Background on the WRDC
The WRDC, located at the Main Geophysical Observatory in
St. Petersburg, Russia, serves as a central depository for solar
radiation data collected at over 1000 measurement sites throughout
the world.
The WRDC was established in accordance with Resolution 31 of WMO
Executive Committee XVIII in 1964. The WRDC centrally collects,
archives and published radiometric data from the world to ensure
the availability of these data for research by the international
scientific community.
The WRDC archive contains the following measurements (not all
observations are made at all sites):
- Global solar radiation
- Diffuse solar radiation
- Downward atmospheric radiation
- Sunshine duration
- Direct solar radiation (hourly and instantaneous)
- Net total radiation
- Net terrestrial surface radiation (upward)
- Terrestrial surface radiation
- Reflected solar radiation
- Spectral radiation components (instantaneous fluxes)
At present, this online archive contains a subset of the data stored at
the WRDC. As new measurements are received and processed, they are
added to the archive. The archive currently contains all available data
from 1964-1993.