NASA Remote Sensing Validation Data: Saudi Arabia

The King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and NREL operated a solar radiation monitoring network across Saudi Arabia from 1998 to 2003.

The resulting data were made available to support validation of satellite data products related to the NASA Earth Observing System project to evaluate long-term climate trends based on measurements from EOS Terra Platforms.

Data Files

The quality-assessed and flagged measured data are available as comma-separated variables from the sites below. Instrumentation and calibration information is also available for each site.

By accessing these files, you agree to abide by the NREL data disclaimer.

Baseline Surface Radiation Network

Solar Village, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 24.91° north
Longitude: 46.41° east
Elevation: 650 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Annex II Network

Solar Village, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 18.23° north
Longitude: 42.66° east
Elevation: 2039 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Al-ahsa, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 25.30° north
Longitude: 49.48° east
Elevation: 178 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Gizan, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 16.90° north
Longitude: 42.58° east
Elevation: 7 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Qassim, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 26.31° north
Longitude: 43.77° east
Elevation: 647 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 21.68° north
Longitude: 39.15° east
Elevation: 4 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Al-Madinah, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 24.55° north
Longitude: 39.70° east
Elevation: 626 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Al-qaisumah, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 28.32° north
Longitude: 46.13° east
Elevation: 358 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Sharurah, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 17.47° north
Longitude: 47.11° east
Elevation: 725 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 29.79° north
Longitude: 40.10° east
Elevation: 669 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Wadi Al-Dawaser, Saudi Arabia

Latitude: 20.44° north
Longitude: 44.68° east
Elevation: 701 meters
Time zone: +3

2003
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

About the Data

The validation data sets consist of measured surface radiation fluxes, ambient air temperature, and relative humidity at 12 stations distributed over the Arabian Peninsula within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The measurements were made with radiometers calibrated on at least an annual basis against an absolute cavity radiometer traceable to the World Radiometric Reference of the World Meteorological Organization. Measurement sample rate is 10 seconds, with 5-minute averages of the 10-second samples reported.

The Solar Village serves as the Network Operations Center, calibration facility, and data retrieval and quality assessment center. The Solar Village station 5-minute data set is complemented by a suite of instruments compatible with the World Meteorological Organization World Climate Research Programme Baseline Surface Radiation Network specifications, including upwelling and downwelling longwave and shortwave fluxes, an absolute cavity radiometer for direct beam measurements, and 1-minute average (of 2-second samples) data.

An AErosol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) CIMEL sunphotometer, on loan from the NASA AERONET network coordinator, was deployed Feb. 24, 1999, at the Solar Village for aerosol optical depth measurements. A micropulse Lidar on loan from the NASA Clouds and Earth Radiant Energy Systems project team was also deployed at the Solar Village site to complement the Baseline Surface Radiation Network and CIMEL instrumentation.

Data are available to:

  • Evaluate surface flux estimates derived from satellite data products at various levels
  • Assess radiation climatologies of representative areas examined by the satellite instrumentation
  • Assess the accuracy of derived measurement parameters (optical depth, total column water vapor, cloud properties) used in deriving surface fluxes
  • Evaluate the sources and magnitudes of bias and random components of error, and thus the total uncertainty, in satellite-derived products at various stages of the production process.

The structure and availability of the data are best understood by reading about the data files before accessing the data.

Data Processing

Format of the Data Files

Quality Assessment with SERI_QC

Contact

Dr. Naif al-Abbadi
nabbadi@kacst.edu.sa | 966-01-481-3500


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