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    Christopher,
    <div class="moz-forward-container">
      <p>This is very interesting information for several reasons: <br>
      </p>
      <p>(1) the snow and rain flags are not part of the raw data stream
        from the weather stations, so I've assumed they have to be
        extracted from the Present Weather reports, <br>
      </p>
      <p>(2) the wy3 is a derived weather file format developed for
        ASHRAE back in the late 1990s so old that Env Canada might be
        the only place still using it; I'm not aware that the wy3
        contains the snow/rain flags but they must have been put there
        by Env. Canada, and I would be very interested to see how these
        flags correlate to what I can get from the Present Weather data
        in the raw weather files.</p>
      <p>In the little bit of time I've spent looking into this issue
        over the past week, I was unsure which of the PW codes should be
        used for the Snow/Rain flags.  Take a look at the attached table
        of Present Weather Observation Codes currently used in weather
        station reports, i.e., METAR.  Should we use all the 7's as
        ISNOW, although 74 - 76 refers to "Ice Pellets", and what about
        85 - 87 referring to "Snow showers or intermittent rain"? 
        Similarly, we can use all the 6's as IRAIN, but what about  24
        (Rain), 25 (Freezing Drizzle), etc.?   That's why I'm very
        interested to see what Env. Canada did.</p>
      <p>(I'm also adding BLDG-SIM back to this post because the same
        issue has been in discussions there, too.</p>
      <p>Joe<br>
      </p>
      <pre class="moz-signature" cols="90">Joe Huang
White Box Technologies, Inc.
346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A
Moraga CA 94556
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data
(o) (925)388-0265
(c) (510)928-2683
"building energy simulations at your fingertips"
</pre>
      <div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 1/11/2018 10:57 AM, Jones,
        Christopher wrote:<br>
      </div>
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          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>The Environment Canada website has
              the latest version of the CWEC files - .epw and raw, .wy3
              format. The .epw file does not include the snow rain flags
              but the raw data .wy3 file does. I converted the .wy3 file
              to .bin using the DOE2 weather processor and voila, the
              snow and rain flags are included in the .bin file. Now, I
              only converted 1 file as a test but it is encouraging. </span></p>
          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
          <div>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span> </span></b></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Christopher R.
                  Jones</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">, P.Eng.</span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Technical Specialist</span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Sustainability &
                Energy</span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span><img id="_x0000_i1041"
                  src="cid:part3.70AE8793.BD586ED7@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
                  class="" height="37" width="78"></span><span></span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span>T +1 416-644-0252</span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span>2300 Yonge Street, Suite 2300</span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Toronto, ON M4P 1E4 Canada</span><span
                lang="EN-GB"><br>
                <br>
              </span><span></span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span><a moz-do-not-send="true"><span>wsp.com</span></a></span></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><u><span lang="EN-CA"><span> </span></span></u></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span> </span></b></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span>Please consider the
                  environment before printing...</span></i></p>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"> </span></p>
          </div>
          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
          <div>
            <div>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span>From:</span></b><span> Joe
                  Huang [<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
                    href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
                    moz-do-not-send="true">mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a>]
                  <br>
                  <b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, January 09, 2018 4:50 PM<br>
                  <b>To:</b> Brian Fountain <a
                    class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
                    href="mailto:bfountain@greensim.com"
                    moz-do-not-send="true"><bfountain@greensim.com></a>;
                  Jones, Christopher <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E"
                    href="mailto:Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com"
                    moz-do-not-send="true"><Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com></a><br>
                  <b>Subject:</b> Re: [Bldg-sim] [EnergyPlus_Support]
                  RE: [Equest-users] White Box Technologies brings
                  simulation weather data to the satellite age</span></p>
            </div>
          </div>
          <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
          <p>Hmm, the Canadian contingent on the bulletin boards are
            voicing their needs in weather data :-)    This reminds me
            of the one trip I took to Calgary in December 20+ years ago
            and seeing the parking lots had electrical outlets at each
            spot so that car engines would not freeze up.  I was duly
            impressed.</p>
          <p>Back to the snow flag on weather files, isn't the condition
            of most relevance whether there's snow cover, rather than
            whether it's snowing?  Unfortunately, the weather station
            raw data do not report this, which could vary quite a bit
            depending on the ground surface anyway.   There ARE fields
            for solid precipitation similar to those for liquid
            precipitation.  I've never looked carefully at these, but
