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    <p>Christopher,</p>
    <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">yjhuang@whiteboxtechnologies.com</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://weather.whiteboxtechnologies.com">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>
    <blockquote type="cite"
      cite="mid:edf1db94b2994759ac44ade83de1b216@wsp.com">
      <meta http-equiv="Context-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
      <meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered
        medium)">
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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:part1.94A0CC27.2F3AB5EF@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">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"><bfountain@greensim.com></a>; Jones, Christopher
                <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:Christopher.r.Jones@wsp.com"><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:part1.94A0CC27.2F3AB5EF@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:part18.721B15D4.E77B3481@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:part20.A7EA6AA1.9C3F7415@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:part25.F85D2990.0A097006@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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                        -LAEmHhHzdJzBlTWfa4Hgs7pbKl </span></p>
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                  <div>
                    <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>
                  </div>
                  <table class="MsoNormalTable">
                    <tbody>
                      <tr>
                        <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>
                        </td>
                        <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
                                  sender </span></a></span></p>
                        </td>
                        <td>
                          <p class="MsoNormal">
                            <span>•</span></p>
                        </td>
                        <td>
                          <p class="MsoNormal">
                            <span><a
href="mailto:EnergyPlus_Support@yahoogroups.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
                                  group </span></a></span></p>
                        </td>
                        <td>
                          <p class="MsoNormal">
                            <span>•</span></p>
                        </td>
                        <td>
                          <p class="MsoNormal">
                            <span><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/newtopic;_ylc=X3oDMTJlMWdkbGppBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cGMEc3RpbWUDMTUxNTQ0MjU2MQ--"
                                moz-do-not-send="true"><span>Start a New
                                  Topic</span></a> </span></p>
                        </td>
                        <td>
                          <p class="MsoNormal">
                            <span>•</span></p>
                        </td>
                        <td>
                          <p class="MsoNormal">
                            <span><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/conversations/topics/37869;_ylc=X3oDMTM2bjlnNGs2BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BG1zZ0lkAzM3ODc5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTUxNTQ0MjU2MQR0cGNJZAMzNzg2OQ--"
                                moz-do-not-send="true"><span>Messages in
                                  this topic</span></a> (4) </span></p>
                        </td>
                      </tr>
                    </tbody>
                  </table>
                  <div id="megaphoneModule">
                    <div class="MsoNormal">
                      <hr width="100%">
                    </div>
                    <div>
                      <p class="MsoNormal">Check out the automatic photo
                        album with <a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
                          target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">
                          2 photo(s)</a> from this topic. <br>
                        <a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/photos/photomatic/788930472;_ylc=X3oDMTE4M3R1OW82BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGNmOQNQSE9UT01BVElDBHNlYwNtZWdhcGhvbmU-"
                          target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span><img
                              id="_x0000_i1033" alt="image003.png"
                              moz-do-not-send="true"><img
                              id="_x0000_i1034" alt="image003.png"
                              moz-do-not-send="true"></span></a></p>
                    </div>
                    <div class="MsoNormal">
                      <hr width="100%">
                    </div>
                    <div>
                      <div>
                        <div>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"><img id="_x0000_i1036"
                                name="tn_file" moz-do-not-send="true"
                                height="82" width="82"></p>
                          </div>
                          <div>
                            <p class="MsoNormal"><a name="sub_url"
                                moz-do-not-send="true"></a><a
                                href="https://yho.com/1wwmgg"
                                target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true"><span>Have
                                  you tried the highest rated email app?</span></a>
                            </p>
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                              <p class="MsoNormal">With 4.5 stars in
                                iTunes, the Yahoo Mail app is the
                                highest rated email app on the market.
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                      <hr width="100%">
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                  <div id="ygrp-grfd">
                    <p class="MsoNormal"><span>EnergyPlus support is
                        found at:<br>
                        <a href="http://energyplus.helpserve.com"
                          moz-do-not-send="true">http://energyplus.helpserve.com</a>
                        or send a message to
                        <a href="mailto:energyplus-support@gard.com"
                          moz-do-not-send="true">energyplus-support@gard.com</a><br>
                        <br>
                        The EnergyPlus web site is found at:<br>
                        <a href="http://www.energyplus.net/"
                          moz-do-not-send="true">http://www.energyplus.net/</a><br>
                        <br>
                        The group web site is:<br>
                        <a
                          href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnergyPlus_Support/"
                          moz-do-not-send="true">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EnergyPlus_Support/</a><br>
                        <br>
                        Attachments are currently allowed but be mindful
                        that not everyone has a high speed connection. 
                        Limit attachments to small files.<br>
                        <br>
                        EnergyPlus Documentation is searchable.  Open
                        EPlusMainMenu.pdf under the Documentation link
                        and press the &quot;search&quot; button.
                      </span></p>
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                  <div id="ygrp-vital">
                    <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbmFlcm9tBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwN2dGwEc2xrA3ZnaHAEc3RpbWUDMTUxNTQ0MjU2MQ--"
                            moz-do-not-send="true"><span>Visit Your
                              Group</span></a></span></b><span>
                      </span></p>
                    <div>
                      <p class="MsoNormal">
                        <span><span>·<span>        
                            </span></span></span><span class="cat"><b><span><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/EnergyPlus_Support/members/all;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZjN2YmRvBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwN2dGwEc2xrA3ZtYnJzBHN0aW1lAzE1MTU0NDI1NjE-"
                                moz-do-not-send="true"><span>New Members</span></a></span></b></span><b><span>
                          </span></b><span class="ct"><b><span>1</span></b></span><b><span>
                          </span></b></p>
                    </div>
                  </div>
                  <div id="ft">
                    <p class="MsoNormal"><span><a
href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJkYzZoN2MxBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzMzODc0ODgEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDA3Mzg5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA2dmcARzdGltZQMxNTE1NDQyNTYx"
                          moz-do-not-send="true"><span><img
                              id="_x0000_i1038" alt="Yahoo! Groups"
                              moz-do-not-send="true" height="15"
                              width="137"></span></a></span></p>
                    <div>
                      <p class="MsoNormal"><span>•
                          <a
                            href="https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html"
                            moz-do-not-send="true"><span>Privacy</span></a>
                          •
                          <a
href="mailto:EnergyPlus_Support-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe"
                            moz-do-not-send="true">
                            <span>Unsubscribe</span></a> • <a
                            href="https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/"
                            moz-do-not-send="true">
                            <span>Terms of Use</span></a> </span></p>
                    </div>
                  </div>
                  <p class="MsoNormal"><br>
                    <br>
                  </p>
                </div>
                <div>
                  <p class="MsoNormal"><span>.</span></p>
                </div>
              </div>
              <p class="MsoNormal"><img id="_x0000_i1039"
                  moz-do-not-send="true" height="1" width="1"><br>
                <img id="_x0000_i1040" moz-do-not-send="true" height="1"
                  width="1"></p>
              <div>
                <p class="MsoNormal"><span>__,_._,___</span></p>
              </div>
            </blockquote>
            <p class="MsoNormal"><br>
              <br>
              <br>
              <br>
            </p>
            <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>
          </blockquote>
          <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
        </blockquote>
        <p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
      </div>
    </blockquote>
    <br>
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