Amazon Solar Irradiance and PAR Measurements Co-located with AERONET

Seventeen CSV files contain solar surface irradiance and photosynthetically active radiation measurements from six Brazilian Amazon sites between 1999 and 2004. The data were collected using Kipp and Zonen CM-21 pyranometers and Skye-Probetech SKE-510 PAR sensors. This dataset is part of the LBA-ECO project and is co-located with AERONET program sites for aerosol validation.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite retrievals of aerosol optical properties using ground-based co-located measurements.
• Analyzing temporal trends in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) for ecological productivity models.
• Correlating filtered and unfiltered solar surface irradiance data with aerosol loading from AERONET.
• Studying the spatial variation of solar irradiance across six distinct sites in the Amazon basin.

Strengths

• Measurements are co-located with standardized AERONET sites, ensuring calibration and processing consistency.
• Covers a multi-year time range from 1999 to 2004 across six distinct geographical sites.
• Includes multiple radiation types: total unfiltered solar irradiance, filtered (RG695) irradiance, and PAR.

Limitations

• The exact row count, file size, and specific column names are not provided by any source.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist: one source lists 2004-12-31, while others list 2026 03-13, suggesting a metadata update conflict.

Provenance

Source

ORNL_CLOUD, as part of the LBA-ECO project and AERONET federation.

Collection Method

Ground-based measurements from pyranometers and PAR sensors at fixed sites.

Time Range

1999 to 2004

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:11:36.011130

Geography

Six sites across the Brazilian Amazon.