            they might give the amount of snow fall over the past so
            many hours, which would  be an improvement over the Present
            Weather that just tells whether or not there is snowfall
            that hour.  One might be able to calculate snow cover based
            on the amount of snow fall, solar radiation, and
            temperature.  It's quite likely that some meteorologist or
            physicist with time on his/her hands might  have already
            done that in Canada.  If you know of any such work, let me
            know. </p>
          <p>Just based on what I've read so far, I'm going to start
            putting in the IRAIN and ISNOW flags into the DOE-2 *.binm
            files.</p>
          <p>Joe</p>
          <pre>Joe Huang</pre>
          <pre>White Box Technologies, Inc.</pre>
          <pre>346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A</pre>
          <pre>Moraga CA 94556</pre>
          <pre><a href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a></pre>
          <pre><a href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data</pre>
          <pre>(o) (925)388-0265</pre>
          <pre>(c) (510)928-2683</pre>
          <pre>"building energy simulations at your fingertips"</pre>
          <div>
            <p class="MsoNormal">On 1/8/2018 4:35 PM, Brian Fountain
              wrote:</p>
          </div>
          <blockquote>
            <p class="MsoNormal">As Chris suggested, they aren't used
              directly in the sim ... but we use them to create custom
              schedules for snow melting loads.</p>
            <div>
              <p class="MsoNormal">On 08/01/2018 6:44 PM, Joe Huang via
                Bldg-sim wrote:</p>
            </div>
            <blockquote>
              <p>The rain and snow flags are still available in the raw
                weather station data, but haven't been included in the
                processed weather files since the 1990's because 
                everyone in this hemisphere at least have adopted the
                TMY2/TMY3 formats, in content  if not the literal file
                format, developed by NREL, which does not include these
                two flags. I was also under the impression that none of
                the simulation programs, such as DOE-2, do not use these
                two flags anyway.   If these flags are of use, it would
                make sense to include them, which would not require a
                change in the DOE-2 *.BINM format, but would require a
                change to the EnergyPlus *.epw format.</p>
              <p>Joe</p>
              <pre>Joe Huang</pre>
              <pre>White Box Technologies, Inc.</pre>
              <pre>346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A</pre>
              <pre>Moraga CA 94556</pre>
              <pre><a href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a></pre>
              <pre><a href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data</pre>
              <pre>(o) (925)388-0265</pre>
              <pre>(c) (510)928-2683</pre>
              <pre>"building energy simulations at your fingertips"</pre>
              <div>
                <p class="MsoNormal">On 1/8/2018 12:15 PM, 'Jones,
                  Christopher' <a
                    href="mailto:christopher.r.jones@wsp.com"
                    moz-do-not-send="true"> christopher.r.jones@wsp.com</a>
                  [EnergyPlus_Support] wrote:</p>
              </div>
              <blockquote>
                <p class="MsoNormal">  </p>
                <div id="ygrp-mlmsg">
                  <div id="ygrp-msg">
                    <div id="ygrp-text">
                      <div>
                        <p class="MsoNormal"><span>I have a question –
                            what happened to the rain and snow flags
                            that were in the old CWEC file but are
                            missing in the latest versions. Many snow
                            melting systems have a snow/rain sensor in
                            the slab used to trigger the system on. </span>
                        </p>
                        <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                        <div>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span> </span></b></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-GB">Christopher
                                R. Jones</span></b><span lang="EN-GB">,
                              P.Eng.</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Technical
                              Specialist</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB">Sustainability
                              & Energy</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span><img
                                id="Picture_x0020_15"
                                src="cid:part3.70AE8793.BD586ED7@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
                                class="" height="37" width="78"></span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>T +1 416-644-0252</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>2300 Yonge Street,
                              Suite 2300</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Toronto, ON M4P 1E4
                              Canada</span><span lang="EN-GB"><br>
                              <br>
                              <br>
                            </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span><a
                                moz-do-not-send="true"><span>wsp.com</span></a></span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"> </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span> </span></b></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><i><span>Please consider
                                the environment before printing...</span></i></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-CA"> </span></p>
                        </div>
                        <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                        <div>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span>From:</span></b><span>
                                Equest-users [<a
                                  href="mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org"
                                  moz-do-not-send="true">mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org</a>]
                                <b>On Behalf Of </b>Joe Huang via
                                Equest-users<br>
                                <b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, January 02, 2018
