Monthly Files

The files in this directory contain monthly mean values of climate data for each grid point. The files names are of the format: VVV.MMM, where VVV is the variable name and MMM the month (or annual).

The scaling factor is the factor by which the data were multiplied before they were put into the files. To get the values back into the units described in the file header, you need to divide the values in the files by the scaling factor.

For example, temperature is given in units of degrees C and has a scaling factor of 10. This means that a value in the file of 56 is actually 5.6 degrees C.

Standard SI units are used, e.g., W = Watts, m = meters etc.

USING THE SVF FILES

A description of how to use the SVF format files is presented here. Included in this description are methods for transforming information between the formats of lat/lon, gridpoint, and file position. The file is also available in downloadable format:

SVF_FORMAT

VARIABLE NAME VVV

FSR

Daily fraction of potential incident solar radiation [fraction 0-1]. This is the ratio of the total incident solar radiation (sr) to potential total incident solar radiation (psr).
Scaling factor: 1000

IRR

Mean daily irradiance [W/m**2].
Scaling factor: 100

P

Precipitation [mm/month].
Scaling factor: 1

PSR

Potential total incident solar radiation [kJ/m**2/month].
Scaling factor: 0.01

RH

Mean daylight relative humidity [%].
Scaling factor: 10

SR

Total incident solar radiation [kJ/m**2/day].
Scaling factor: 1

TM

Mean temperature [degrees C]. Average of tn and tx values.
Scaling factor: 10

TN

Minimum temperature [degrees C].
Scaling factor: 10

TX

Maximum temperature [degrees C].
Scaling factor: 10

VP

Vapor pressure [mb].
Scaling factor: 100

W

Surface windspeed [m/s].
Scaling factor: 10

MONTH MMM

A three letter representation of the month (jan, feb, mar, etc) or 'ann' for annual files which contain the mean of each month. Scaling factors for annual files are the same as for the monthly files of that variable.

OTHER FILES IN THE DIRECTORY

c_atmin and c_atmax

contain the absolute minimum and maximum temperature [C] contained in the daily files which comprise the 'characteristic year' for the VEMAP data.
Scaling factor: 10.

c_mtmin and c_mtmax

contain the month of occurence of the absolute minimum and maximum temperature in the characteristic year [month id 1-12].
Scaling factor: 1

FILES AVAILABLE

For a listing of all the files in this directory click here.

These same files are also listed in tar`d and compressed format here. This is a quicker way to download several files at once.

If you are using the data a lot there will be a CD-ROM available soon.

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