percent of it. In deserts the ratio can be as high as 90 percent.
- Temporal Extent
- Currentness Reference
- publication date
- Time Instant
- 1996
- Bounding Box
- West
- -180
- East
- 180
- North
- 85
- South
- -85
- Theme Keyword
- climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
- Theme Keyword Thesaurus
- ISO 19115 Topic Categories
- Theme Keyword
- Theme Keyword
- Solar Radiation
- Theme Keyword Thesaurus
- None
- Place Keyword
- Earth
- Place Keyword Thesaurus
- Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Temporal Keyword
- 1996
- Temporal Keyword Thesaurus
- None
- Access Restrictions
- For current Columbia affiliates only.
- Use Restrictions
- For educational, non-commercial use only.
- Status
- Complete
- Maintenance and Update Frequency
- None planned
- Point of Contact
- Contact Organization
- ESRI
- Delivery Point
- 380 New York Street
- City
- Redlands
- State
- California
- Postal Code
- 92373-8100
- Country
- USA
- Contact Telephone
- 909-793-2853
- Contact Facsimile Telephone
- 909-793-5953
- Contact Electronic Mail Address
- info@esri.com
- Hours of Service
- 7:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Pacific time, Monday-Friday
- Native Data Set Environment
- Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.1850
- Data Quality Information
- Attribute Accuracy Report
- The actual incoming solar radiation for a particular year may not be the same as the mean annual value. The variation coefficient of mean annual daily values, which is an indicator of the stability of the radiation regime, ranges from 1 to 14 percent. The annual mean daily solar radiation for certain years differs from the map data by 2 to 14 percent for Europe, 2 to 7 percent for North America, 1 to 10 percent for Asia, 1 to 9 percent for South America and Africa, and 1 to 6 percent for Australia. The greatest variations of mean annual daily values are recorded in the equatorial zone, summer monsoon areas, and the west coasts of continents in the temperate latitudes.
- Lineage
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1964
- Title
- Aktinometricheskiy spravochnik. Zarubezhnye strany.
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Alisov, B. P., I. A. Berlin, and V. M. Michel
- Publication Date
- 1954
- Title
- Kurs klimatologii. (Climatological course.) Part 3. Klimaty zemnogo shara. (Climates of the globe.)
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Budyko, M. I.
- Publication Date
- 1963
- Title
- Atlas teplovogo balansa zemnogo shara
- Geospatial Data Presentation Form
- atlas
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Moscow
- Publisher
- GUGK
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Berlyand, T. G.
- Publication Date
- 1961
- Title
- Raspredeleniye solnechnoy radiatsii na kontinentakh
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Berlyand, T. G., and E. M. Polynskaya
- Publication Date
- 1980
- Title
- Ob oslablenii solnechnoy radiatsii nad kontinentami
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1971
- Title
- Climatological normals (CLINO) for climate and climate ship stations for the period 1931-1960
- Publication Information
- Publisher
- WMO/OMM
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Cowley, J. P.
- Publication Date
- 1978
- Title
- The distribution over Great Britain of global solar irradiation on a horizontal Surface
- Series Information
- Series Name
- The Meteorological Magazine
- Issue Identification
- 107
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Dvorkina, M. D.
- Publication Date
- 1980
- Title
- K voprosu o kontrolye tekushhey aktinometricheskoy informatsii mirovoy seti stantsiy
- Series Information
- Series Name
- Proceedings of GGO
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1979
- Title
- European solar radiation Atlas. V. 1. Global radiation on horizontal surface
- Geospatial Data Presentation Form
- atlas
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Brussels, Luxembourg
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Khogali, A.
- Publication Date
- 1983
- Title
- Solar radiation over Sudan -- comparison of measured and predicted data.
- Series Information
- Series Name
- Solar Energy,
- Issue Identification
- 31
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1967
- Title
- Klimaticheskiy spravochnik Afriki.
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1975
- Title
- Klimaticheskiy spravochnik Avstralii i Novoy Zelandii
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1985
- Title
- Klimaticheskiy spravochnik Severnoy Ameriki.
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1975
- Title
- Klimaticheskiy spravochnik Yuzhnoy Ameriki
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1979
- Title
- Klimaticheskiy spravochnik Zapadnoy Evropy
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1974
- Title
- Klimaticheskiy spravochnik zarubezhnoy Azii
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Title
- Monthly climatic data for the world 1964-1992
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Asheville
- Publisher
- NSA
- Source
- Originator
- Mota, F. S., M. J. C. Beirsdorf, and M. J. C. Acosfa
- Publication Date
- 1977
- Title
- Estimates of solar radiation in Brazil
- Series Information
- Series Name
- Agricultural Meteorology
- Issue Identification
- 18
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Amsterdam
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Title
- Nauchno-prikladnoy spravochnik po klimatu SSSR 1989-1990. Series 3.