                                10:15 PM<br>
                                <b>To:</b> Nicholas Caton <a
                                  href="mailto:Nicholas.Caton@schneider-electric.com"
                                  moz-do-not-send="true">
<Nicholas.Caton@schneider-electric.com></a>; BLDG-SIM <a
                                  href="mailto:bldg-sim@lists.onebuilding.org"
                                  moz-do-not-send="true">
                                  <bldg-sim@lists.onebuilding.org></a>;
                                EnergyPlus_Support <a
                                  href="mailto:EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.com"
                                  moz-do-not-send="true">
<EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.com></a>; <a
                                  href="mailto:equest-users@onebuilding.org"
                                  moz-do-not-send="true">
                                  equest-users@onebuilding.org</a><br>
                                <b>Cc:</b> Jim Dirkes <a
                                  href="mailto:jim@buildingperformanceteam.com"
                                  moz-do-not-send="true"><jim@buildingperformanceteam.com></a><br>
                                <b>Subject:</b> Re: [Equest-users] White
                                Box Technologies brings simulation
                                weather data to the satellite age</span></p>
                          </div>
                        </div>
                        <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                        <p>Nick,</p>
                        <p>This is an interesting topic that has evolved
                          in an unexpected way.  Now that NREL has
                          mastered the technology of satellite-derived
                          solar radiation, they have regarded weather
                          station data as an impediment, since there's
                          no way to get such measured data to match the
                          5-kilometer grid of the satellite-derived
                          solar.  Therefore, they have abandoned the
                          weather station data (which was was used in
                          all the TMYs to date) and gone instead to
                          Reanalysis Data from NOAA's MERRA, which is
                          running a climate forecasting model in
                          retrospective mode. I don't have time now to
                          discuss reanalysis, except to say that from
                          what I've seen the results are decidedly
                          "iffy".  Almost two years ago, I managed to
                          get a Work Statement through ASHRAE  for
                          someone to take a good look at reanalysis
                          data.</p>
                        <p>So, what does this mean for your question?  
                          NREL's National Solar Radiation Data Base
                          (NSRDB) can now get you the hourly time series
                          or a TMY for more than a million grid points
                          over the US, all with satellite-derived solar
                          radiation but  MERRA results for the other
                          climate parameters.  I've told NREL several
                          years ago that for the building simulation
                          industry it would be much better to merge the 
                          satellite-derived solar with actual station
                          data that give good accurate coverage of urban
                          areas where buildings are located. NREL's
                          response was that they'd be happy to do this,
                          but someone has to pay them for the work. </p>
                        <p>In response to your hypothesis below, I think
                          you're being too disparaging of the previous
                          modeling efforts while raising too high your
                          expectations of satellite solar.  It's not
                          that the previous models failed to account for
                          local climate conditions, but that they lacked
                          good data to drive them.  For example, all
                          models included terms for cloud cover and
                          clearness, or for the more detailed physical
                          models arcane parameters like aerosol optical
                          depth, preciptable moisture, etc.,  but how
                          available are the input data and how reliable
                          are they?  The advantages of satellite-derived
                          solar are that they provide a comprehensive
                          and objective view of the cloud conditions,
                          which combined with satellite measurements of
                          the atmospheric conditions and  improved
                          modeling, results in  accuracies that previous
                          modeling efforts can not attain.  As far as
                          discerning localized effects of smog and dust
                          in urban areas, that would still depend on
                          whether there's sufficient monitoring at that
                          spatial and time scale to detect the
                          differences.   What I mean is that it's one
                          thing to observe that in general urban
                          locations have more smog and particulates than
                          rural locations, but it's something else to
                          quantify the resultant differences in solar
                          radiation over time and distance.</p>
                        <p>I'd like to take the opportunity here to step
                          back and comment on the status of weather data
                          for the building energy community, My
                          interactions with NREL has brought the
                          realization that we have been piggy-backing on
                          the efforts of others outside our community
                          for our weather data.  I don't intend to pick
                          on the NREL Solar Program, several of whom I
                          consider friends and colleagues, but their
                          target client is the solar power industry. 
