Solar Radiation Parameterization Data for Mountainous Terrain

Data and results from developing a parameterization for solar radiation distribution over rugged terrain, intended for Earth System Models. The dataset includes digital elevation maps from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, atmospheric optical properties, derived terrain parameters, and Monte Carlo simulation results. Enrico Zorzetto of Princeton University produced this dataset.

Use Cases

• Developing solar radiation parameterizations for Earth System Models based on terrain parameters derived from SRTM elevation data.
• Validating Monte Carlo simulation methods for solar irradiance using provided simulation results for different domains and solar angles.
• Analyzing the spatial distribution of solar radiation over mountainous terrain using preprocessed digital elevation maps for three sample domains.
• Partitioning geographic domains into homogeneous sub-grid units for land surface modeling based on included land unit classifications.

Strengths

• Includes digital elevation maps derived from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) for three sample domains.
• Contains results from Monte Carlo simulations for different domains and solar angles.
• Data is produced by a researcher at Princeton University and is associated with a published method.

Limitations

• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Enrico Zorzetto, Princeton University

Collection Method

Data produced while developing a parameterization method, including derived maps from SRTM and results from Monte Carlo simulations.

Geography

Mountainous terrain; sample domains use SRTM data.