Hello, the cf standard name has a definition:
The quantity with standard name solar_irradiance, often called Total Solar Irradiance (TSI), is the radiation from the sun integrated over the whole electromagnetic spectrum and over the entire solar disk. The quantity applies outside the atmosphere, by default at a distance of one astronomical unit from the sun, but a coordinate or scalar coordinate variable of distance_from_sun can be used to specify a value other than the default. "Irradiance" means the power per unit area (called radiative flux in other standard names), the area being normal to the direction of flow of the radiant energy. My question is about the last phrase, which I have highlighted. The flow of radiant energy from the sun at the top of the atmosphere is directed away from the sun .. so this definition would imply that the irradiance is defined relative to a fixed plane in the solar coordinate system. This is OK for solar physicists, but atmospheric scientists are sometime interested in irradiance relative to a horizontal surface. Vaisalla distinguish between the two by defining "horizontal solar irradiance" to be the irradiance on a horizontal surface and "normal solar irradiance" to be irradiance on a surface perpendicular to a line to the sun (http://www.3tier.com/en/support/solar-online-tools/what-solar-values-are-shown-map/ ). Should "solar_irradiance" apply to both usages, or do we need a new standard name, e.g. "horizonatl_solar_irradiance"? regards, Martin _______________________________________________ CF-metadata mailing list CF-metadata@cgd.ucar.edu http://mailman.cgd.ucar.edu/mailman/listinfo/cf-metadata