                          Since solar power arrays can be installed
                          anywhere, preferably in rural uninhabited
                          locations, it makes sense to go to
                          satellite-derived solar.  It's also clear that
                          to serve that industry, NREL would focus its
                          efforts on getting the best solar values,
                          while all the other climatic parameters, like
                          temperature, humidity, wind speed, etc., are
                          secondary, which may be why getting them from
                          MERRA is a satisfactory choice.  The focus on
                          solar is also evident in the weighting used by
                          NREL to develop the TMYs, with 50% weight
                          placed on the 2 solar and 50% on the remaining
                          8 non-solar parameters. </p>
                        <p>For the building energy community, or
                          priorities are somewhat different. Since 99%
                          of buildings are located in urban locations,
                          we should focus much more on climate in urban
                          areas.  Luckily, that's also where the great
                          majority of existing weather are located,
                          which is why I'm resistant to throwing out
                          measured weather data and replacing them with
                          synthetic data, no matter how much they've
                          been "seeded" with real data. As for the
                          weighting of climate parameters in selecting
                          the typical months,  why not use building
                          energy simulations and weight them by the
                          distribution of heating and cooling loads? </p>
                        <p>Joe</p>
                        <pre>Joe Huang</pre>
                        <pre>White Box Technologies, Inc.</pre>
                        <pre>346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A</pre>
                        <pre>Moraga CA 94556</pre>
                        <pre><a href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a></pre>
                        <pre><a href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data</pre>
                        <pre>(o) (925)388-0265</pre>
                        <pre>(c) (510)928-2683</pre>
                        <pre>"building energy simulations at your fingertips"</pre>
                        <div>
                          <p class="MsoNormal">On 1/2/2018 9:30 AM,
                            Nicholas Caton wrote:</p>
                        </div>
                        <blockquote>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Hi Joe,</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>From your
                              perspective, are NREL or any other
                              government/professional bodies making
                              moves/indications to update/refresh the
                              current TMY3 sets to utilize
                              satellite-derived solar radiation?  Seems
                              like a no-brainer for our industry, but is
                              there a counter-argument?  It seems
                              likely, but has there been rigorous
                              comparisons of satellite-derived solar
                              radiation against measured values and/or
                              our “present-day” solar models used to
                              derive solar radiation information for
                              building energy simulation?</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Also, I’m trying to
                              understand and correctly characterize the
                              impact of this development in simple terms
                              my brain can follow.  Is it fair to say: </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>The solar models
                              used in developing weather files for
                              building energy simulations to-date in our
                              industry (including all/most
                              industry-standard TMY weather sets),
                              because they have been using solar
                              radiation derived from (evolving) solar
                              models, have <u>not</u> accounted for the
                              likes of local climate cloud cover / smog
                              / dust?  Seattle (~47°N) has perhaps been
                              seeing as much sunlight through the winter
                              as Paris (~48°N)?</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Does
                              satellite-derived solar radiation address
                              some or all of these local climate issues
                              (cloud cover, smog, dust) affecting
                              direct/indirect solar radiation? </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>Thanks sincerely
                              for all your teaching Joe,</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span>~Nick</span></p>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"><span><img
                                  id="Picture_x0020_1"
                                  src="cid:part23.EE5C6B60.EF795914@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
                                  class="" height="9" width="726"></span></p>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span>Nick Caton,
                                  P.E., BEMP</span></b></p>
                            <table class="MsoNormalTable" width="0">
                              <tbody>
                                <tr>
                                  <td width="230">
                                    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>  Senior
                                        Energy Engineer</span><span><br>
                                      </span><span>  Regional Energy
                                        Engineering Manager</span></p>
                                    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>  Energy
                                        and Sustainability Services</span><span><br>
                                      </span><span>  Schneider Electric</span></p>
                                  </td>
                                  <td width="291">
                                    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>D  </span><span>913.564.6361
                                      </span><span><br>
                                      </span><span>M  </span><span>785.410.3317
                                      </span><span><br>
                                      </span><span>F  </span><span>913.564.6380</span><span><br>
                                      </span><span>E  </span><span><a
                                          href="mailto:nicholas.caton@schneider-electric.com"
                                          moz-do-not-send="true"><span>nicholas.caton@schneider-electric.com</span></a></span></p>
                                  </td>
                                  <td width="203">
                                    <p class="MsoNormal"> <span>15200
                                        Santa Fe Trail Drive<br>
                                        Suite 204<br>
                                        Lenexa, KS 66219<br>
                                        United States</span></p>
                                  </td>
                                </tr>
                                <tr>
                                  <td colspan="3" width="724">
                                    <p class="MsoNormal"><span><img
                                          id="_x0000_i1027"
