Daily Direct Solar Irradiance for Australia from Himawari Satellites

Offering daily exposure of directly transmitted downward surface solar irradiance derived from Himawari-8/9 satellite imagery for the Australian continent and surrounding waters. It is generated using the Qin et al. (2021a) algorithm and is available in both a regular latitude/longitude grid and the original geostationary projection.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of directly transmitted solar irradiance across the Australian continent using the latitude/longitude grid data.
• Validate and calibrate solar energy forecasting models with satellite-derived irradiance data for the region.
• Study temporal trends in surface solar exposure for climate research over Australia and surrounding waters.
• Integrate geostationary projection data (WGS84, sub-satellite longitude = 140.7°E) with other geospatial datasets for environmental monitoring.

Strengths

• Derived from Himawari-8/9 satellite imagery, a known source for high-temporal-resolution Earth observation.
• Covers the Australian continent and surrounding waters, providing regional spatial coverage.
• Available in multiple spatial representations including a regular latitude/longitude grid and the original geostationary projection.

Limitations

• Specific data volume (rows, size) and columnar structure are not provided, limiting assessment of analytical scope.
• Access requires contacting the authors, as data is hosted on the Australian National Computational Infrastructure (NCI).
• Data availability may be limited pending development of a near-real-time processor for improved access.

Provenance

Source

Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network's Data Discovery

Collection Method

Generated from daytime Himawari-8/9 imagery using the Qin et al. (2021a) algorithm.

Freshness

Metadata was last updated in March 2026, indicating recent catalog activity.

Geography

Australian continent and surrounding waters.