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Surface Solar Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) -Edition 1

"The Surface Solar Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) is a satellite-based climatology of the solar surface irradiance (SIS), the surface direct normalized irradiance (DNI) and the effective cloud albedo (CAL) derived from satellite observations of the visible channels of the MVIRI and SEVIRI instruments onboard the geostationary Meteosat satellites. The data are available from 1983 to 2013 and cover the region ±65° longitude and ±65° latitude. The products are available as monthly, daily, and hourly averages on a regular latitude/longitude grid with a spatial resolution of 0.05° x 0.05°. The data set is complemented with a comprehensive documentation of the applied algorithms as well as validation studies and user guidance."

Key Strengths:

  • Very high resolution; hourly/daily/monthly

Key Limitations:

  • Regional coverage

Years of Record

1983/01 to 2013/12
temporal metadataID:

Formats

Timestep

Sub-daily | Daily | Monthly

Domain

Africa | Europe | NH - Northern Hemisphere | SH - Southern Hemisphere

Spatial Resolution

0.05x0.05

Ocean or Land

Ocean&Land

Vertical Levels

Surface Data Set

Input Data

satellite observations of the visible channels of the MVIRI and SEVIRI instruments onboard the geostationary Meteosat satellites

Earth system components and main variables

Atmosphere, Cloud albedo

Data Set DOIs

Data Access: Please Cite data sources, following the data providers' instructions.

  1. Surface Solar Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) -Edition 1

Key Figures

Click the thumbnails to view larger sizes

Thumbnails

Captions
CM SAF: Solar Surface Irradiance (SSI) for July 2013
CM SAF: Solar Surface Irradiance (SSI) for December 2013
Daily mean of fractional cloud cover (22 January 2012), Source: CM SAF
Monthly mean of vertically integrated water vapor (Jan 2010), Source: CM SAF
Daily mean of surfcae incoming surfcae radiation (8 July 1984). Source CM-SAF.

Cite this page

National Center for Atmospheric Research Staff (Eds). Last modified 21 Oct 2015. "The Climate Data Guide: Surface Solar Radiation Data Set - Heliosat (SARAH) -Edition 1." Retrieved from https://climatedataguide.ucar.edu/climate-data/surface-solar-radiation-data-set-heliosat-sarah-edition-1.

Acknowledgement of any material taken from this page is appreciated. On behalf of experts who have contributed data, advice, and/or figures, please cite their work as well.