                                          src="cid:part25.DB7B146C.E00A4B79@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
                                          class="" height="49"
                                          width="722"></span></p>
                                  </td>
                                </tr>
                              </tbody>
                            </table>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          </div>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                          <div>
                            <div>
                              <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span>From:</span></b><span>
                                  Equest-users [<a
                                    href="mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org"
                                    moz-do-not-send="true">mailto:equest-users-bounces@lists.onebuilding.org</a>]
                                  <b>On Behalf Of </b>Joe Huang via
                                  Equest-users<br>
                                  <b>Sent:</b> Thursday, December 14,
                                  2017 8:13 PM<br>
                                  <b>To:</b> BLDG-SIM <a
                                    href="mailto:bldg-sim@lists.onebuilding.org"
                                    moz-do-not-send="true"><bldg-sim@lists.onebuilding.org></a>;
                                  EnergyPlus_Support <a
                                    href="mailto:EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.com"
                                    moz-do-not-send="true"><EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.com></a>;
                                  <a
                                    href="mailto:equest-users@lists.onebuilding.org"
                                    moz-do-not-send="true">equest-users@lists.onebuilding.org</a><br>
                                  <b>Subject:</b> [Equest-users] White
                                  Box Technologies brings simulation
                                  weather data to the satellite age</span></p>
                            </div>
                          </div>
                          <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                          <p>It is with joy and some trepidation to
                            report that White Box Technologies (WBT) is
                            updating all its historical weather files
                            with satellite-derived solar radiation. Joy
                            because this overcomes what has been the
                            most significant question mark with weather
                            files; trepidation because of the amount of
                            work needed to carry out and maintain this
                            effort. To show that this is more than
                            marketing hype, I need to give a rather long
                            explanation about this development.<br>
                            <br>
                            The bane of weather data over the past three
                            decades has been the solar radiation (global
                            horizontal and direct normal) which are not
                            measured parameters, but derived using
                            various solar and sky models. All the
                            familiar "typical year" sets, i.e., TMY,
                            WYEC, IWEC, etc., let alone the historical
                            weather files, have modeled solar radiation.
                            Although a lot of<br>
                            work has gone into such models (see M.
                            Iqbal,"An Introduction to Solar Radiation",
                            Academic Press, 1983), there remain an
                            almost intractible problem of the lack of
                            good measured solar to tune any of these
                            models. For example, in the ASHRAE IWEC2
                            weather files, my team was able to find one
                            or two years' measured data for less than 50
                            locations,<br>
                            from which were derived 28 sets of
                            regression coefficients then used for all
                            3,012 IWEC2 locations.<br>
                            <br>
                            For the past decade and a half, researchers
                            around the world have been working to derive
                            solar radiation from weather satellite
                            imagery, driven largely by the needs of the
                            solar power industry for the siting of solar
                            power plants and getting "bankable" solar
                            estimates for their arrays. Our little
                            building energy simulation sector can of
                            course benefit by hanging on the coattails
                            of the solar power industry, but the
                            downside has been to be totally priced out,
                            since the commercial cost for one year's
                            solar data for one location (grid cell)
                            typically runs around $1,000.<br>
                            <br>
                            A welcome development over the last five
                            years is that various government offices or
                            affiliated consortia are now beginning to
                            also providing access to satellite-derived
                            solar radiation at minimal or more
                            acceptable costs under various conditions.
                            Over the past three years, WBT has obtained
                            access to such data and permission for its
                            use in WBT weather files.<br>
                            WBT is now either replacing the solar
                            radiation on its historical weather files,
                            or using satellite-derived radiation to
                            develop custom solar coefficients for each
                            location to extend the satellite-derived
                            solar to time periods outside the available
                            time window. With the exception of polar
                            locations above or below 60/66 degrees,
                            island nations in the Pacific and Indian
                            Ocean, and a few unfortunate "blind spots",
                            the entire land mass is being covered with
                            at least 10 years up to 18 years of hourly
                            solar records.<br>
                            <br>
                            Starting in 2018, WBT historical weather
                            files in the following areas will all have
                            satellite-derived solar radiation for the
                            following time periods: Europe, Africa,
                            South America east of 66 West, i.e., Brazil
                            and Uruguay (2004 to date), Australia (1999
                            to date), and East Asia (2007 to date,
                            access pending). WBT historical weather
                            files in the following areas will have
                            satellite-derived solar radiation for the
                            indicated time periods - North America and
                            Central/South American down to 20 South
                            (1998-2015), South Asia (2000-2014), with
                            modeled solar radiation from 2016 on that
                            has been individually tuned to the past
