NASA Derived and Validated Climate Data For RETScreen Use:
Description and Access
Paul Stackhouse NASA Langley Research Center
Charles Whitlock, Bill Chandler, Jim Hoell, Dave Westberg, and Taiping Zhang
Science Systems Analysis, Inc.
Energy Efficiency and RETScreen Version 4
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NASA Strategic Goal 3: Develop a balanced overall program of science, exploration, and aeronautics ….• NASA Sub-goal 3A: Study Earth from space to advance scientific
understanding and meet societal needs.
NASA’s Earth science program: • develop a scientific understanding of Earth’s system and its
response to natural or human-induced changes • to improve prediction of climate, weather, and natural hazards• partner for global modeling and assimilation of observations for
science and applications
NASA’s Earth Applied Sciences program:• benchmark NASA research results into policy and management
decision-support tools • support tools vital for the Nation’s environment, economy, safety,
and security.
NASA Strategic Goals and Applied Sciences
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Researching Science Questions
How is the global Earth system changing?
What are the primary forcings of the Earth
system?
How does the Earth system respond to natural and human-induced changes?
What are the consequences of changes inthe Earth system for human civilization?
How well can we predict future changes to the Earth system?
Water Cycle
Energy Cycle
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NASA Observing Spacecraft for Earth System Research
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Suites of Earth System Science Models
Earth System Science Models for Research and Applications
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NASA Applied Science:POWER Project
Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource
Objective: Improve the Nation’s public and private capability for integrating environmental data into sound management of energy production and energy efficiency systems.
Goals:
1. Establish partnerships to facilitate the integration and adaptation of NASA satellite analysis and modeling data into electric power industry Decision Support System’s (DSS) and databases.
2. Target such datasets for Electric Power, Renewable Energy, Energy-Efficient Building Design and Biomass Crop Development Industries
3. Transition operational capabilities to government and/or private sector entities.
Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource
Objective: Improve the Nation’s public and private capability for integrating environmental data into sound management of energy production and energy efficiency systems.
Goals:
1. Establish partnerships to facilitate the integration and adaptation of NASA satellite analysis and modeling data into electric power industry Decision Support System’s (DSS) and databases.
2. Target such datasets for Electric Power, Renewable Energy, Energy-Efficient Building Design and Biomass Crop Development Industries
3. Transition operational capabilities to government and/or private sector entities.
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SSE
SSE Web Sitehttp://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/
> 200 solar and meteorology parameters; averaged from 23 years of data
POWER Historical Data Sets
Growing over the last 8 years to nearly 30,000 users, 7.5 million hits
and 1.4 million data downloads
NASA Satellite Measurements, Analysis and Modeling
Terra Aqua
GMAOSRB
Earth Science Research Applied Science Outcome
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NASA Parameters For RETScreen
Partner Requested Data from NASA:• RETScreen (NRCan/CETC)• SWERA (UNEP GRID/ USGS, NREL)• MiniCAM (PNNL)• etc
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RETScreen’s Use of POWER Climate Data
• NASA directly delivered data used for Database
• Surface measurements for cities from RETScreen (red dots) • NASA data used when surface measurements unavailable (blue dots)
NASA data In Situ data
RETScreen Climate Database
• Data for locations between points are provided through a direct link to NASA SSE.
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Retrieving NASA ParametersSSE Release 6.0
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NASA Data Project Improvements
Meteorological Products• Improved Atmospheric model and assimilation system• Surface parameters computed at doubled the spatial resolution• Improved validation relative to US/NOAA National Climate Data
Center; observations matched in time and space
Solar Energy products• Improved solar energy algorithms including total, direct and diffuse
irradiance and related products• Improved validation using longer records of more accurate surface
measurements
Improved SSE Data Interface• SSE retrieved data sets now include enhanced parameter sets• SSE Release 6.0 include regional and daily averaged data sets
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Overall Accuracy of NASA:Supplied Parameters
Parameter Name Latest Version Altitude Corrected
Bias RMS Bias RMS
1. All-sky Total Solar Radiation -1.8% (-0.7%) 12.1% (7.7%) na na
2. Air Temperature -0.58 oC 2.1 oC -0.02 oC 1.60 oC
3. Relative Humidity -1.9% 9.2% nya nya
4. Heating Degree-Days 17.0 dd 73.2 dd 0.6 dd 60.7 dd
5. Cooling Degree-Days -5.7 dd 28.7 dd 1.4 dd 25.6 dd
6. Earth Temperature varies +/- 1-2 K na na
7. Earth Temperature Amplitude varies +/- 1-2K na na
8. Atmospheric Pressure -10.37 mb 27.43 mb 0.50 mb 3.43 mb
9. Heating Design Temperature nya nya na na
10. Cooling Design Temperature nya nya na na
11. Earth Surface Elevation nya nya na na
() = 60o N - 60o S; na = not applicable; nya = not yet available
Monthly Averaged Assessment Statistics
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Example Parameters from NASA:Solar Radiation Times Series
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Example Parameters from NASA:All-sky Direct Normal Surface Irradiance
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Example Parameters from NASA:Heating Degree-Days (10-meter)
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Example Parameters from NASA:Cooling Degree-Days (10-meter)
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Example Parameters from NASA:Relative Humidity (10-meter)
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Example Parameters from NASA:Earth Skin Temperature
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Decade to Decade Changes:Solar Radiation Changes
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2
3
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Decade to Decade Changes:Air Temperature Changes (10-meter)
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2
3
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Decade to Decade Changes:Cooling Degree Day Changes (10-meter)
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2
3
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Summary and Conclusions
NASA’s Earth Science Program is aimed at answering critical questions involving the Earth-Atmosphere system using improved satellite analysis and earth systems science modeling
NASA’s Applied Science Program is aimed at transitioning this information to respond to societal and industrial needs
NASA’s POWER project has demonstrated the potential impact of this information through our continued partnership with RETScreen
The latest release of RETScreen combines it’s advanced capabilities for clean energy projects worldwide with the progress of NASA’s research.
NASA data sets now provide: • 23 years of global parameters required by RETScreen• More comprehensive validation for parameter estimates• Upcoming SSE release to make time series and regional data obtainable