New Radiative Flux Analysis Data Produced for Southern Great Plains

 
Published: 17 January 2023

This graphic shows three panels with a header that says, "RADFLUXBRS1LONG irradiance and albedo SGP C1, 15 Jun 2021-16 Jun 2021."
This plot shows irradiance and albedo—surface reflectivity—from the Radiative Flux Analysis (RADFLUXANAL) value-added product at the Southern Great Plains Central Facility’s broadband radiometer station from June 15 to 16, 2021.

The Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) user facility processes yearly data from the Radiative Flux Analysis value-added product (RADFLUXANAL VAP) to produce level 2 (c2) data. New c2-level data are available from the 2020–2021 processing at ARM’s Southern Great Plains (SGP) atmospheric observatory.

RADFLUXANAL calculates clear-sky irradiance in the shortwave and longwave surface fluxes from broadband irradiance measured at ARM sites. This VAP also calculates fractional sky cover and cloud parameters, including effective visible cloud optical depth, cloud radiating temperature, and shortwave cloud transmissivity, from the measurements.

When c2 files are available, they should be used instead of c1 files because they include improved data for infrared loss correction.

New RADFLUXANAL c2-level data are available for the following 12 SGP sites and date ranges:

  • the broadband radiometer station (BRS) at the SGP Central Facility (Lamont, Oklahoma): May 23, 2020, through July 11, 2021
  • SGP extended facility E11 (Byron, Oklahoma): June 8, 2020, through July 4, 2021
  • E12 (Pawhuska, Oklahoma): June 7, 2020, through July 2, 2021
  • E13 (Lamont, Oklahoma): June 3, 2020, through July 11, 2021
  • E31 (Anthony, Kansas): June 8, 2020, through July 11, 2021
  • E33 (Newkirk, Oklahoma): June 11, 2020, through July 30, 2021
  • E34 (Maple City, Kansas): June 18, 2020, through July 28, 2021
  • E35 (Tryon, Oklahoma): June 25, 2020, through July 24, 2021
  • E36 (Marshall, Oklahoma): June 26, 2020, through July 26, 2021
  • E37 (Waukomis, Oklahoma): July 1, 2020, through July 26, 2021
  • E39 (Morrison, Oklahoma): June 25, 2020, through July 11, 2021
  • E40 (Pawnee, Oklahoma): June 25, 2020, through July 22, 2021.

Scientists can use the new data now. Access the data in the ARM Data Center. (Go here to create an account to download the data.)

More information about RADFLUXANAL is available on the VAP web page. To share your experience—such as how you use the data and how well they work for you—or to ask a question, contact ARM translator Damao Zhang.

To cite the RADFLUXANAL BRS data, please use doi:10.5439/1395069. For the other RADFLUXANAL data, please use doi:10.5439/1395157.

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ARM is a DOE Office of Science user facility operated by nine DOE national laboratories.