                            satellite-derived solar.<br>
                            <br>
                            Another benefit to the satellite-derived
                            solar is to increases the number of
                            available weather stations, which in many
                            places has been limited by the lack of cloud
                            cover data needed to model the solar
                            radiation.  For reasons that are not
                            immediately identifiable, several
                            English-speaking Commonwealth countries has
                            seen a marked drop in the number of
                            available stations due to the decreases in
                            the reporting of cloud cover (see plot, ZAF
                            = South Africa). For example, the number of
                            stations in the UK has dropped by almost
                            2/3s between 2001 and 2017 (174 to 64), but
                            with satellite-derived solar, it will go
                            back up to over 180, while in Australia and
                            South Africa the comparable numbers are from
                            175 to well over 500, and from 37 to over
                            100, respectively.<br>
                            <img id="_x0000_i1028"
                              src="cid:part30.571DC63A.89F851F3@whiteboxtechnologies.com"
                              class="" height="337" width="625"><br>
                            If interested, customers who have purchased
                            a historical weather files from WBT over the
                            past five years can get an updated weather
                            file at no cost. Lastly, although it will
                            take at least a month to update all 10,000
                            2017 files, it's very quick to do for any
                            specific location or even 50 or so
                            locations. Therefore, if you have an urgent
                            request please e-mail me and I will put that
                            at the beginning of the queue for that day.</p>
                          <pre>-- </pre>
                          <pre>Joe Huang</pre>
                          <pre>White Box Technologies, Inc.</pre>
                          <pre>346 Rheem Blvd., Suite 205A</pre>
                          <pre>Moraga CA 94556</pre>
                          <pre><a href="mailto:yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a></pre>
                          <pre><a href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com" moz-do-not-send="true">http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com</a> for simulation-ready weather data</pre>
                          <pre>(o) (925)388-0265</pre>
                          <pre>(c) (510)928-2683</pre>
                          <pre>"building energy simulations at your fingertips"</pre>
                        </blockquote>
                        <p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
                      </div>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
                      <div class="MsoNormal">
                        <hr width="100%"> </div>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span><br>
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                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span>__._,_.___</span></p>
                    </div>
                    <div id="fromDMARC">
                      <div class="MsoNormal">
                        <hr width="100%"> </div>
                      <p class="MsoNormal">Posted by: "Jones,
                        Christopher" <a
                          href="mailto:Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com"
                          moz-do-not-send="true">
                          <Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com></a> </p>
                      <div class="MsoNormal">
                        <hr width="100%"> </div>
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                      <tbody>
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                          <td>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"> <b><span><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/messages/37879;_ylc=X3oDMTJxajJicWVxBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BG1zZ0lkAzM3ODc5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTUxNTQ0MjU2MQ--?act=reply&messageNum=37879"
                                    moz-do-not-send="true"><span>Reply
                                      via web post</span></a> </span></b></p>
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                          <td>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"> <span>•</span></p>
                          </td>
                          <td>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"> <span><a
href="mailto:Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com?subject=RE%3A%20%5BEquest-users%5D%20White%20Box%20Technologies%20brings%20simulation%20weather%20data%20to%20the%20satellite%20age"
                                  moz-do-not-send="true"><span>Reply to
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                          <td>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"> <span>•</span></p>
                          </td>
                          <td>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"> <span><a
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href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/topics/37869;_ylc=X3oDMTM2bjlnNGs2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BG1zZ0lkAzM3ODc5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTUxNTQ0MjU2MQR0cGNJZAMzNzg2OQ--"
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                        <p class="MsoNormal">Check out the automatic
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                            target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"> 2
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href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
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                                    you tried the highest rated email
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href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbmFlcm9tBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwN2dGwEc2xrA3ZnaHAEc3RpbWUDMTUxNTQ0MjU2MQ--"
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href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJkYzZoN2MxBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2dmcARzdGltZQMxNTE1NDQyNTYx"
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                    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>.</span></p>
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                    moz-do-not-send="true" height="1" width="1"><br>
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                    height="1" width="1"></p>
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                  <p class="MsoNormal"><span>__,_._,___</span></p>
                </div>
              </blockquote>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><br>
                <br>
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              <pre>_______________________________________________</pre>
              <pre>Bldg-sim mailing list</pre>
              <pre><a href="http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org" moz-do-not-send="true">http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/bldg-sim-onebuilding.org</a></pre>
              <pre>To unsubscribe from this mailing list send  a blank message to <a href="mailto:BLDG-SIM-UNSUBSCRIBE@ONEBUILDING.ORG" moz-do-not-send="true">BLDG-SIM-UNSUBSCRIBE@ONEBUILDING.ORG</a></pre>
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