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Typical Meteorological Year (Version Superseded)

Metadata Updated: February 2, 2026

This dataset has been superseded by newer versions. Please see Associated Resources for more information. Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) is a digital data set archived at the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Solar radiation and surface meteorological data recorded on an hourly basis are included in this file. These data cover recording periods from January 1953 through December 1975 for 26 data rehabilitation stations, although the recording periods for some stations may differ. The TMY files comprise specific calendar months selected from the entire recorded span for a given station as the most representative or typical, for that station and month. For example, a single January is chosen from the 23 Januarys for which data are recorded from 1953 through 1975 on the basis of its being most nearly like the composite of all 23 Januarys. Thus, for a given station, January of 1967 might be selected as the typical meteorological month after all of the other 22 Januarys. This process is pursued for each of the other calendar months, and the twelve months chosen then constitute the TMY. The major parameters in this file are solar time, extraterrestrial radiation (RAD), direct radiation, diffuse radiation, net radiation, tilt radiation, observed radiation, engineering corrected radiation, standard year corrected radiation, sunshine, sky condition, visibility, weather, pressure, temperature and snow cover.

Access & Use Information

License: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Date January 12, 2026
Metadata Created Date February 2, 2026
Metadata Updated Date February 2, 2026
Reference Date(s) 1981-05 (publication)
Frequency Of Update notPlanned

Metadata Source

Harvested from ncdc

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Date January 12, 2026
Metadata Created Date February 2, 2026
Metadata Updated Date February 2, 2026
Reference Date(s) 1981-05 (publication)
Responsible Party DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce (Point of Contact)
Contact Email
Guid gov.noaa.ncdc:C00045
Access Constraints Cite as: National Climatic Center (1981): Typical Meteorological Year, DSI-9734. [indicate subset used] NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. [access date], Distribution liability: NOAA and NCEI make no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding these data, nor does the fact of distribution constitute such a warranty. NOAA and NCEI cannot assume liability for any damages caused by any errors or omissions in these data. If appropriate, NCEI can only certify that the data it distributes are an authentic copy of the records that were accepted for inclusion in the NCEI archives., Use liability: NOAA and NCEI cannot provide any warranty as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of furnished data. Users assume responsibility to determine the usability of these data. The user is responsible for the results of any application of this data for other than its intended purpose.
Bbox East Long -66
Bbox North Lat 50
Bbox South Lat 24
Bbox West Long -125
Coupled Resource
Frequency Of Update notPlanned
Harvest Object Id cebc9eb5-29a7-4b18-b3ba-b1dd3045edeb
Harvest Source Id 2cb3ef77-1683-4c2a-9119-dc65e50917c6
Harvest Source Title ncdc
Licence Limited period of record (1953-1975); Limited number of stations (26 U.S. stations). National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) hosts an updated dataset, TMY3 (2008), which is based on more recent and accurate data--it will make possible more accurate performance and economic analyses of energy systems> TMY3 data set is recommended for use in place of earlier TMY data sets (TMY, 1981--this data) and (TMY2, 1995). See "Associated resources".
Lineage The Typical Meteorological Year (TMY) data were produced under contract to the Department of Energy by a number of organizations. The "rehabilitated" solar radiation data for 26 locations and all meteorological data were supplied by the National Climatic Data Center, the modeled (ERSATZ) solar radiation data were developed by the Air Resources Laboratory/NOAA, the TMY data for the 26 "rehabilitated" locations were developed by Sandia Laboratories, and the TMY data for all other locations were produced by EG&G of Los Alamos, New Mexico.
Metadata Language eng; USA
Metadata Type geospatial
Old Spatial {"type": "Polygon", "coordinates": [[[-125.0, 24.0], [-66.0, 24.0], [-66.0, 50.0], [-125.0, 50.0], [-125.0, 24.0]]]}
Progress
Spatial Data Service Type
Spatial Reference System
Spatial Harvester True
Temporal Extent Begin 1953-01-01
Temporal Extent End 1975-12-31

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