This animation shows daily incident solar radiation estimates for 1989 over an area approximately corresponding to the boundaries of the Columbia River basin inside the U.S. These results are from the Daymet model. These simulations used about 900 observation stations as input. Output was generated on a grid with 2km resolution. The effects of topography are diagnosed by the model. Regional topography is shown by the grey-shaded background.
These results illustrate the persistent cloudy conditions that previal over the Cascade mountains, and the extension of that maritime influence into the mountains of northern Idaho and northwestern Montana. The southern part of this region experiences higher radiation loads, due both to lower latitude and a generally drier climate.
New Daymet runs for the entire U.S. are underway, using about 6000 stations, with daily output covering the period 1980-1997, on a 1km grid. Results from these runs will be available over the Internet early in 2000. See the University of Montana's EOS Training Center for more details and updates on the availability of the 1km U.S. Daymet output.