pvlib.iotools.read_surfrad

pvlib.iotools.read_surfrad(filename, map_variables=True)[source]

Read in a daily NOAA SURFRAD file. The SURFRAD network is described in 1.

Parameters
  • filename (str) – Filepath or url.

  • map_variables (bool) – When true, renames columns of the Dataframe to pvlib variable names where applicable. See variable SURFRAD_COLUMNS.

Returns

  • Tuple of the form (data, metadata).

  • data (Dataframe) – Dataframe with the fields found below.

  • metadata (dict) – Site metadata included in the file.

Notes

Metadata dictionary includes the following fields:

Key

Format

Description

station

String

site name

latitude

Float

site latitude

longitude

Float

site longitude

elevation

Int

site elevation

surfrad_version

Int

surfrad version

tz

String

Timezone (UTC)

Dataframe includes the following fields:

raw, mapped

Format

Description

Mapped field names are returned when the map_variables argument is True

year

int

year as 4 digit int

jday

int

day of year 1-365(or 366)

month

int

month (1-12)

day

int

day of month(1-31)

hour

int

hour (0-23)

minute

int

minute (0-59)

dt

float

decimal time i.e. 23.5 = 2330

zen, solar_zenith

float

solar zenith angle (deg)

Fields below have associated qc flags labeled <field>_flag.

dw_solar, ghi

float

downwelling global solar(W/m^2)

uw_solar

float

updownwelling global solar(W/m^2)

direct_n, dni

float

direct normal solar (W/m^2)

diffuse, dhi

float

downwelling diffuse solar (W/m^2)

dw_ir

float

downwelling thermal infrared (W/m^2)

dw_casetemp

float

downwelling IR case temp (K)

dw_dometemp

float

downwelling IR dome temp (K)

uw_ir

float

upwelling thermal infrared (W/m^2)

uw_casetemp

float

upwelling IR case temp (K)

uw_dometemp

float

upwelling IR case temp (K)

uvb

float

global uvb (miliWatts/m^2)

par

float

photosynthetically active radiation(W/m^2)

netsolar

float

net solar (dw_solar - uw_solar) (W/m^2)

netir

float

net infrared (dw_ir - uw_ir) (W/m^2)

totalnet

float

net radiation (netsolar+netir) (W/m^2)

temp, temp_air

float

10-meter air temperature (?C)

rh, relative_humidity

float

relative humidity (%)

windspd, wind_speed

float

wind speed (m/s)

winddir, wind_direction

float

wind direction (deg, clockwise from north)

pressure

float

station pressure (mb)

See README files located in the station directories in the SURFRAD data archives[2]_ for details on SURFRAD daily data files.

References

1

NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory Surface Radiation Budget Network SURFRAD Homepage

2

NOAA SURFRAD Data Archive SURFRAD Archive