Background Information

What is Solar Radiation?

Solar radiation is the energy that comes from the sun. Most of the radiation that reaches the Earth is short-wave radiation, including the visible light spectrum. Solar radiation is known as irradiance (with no directional component) and is measured in units of Watts per meters squared (W/m²). Radiation that reaches the Earth is either absorbed or reflected back into the atmosphere. The amount of absorption depends on the surface's color, texture and other properties. Note how hot an asphalt surface gets during the summer when it absorbs the sun's radiation.

How to Interpret the Rainfall Data

The rainfall graphs and the hourly data show the accumulative amount of rainfall for each day starting at midnight. Rainfall is shown in inches. At the start of each day (at midnight), the rainfall is zero. The amount of rainfall is incrementally added during the day and reaches its daily total at midnight. At midnight for each day, the data show a drop from the previous day's total rainfall to zero.

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