Dear all,

I'm part of a team which is using ERA5 data to estimate the power production of wind and solar plants. To do that, we use U and V wind components, surface temperature, and radiation (SSRD and TISR).

While wind components and temperature are instantaneous parameters (valid at the specified time), radiation is an accumulation over the hour ending at the validity date/time. Therefore, as far as I understand, there is a mismatch between the validity time of the data. So, to fix this mismatch, we should "delay" the radiation series by one hour.

Does anyone come across this same issue before? Am I missing something? Is there any way to download the data for the same validity time?

Thanks in advance,

Taina

4 Comments

  1. Michela Giusti

    Hi,

    please have a look at the following definitions:

    ERA5 terminology: analysis and forecast; time and steps; instantaneous and accumulated and mean rates and min/max parameters - Copernicus Knowledge Base - ECMWF Confluence Wiki

    Best regards

    Michela

  2. Taina Martins

    Hi Michela,

    I had already checked the definitions and the reason of the mismatch is explained: While wind components and temperature are instantaneous parameters (valid at the specified time), radiation is an accumulation over the hour ending at the validity date/time.

    The problem is the mismatch between radiation and wind time series. When working with both of them, to fix this mismatch, we should "delay" the radiation series by one hour. 

    I just wanted to confirm my understanding. Thank you!

  3. Alina Burmester

    Hi Taina, 

    did you receive any feedback how to combine instantaneous timeseries with accumulation over an hour?

    Best regards,

    Alina

    1. Taina Martins

      Hi Alina,

      The only answer I got was from Michela Giusti, you can see it here in the thread.

      Best,

      Tainá

Feedback: C3S User Satisfaction Survey - CAMS User Satisfaction Survey

Web: C3S Help and Support - CAMS Help and Support