TCTE3TSID: Daily Solar Irradiance from the TCTE/TIM Satellite Mission

TCTE3TSID Version 004 is the final calibrated dataset of daily averaged total solar irradiance measurements from the Total Irradiance Monitor instrument on the TCTE satellite. The data, normalized to one astronomical unit, cover the full mission from December 2013 to June 2019, with a designed absolute accuracy of 350 parts per million. It provides a continuous record for monitoring changes in the Sun's energy output incident on Earth's atmosphere.

Use Cases

• Calibrating and cross-validating solar irradiance models based on the instrument's high-precision measurements.
• Analyzing long-term trends in solar output using the daily-averaged time series from 2013 to 2019.
• Studying the impact of solar cycle variations on Earth's energy budget using the full-wavelength spectrum data.
• Establishing continuity with other solar observation missions by leveraging the overlap period with SORCE TIM.

Strengths

• Represents the final, authoritative version (V004) that supersedes all previous releases.
• Provides high-precision measurements with a designed absolute accuracy of 350 ppm and long-term relative accuracy of 10 ppm per year.
• Covers a significant, continuous time range from December 2013 to June 30, 2019.

Limitations

• Data completeness is inconsistent, with weekly (rather than daily) sampling between May and December 2014, which the source description states 'greatly subsample[s] the true solar variability'.
• Key metadata such as specific column names, exact row count, and file size are not provided across any source.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' metadata between platforms (2026 vs. 2019), casting doubt on provenance freshness.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), collected by the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) instrument on the TCTE satellite.

Collection Method

Measured using an ambient temperature active cavity radiometer.

Time Range

December 2013 to June 30, 2019.

Freshness

Last updated dates conflict: one source states 2026-04-09, another states 2019-05-15.

Geography

Global (measurements of the Sun, normalized to 1 AU).