- Series Information
- Issue Identification
- Parts 1-6, issues 1-35.
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1975
- Title
- Okeanograficheskiye tablitsy.
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Publisher
- Leningrad
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Pivovarova, Z. I.
- Publication Date
- 1977
- Title
- Radiatsionnye kharakteristiki klimata SSSR
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Publisher
- Leningrad
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Sayich, A. A. M.
- Publication Date
- 1987
- Title
- The iso-radiation map for the Arab region
- Series Information
- Series Name
- Solar and Wind Technology
- Issue Identification
- 4, 2, pp. 163-177.
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Sivkov, S. I.
- Publication Date
- 1968
- Title
- Metody rascheta kharakteristik solnechnoy radiatsii.
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Title
- Solnechnaya radiatsiya i radiatsionnyy balans (mirovaya set'), 1964-1991.
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- GGO
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Publication Date
- 1976
- Title
- Spravochnik po klimatu SSSR. Ustoychivost' i tochnost' klimaticheskikh kharakteristik. Volume 1: Solnechnoye siyaniye, temperatura vozdukha i pochvy.
- Publication Information
- Publication Place
- Leningrad
- Publisher
- Gidrometeoizdat
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Source
- Originator
- Willmott, C. J. and M. T. Vernon.
- Publication Date
- 1980
- Title
- Solar climates of the conterminous United States: a
- Series Information
- Series Name
- Solar Energy
- Issue Identification
- 24
- Type of Source Media
- paper
- Spatial Data Organization Information
- Direct Spatial Reference Method
- Vector
- Point and Vector Object Information
- SDTS Terms Description
- SDTS Point and Vector Object Type
- G-polygon
- Point and Vector Object Count
- 2148
- Spatial Reference Information
- Horizontal Coordinate System Definition
- Geographic
- Latitude Resolution
- 0.000000
- Longitude Resolution
- 0.000000
- Geographic Coordinate Units
- Decimal degrees
- Geodetic Model
- Horizontal Datum Name
- D_Clarke_1866
- Ellipsoid Name
- Clarke 1866
- Semi-major Axis
- 6378206.400000
- Denominator of Flattening Ratio
- 294.978698
- Entity and Attribute Information
- Entity Type
- Entity Type Label
- solar_rd
- Attributes
- FID
- Internal feature number. (Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.)
- Definition Source
- ESRI
- Shape
- Feature geometry. (Coordinates defining the features.)
- Definition Source
- ESRI
- AREA
- Area
- PERIMETER
- Perimeter
- SARADDD_
- South America
- SARADDD_ID
- South America ID
- LOW_RAD
- The lowest radiation received by the area, in joules per square kilometer per day
- HIGH_RAD
- The highest radiation received by the area, in joules per square kilometer per day.
- NARADDD_
- The highest radiation received by the area, in joules per square kilometer
- NARADDD_ID
- North America ID
- EURADDD_
- Europe
- EURADDD_ID
- Europe ID
- AURADDD_
- Australia
- AURADDD_ID
- Australia ID
- ASRADDD_
- Asia
- ASRADDD_ID
- Asia ID
- ANRADLB_
- Antarctica
- ANRADLB_ID
- Antarctica ID
- AFRADDD_
- Africa
- AFRADDD_ID
- Africa ID
- Distribution Information
- Format Name
- geopackage
- Distributor
- ESRI; ESRI International Distributors
- Name
- Metadata Reference Information
- Metadata Date
- 20090611
- Metadata Contact
- Contact Information
- Contact Organization Primary
- Contact Organization
- Research Data Services (RDS), Columbia University Libraries
- Contact Person
- GIS/Metadata Librarian
- Contact Address
- Address
- 420 W. 118th St. 215 IAB, MC 3301
- City
- New York
- State or Province
- NY
- Postal Code
- 10027
- Country
- USA
- Contact Voice Telephone
- (212) 854-6012
- Contact Electronic Mail Address
- data@library.columbia.edu
- Hours of Service
- 7:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Pacific time, Monday-Friday
- Metadata Standard Name
- FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata
- Metadata Standard Version
- FGDC-STD-001-1998
