How To use Copernicus ERA5 weather data in SIMONA

To use weather data from the past within SIMONA we recommend to use the dataset ERA5 hourly data on single levels from 1940 to present of Copernicus Climate Data Store.

The following parameter should be used:

  • Product type: Reanalysis

  • Variables:

    • Temperature and pressure

      • 2m temperature

    • Wind

      • 100m u-component of wind

      • 100m v-component of wind

    • Radiation and heat

      • Total sky direct solar radiation at surface (FDIR)

      • Surface solar radiation downwards (SSRD)

  • Data format

    • GRIB or NetCDF4

If exporting in NetCDF4 does not work because of insufficient tokens, choose GRIB instead.

For data conversion, our conversion tool copernicusWeather2psdmWeather can be used. Both conversions from NetCDF4 and GRIB are supported.

Pre-Processing solar radiation weather data

Since SIMONAs PV Model requires direct and diffuse solar radiation, the diffuse solar radiation need to be determined from the ERA5 data. Diffuse solar radiation (FDIFF) at surface can be calculated by

\[ FDIFF = SSRD - FDIR \]

with
SSRD = Surface solar radiation downwards
FDIR = Total sky direct solar radiation at surface

References: