PY

FullView
SOLAR CO Site Climate
Variability Analysis
E
PL

ANALYSIS OF 13-YEAR RECORD DATE

Joshua Tree, California May 13, 2010

M
SA

FOR CONTACT
Client X, Inc. ph: +1 206.325.1573
fax: +1 206.325.1618

info@3tier.com
www.3tier.com

2001 6th Avenue, Suite 2100

Seattle, WA 98121-2534

NOTICE
Copyright 2010
c 3TIER, Inc. All rights reserved. 3TIER claims a copyright in all proprietary
and copyrightable text and graphics in this Report, the overall design of this Report, and the
selection, arrangement and presentation of all materials in this Report. Reproduction and
redistribution are prohibited without the express written permission from 3TIER. Requests
for permission may be directed to info@3tier.com.
SA
M
PL
E
CO
PY
 Joshua Tree
Introduction For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

1 INTRODUCTION
........................................................................................................................................

3TIER has been retained by Client X, Inc. to assess the variability and magnitude of solar irradiance, wind speed and
temperature at the Joshua Tree project site located in California. This report provides a retrospective analysis of the past
13 years of solar irradiance, wind speed and temperature data.

PY
The long-term (January 1, 1997 – December 31, 2009) average global horizontal irradiance value at the Joshua Tree site
(Latitude: 34.017◦ N, Longitude: 116.183◦ W) is 5.898 kWh/m2 /day (245.7 W/m2 ). The long-term average direct normal
irradiance value is 7.292 kWh/m2 /day (303.8 W/m2 ), and the long-term average diffuse horizontal irradiance value is
1.415 kWh/m2 /day (58.96 W/m2 ).
The long-term average wind speed at 10 meters above ground level (AGL) is 4.17 m/s. The long-term average temperature

CO
at 2 meters AGL is 15.4 ◦ C.
No on-site observations were provided at this project location; thus, all data presented within this report
are purely processed satellite output and raw model output. If observational data become available, 3TIER can
incorporate the data via additional analysis and provide statistically-corrected results.
E
PL
M
SA

1

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Table of Contents For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

Contents
1 Introduction 1

2 Explanation of Irradiance Values 3

PY
2.1 Global Horizontal Irradiance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.2 Direct Normal Irradiance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2.3 Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Solar Resource Assessment 4

3.1 Monthly-mean Variability of Solar Irradiance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2 Solar Irradiance Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

CO
3.3 Diurnal Variability of Solar Irradiance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.4 Tabular Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4 Model simulations by 3TIER 10

5 Wind and Temperature Resource Assessment 11

5.1 Monthly-Mean Variability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
5.2 Diurnal Variability of Wind Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
E
5.3 Diurnal Variability of Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
5.4 Tabular Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
PL
M
SA

2

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Methodology For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

2 EXPLANATION OF IRRADIANCE VALUES

........................................................................................................................................

The irradiance values presented in this report are from 3TIER’s solar dataset. This dataset is based on the past 13
years (January 1997 through December 2009) of half-hourly high-resolution (roughly 1 km) visible satellite imagery from
GOES satellite data (GOES East and GOES West, using the broad-band visible wavelength channel). The satellite imagery

PY
has been processed to create 13 years of hourly values of Global Horizontal Irradiance, Direct Normal Irradiance and Diffuse
Horizontal Irradiance at a horizontal resolution of 2 arc minutes. To develop and validate the model, and estimate the
error, 3TIER compared the derived irradiance values with observations from the direct surface radiation measurements
contained in the National Solar Radiation Database and the Baseline Surface Radiation Network.

2.1 Global Horizontal Irradiance

CO
Global Horizontal Irradiance is the quantity of the total solar radiation per unit area that is intercepted by a flat, horizontal
surface. This value is of particular interest to photovoltaic installations. It includes both direct beam radiation (radiation
that comes from the direction of the sun) and diffuse radiation (radiation that has been scattered by the atmosphere and
which comes from all directions of the sky). The estimate has a standard error of 10%.
E
2.2 Direct Normal Irradiance

Direct Normal Irradiance is the quantity of direct beam solar radiation per unit area that is intercepted by a flat surface that
PL
is at all times pointed in the direction of the sun. This quantity is of particular interest to concentrating solar installations
and installations that track the position of the sun. The estimate has a standard error of 16%.

2.3 Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance

M

Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance is the quantity of diffuse solar radiation per unit area that is intercepted by a flat, horizontal
surface that is not subject to any shade or shadow and does not arrive on a direct path from the sun. The estimate has a
standard error of 10%.
SA

3

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Solar Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

3 SOLAR RESOURCE ASSESSMENT

........................................................................................................................................

This section provides a retrospective analysis of the past 13 years of solar irradiance data at the Joshua Tree project
site (Latitude: 34.017◦ N, Longitude: 116.183◦ W). All irradiance data presented within this section are valid only for this
particular location.

PY
3.1 Monthly-mean Variability of Solar Irradiance

400
Global Horizontal Irradiance

CO
300
W / m2

200

100
E
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Direct Normal Irradiance

PL
400
W / m2

300
M

200

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
100
SA

Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance

80
W / m2

60

40

20
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month

Figure 1: Variability of monthly-mean Global Horizontal [top], Direct Normal [middle], and Diffuse Horizontal
[bottom] irradiance. Long-term monthly-mean values are denoted by colored circles. Upper and lower boundaries
of the dark shading correspond to the 75% and 25% quartiles, while the light shading denotes the maximum
and minimum monthly-mean irradiance values. Please note that the vertical scale varies between the plots.

4

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Solar Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

3.2 Solar Irradiance Distributions

12
Global Horizontal Irradiance
Frequency (%)

PY
8

CO
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100

16 Direct Normal Irradiance

Frequency (%)

12
E
8

4
PL

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
32 Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance
28
M

24
Frequency (%)

20
16
SA

12
8
4
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 1100
W / m2

Figure 2: Distribution of hourly Global Horizontal [top], Direct Normal [middle] and Diffuse Horizontal [bottom]
daylight irradiance values using 50 W/m2 bins. (0 W/m2 bin contains only values ≤ 25.) Each vertical bar
represents the frequency of irradiance values occurring within each bin. For example, a vertical bar centered on
200 W/m2 reaching up to 10% means that one-tenth of all daytime values are between 175 and 225 W/m2 .
Please note that the vertical scale varies between the plots.

5

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Solar Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

3.3 Diurnal Variability of Solar Irradiance

January February March

1000
800
W / m2

600
400

PY
200
0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24

April May June

CO
1000
800
W / m2

600
400
200
0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24
E
July August September
PL
1000
800
W / m2

600
400
200
M

0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24

October November December

SA

1000
800
W / m2

600
400
200
0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Hour of Day (PST) Hour of Day (PST) Hour of Day (PST)

Global Horizontal Direct Normal Diffuse Horizontal

Figure 3: Diurnal cycle of Global Horizontal (black), Direct Normal (orange) and Diffuse Horizontal (blue) irradiance
for each month of the year. The horizontal axis is Pacific Standard Time (PST). Figures 4, 5, and 6 show the
diurnal cycle of Global Horizontal, Direct Normal, and Diffuse Horizontal solar irradiance, respectively, for each
calendar month as a ”12 X 24” table.

6

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Solar Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

3.4 Tabular Data

Global Horizontal Irradiance

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg
0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

PY
1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

CO
5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.4 6.1 1.7 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.8
6 0.0 0.0 1.6 29.1 87.8 110.1 78.4 36.5 13.0 1.2 0.0 0.0 30.0
7 1.3 11.7 75.8 188.7 284.3 312.5 267.0 205.7 149.3 79.5 23.9 3.4 134.1
8 78.0 130.9 265.1 403.5 504.5 530.7 483.9 425.9 363.9 265.4 158.9 88.4 309.0
9 235.6 307.4 471.9 609.3 707.2 731.8 682.4 632.8 567.1 456.3 326.4 241.7 498.3
Hour of Day (PST)

10 383.5 467.7 642.1 773.6 869.5 891.0 841.5 798.8 728.8 609.8 466.0 377.7 654.9
E
11 491.0 582.1 759.6 877.9 972.3 994.5 953.1 908.8 832.8 702.6 553.3 468.5 758.8
12 536.0 629.7 807.2 915.3 1007.3 1038.3 993.3 945.0 857.1 720.5 575.2 501.4 794.5
PL

13 521.5 618.7 788.9 895.3 982.5 1021.1 976.6 922.8 812.3 669.4 535.8 481.4 769.5
14 453.7 548.7 703.9 814.7 897.3 944.7 910.1 841.6 714.0 576.2 445.5 403.1 688.4
15 344.7 436.1 585.8 682.5 760.4 810.8 776.3 704.8 585.4 445.6 319.0 290.6 562.4
16 200.1 292.2 417.8 501.1 578.3 635.2 611.8 536.0 408.6 264.1 157.3 140.3 395.7
M

17 55.4 129.1 221.9 294.1 371.2 428.2 414.5 335.5 210.6 86.8 26.0 19.6 216.5
18 0.3 10.8 44.3 94.7 159.0 212.0 202.6 130.3 41.2 2.3 0.0 0.0 75.2
19 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 19.0 41.2 38.3 11.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 9.4
SA

20 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
21 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
22 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
23 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Avg 137.5 173.5 241.1 295.1 341.8 362.8 343.0 309.8 261.8 203.3 149.5 125.8 245.7
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg

W/m2
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Figure 4: Hourly-mean Global Horizontal Irradiance values in W/m2 . The vertical axis is Pacific Standard Time (PST).
Time series graph of the diurnal variability is shown in Figure 3.

7

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Solar Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

Direct Normal Irradiance

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg
0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1

PY
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.1 13.6 1.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.5

CO
6 0.0 0.0 3.8 62.0 201.5 270.9 175.0 74.3 36.6 1.6 0.0 0.0 69.1
7 0.8 32.9 201.1 392.4 525.7 578.1 497.5 414.8 375.8 210.2 72.3 7.8 276.8
8 219.3 323.9 532.1 607.4 694.5 729.3 672.2 631.8 644.0 547.4 410.0 260.7 523.4
9 552.0 568.5 702.3 725.0 790.8 815.2 761.3 744.6 766.2 709.8 621.7 570.9 694.6
Hour of Day (PST)

10 673.6 670.9 775.2 780.6 838.7 858.5 803.8 797.3 817.6 784.6 716.7 680.0 766.9
E
11 726.0 714.5 806.0 800.4 857.7 874.3 828.5 818.8 837.0 807.9 752.5 722.4 795.9
12 724.3 708.8 797.2 790.2 848.7 876.8 821.6 803.2 812.1 779.7 736.1 715.6 784.9
PL

13 698.7 690.0 772.4 777.3 835.8 872.0 812.6 787.0 762.8 715.3 696.3 701.3 760.5
14 654.9 642.9 728.8 759.6 818.0 860.8 805.1 758.7 718.3 683.7 645.2 652.7 727.8
15 602.5 589.6 711.1 728.0 784.1 825.2 762.1 717.6 705.9 664.4 586.1 599.9 690.2
16 488.7 521.5 644.0 657.3 722.1 771.3 722.3 665.5 634.4 533.9 419.8 423.3 600.8
M

17 183.5 363.1 498.2 520.2 609.2 671.0 628.3 550.9 465.2 241.4 93.9 80.8 408.9
18 0.3 37.6 123.6 209.9 358.1 461.4 420.2 284.4 107.4 5.3 0.0 0.0 168.1
19 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.9 48.2 99.8 87.8 27.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 22.4
SA

20 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
21 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
22 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
23 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Avg 230.2 244.3 304.0 325.6 372.3 399.1 366.6 336.5 320.1 278.5 239.6 225.8 303.8
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg

W/m2
0 200 400 600 800
Figure 5: Hourly-mean Direct Normal Irradiance values in W/m2 . The vertical axis is Pacific Standard Time (PST).
Time series graph of the diurnal variability is shown in Figure 3.

8

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Solar Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg
0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
1

PY
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
4 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.2 5.1 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7

CO
6 0.0 0.0 1.4 20.0 49.7 56.4 46.2 24.9 9.1 1.2 0.0 0.0 17.5
7 1.3 8.3 39.0 79.5 97.4 96.3 95.6 84.4 62.8 41.6 15.1 2.9 52.2
8 41.8 59.1 84.5 121.1 127.9 124.0 127.8 122.5 97.2 84.0 62.1 44.0 91.5
9 72.2 93.3 113.6 148.5 148.3 144.6 152.3 148.1 119.2 107.8 89.2 71.3 117.5
Hour of Day (PST)

10 93.7 118.1 134.0 169.5 166.9 160.9 173.5 168.8 139.3 124.1 106.1 90.1 137.1
E
11 109.5 137.1 149.7 184.2 179.3 174.4 187.4 184.2 154.1 137.2 117.6 103.1 151.5
12 121.4 150.7 164.1 197.6 191.3 181.5 198.0 198.7 168.8 152.4 129.2 114.5 164.1
PL

13 124.6 153.4 170.6 199.9 192.5 179.9 196.8 199.4 180.4 167.6 132.3 113.9 167.7
14 118.7 151.2 166.0 186.7 180.1 168.9 185.8 192.9 172.8 152.2 121.5 104.8 158.5
15 98.6 132.8 140.1 165.6 162.6 156.6 172.3 172.1 140.0 116.7 95.8 82.6 136.3
16 69.7 99.8 113.4 137.3 138.6 137.8 145.1 144.3 111.0 86.7 63.0 55.0 108.5
M

17 26.5 55.0 76.8 101.9 110.0 112.6 118.6 110.4 76.8 41.0 13.9 10.9 71.3
18 0.2 6.9 25.7 52.6 71.0 80.1 83.0 64.2 24.7 1.9 0.0 0.0 34.4
19 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.3 13.0 26.8 25.7 8.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.4
SA

20 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
21 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
22 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
23 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Avg 36.6 48.6 57.5 73.6 76.3 75.2 79.6 76.0 60.7 50.6 39.4 33.1 59.0

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg

W/m2
0 50 100 150 200
Figure 6: Hourly-mean Diffuse Horizontal Irradiance values in W/m2 . The vertical axis is Pacific Standard Time (PST).
Time series graph of the diurnal variability is shown in Figure 3.

9

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Model Simulations For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

4 MODEL SIMULATIONS BY 3TIER

........................................................................................................................................

The assessment of the wind resource at the Joshua Tree project site presented in this report is based on 13 years of
simulated data (January 1997 through December 2009). The simulated data set is constructed using a state-of-the-art
Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model that processes coarse-resolution historic gridded data and high resolution

PY
topographical and surface data to generate the meteorological time series data.
The NWP model simulated data set is constructed from two separate model runs: a 13-year 15km resolution simulation
and a 1-year 5km resolution simulation. Some details of the NWP model configuration are shown below in Table 1. The
extent of the coarsest grid was selected to capture the effect of synoptic weather events on the wind resource at the site,
as well as to allow the model to develop regional, thermally-driven circulations. The increasingly fine 45km, 15km, and
5km grids were selected to model the effect of local terrain and local scale atmospheric circulations.

Parameter

CO
Mesoscale numerical weather prediction model
Horizontal resolution of valid study area
Number of vertical levels
Value
WRF
5.0km
31
E
Elevation data base 3 second SRTM
Vegetation data base 30 second USGS
PL
Surface parameterization Monin-Obukhov similarity model
Boundary layer parameterization YSU model (MRF with entrainment)
Land surface scheme 5-layer soil diffusivity model

Table 1: Numerical weather prediction model configuration.

M
SA

10

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Wind and Temperature Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

5 WIND AND TEMPERATURE RESOURCE ASSESSMENT

........................................................................................................................................

This section provides a retrospective analysis of the past 13 years of wind and temperature data at the Joshua Tree project
site (Latitude: 34.017◦ N, Longitude: 116.183◦ W). All data presented within this section are valid only for this particular
location.

PY
5.1 Monthly-Mean Variability

CO
6
Wind Speed (m/s)

4
E
3
PL
2
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month

Figure 7: Variability of monthly-mean wind speed at 10m AGL at Joshua Tree. Long-term monthly-mean values are
denoted by colored circles. Upper and lower boundaries of the dark shading correspond to the 75% and 25%
M

quartiles, while the light shading denotes the maximum and minimum monthly-mean wind speeds.
SA

30

25
Temperature (oC)

20

15

10

0
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Month

Figure 8: Variability of monthly-mean temperature at 2m AGL at Joshua Tree. Long-term monthly-mean values are
denoted by colored circles. Upper and lower boundaries of the dark shading correspond to the 75% and 25%
quartiles, while the light shading denotes the maximum and minimum monthly-mean temperature.

11

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Wind and Temperature Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

5.2 Diurnal Variability of Wind Speed

January February March

7 7 7
Wind Speed (m/s)

6 6 6
5 5 5
4 4 4
3 3 3

PY
2 2 2
1 1 1
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24

April May June

7 7 7

CO
Wind Speed (m/s)

6 6 6
5 5 5
4 4 4
3 3 3
2 2 2
1 1 1
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24
E
July August September
7 7 7
Wind Speed (m/s)

6 6 6
PL

5 5 5
4 4 4
3 3 3
2 2 2
1 1 1
M

0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24

October November December

7 7 7
Wind Speed (m/s)
SA

6 6 6
5 5 5
4 4 4
3 3 3
2 2 2
1 1 1
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Hour of Day (PST) Hour of Day (PST) Hour of Day (PST)

Figure 9: Diurnal cycle of wind speed at 10m AGL for each month of the year. The horizontal axis is in Pacific Standard
Time (PST). Figure 11 shows the diurnal cycle of wind speed for each calendar month as a ‘12 X 24’ table.

12

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Wind and Temperature Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

5.3 Diurnal Variability of Temperature

January February March

35 35 35
30 30 30
Temperature (oC)

25 25 25
20 20 20
15 15 15

PY
10 10 10
5 5 5
0 0 0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24

April May June

35 35 35

CO
30 30 30
Temperature (oC)

25 25 25
20 20 20
15 15 15
10 10 10
5 5 5
0 0 0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24
E
July August September
35 35 35
30 30 30
Temperature (oC)

PL
25 25 25
20 20 20
15 15 15
10 10 10
5 5 5
0 0 0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24
M

October November December

35 35 35
30 30 30
Temperature (oC)
SA

25 25 25
20 20 20
15 15 15
10 10 10
5 5 5
0 0 0
0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 0 4 8 12 16 20 24
Hour of Day (PST) Hour of Day (PST) Hour of Day (PST)

Figure 10: Diurnal cycle of temperature at 2m AGL for each month of the year. The horizontal axis is in Pacific Standard
Time (PST). Figure 12 shows the diurnal cycle of temperature for each calendar month as a ‘12 X 24’ table.

13

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Wind and Temperature Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

5.4 Tabular Data

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg
0 4.38 4.48 4.07 3.95 2.97 2.95 2.91 2.68 2.45 3.11 3.66 4.37 3.49
1 4.33 4.42 3.99 3.77 2.72 2.63 2.57 2.40 2.34 3.05 3.63 4.35 3.35
2

PY
4.28 4.37 3.93 3.61 2.53 2.37 2.27 2.14 2.23 3.00 3.58 4.33 3.21
3 4.23 4.32 3.89 3.50 2.42 2.18 2.01 1.90 2.15 2.95 3.54 4.31 3.11
4 4.21 4.29 3.87 3.42 2.35 2.06 1.82 1.73 2.11 2.93 3.51 4.30 3.04
5 4.20 4.29 3.85 3.38 2.32 2.00 1.70 1.62 2.09 2.91 3.48 4.30 3.00
6 4.19 4.28 3.82 3.40 2.37 2.04 1.67 1.59 2.08 2.90 3.44 4.29 3.00

CO
7 4.18 4.29 3.96 3.87 2.93 2.61 2.21 1.98 2.22 2.91 3.40 4.27 3.23
8 4.33 4.64 4.64 4.44 3.24 3.00 2.54 2.41 2.83 3.32 3.53 4.35 3.60
9 4.91 5.29 5.00 4.82 3.65 3.50 2.97 2.85 3.21 3.90 4.12 4.77 4.08
Hour of Day (PST)

10 5.33 5.67 5.29 5.19 4.10 4.03 3.49 3.36 3.63 4.25 4.48 5.26 4.50
11 5.55 5.92 5.52 5.49 4.50 4.50 3.98 3.84 4.00 4.50 4.72 5.49 4.83
E
12 5.69 6.06 5.67 5.76 4.88 4.95 4.45 4.26 4.30 4.67 4.86 5.63 5.09
13 5.77 6.15 5.79 5.97 5.17 5.28 4.79 4.54 4.47 4.78 4.94 5.69 5.27
PL

14 5.78 6.17 5.89 6.15 5.42 5.56 5.06 4.77 4.58 4.82 4.93 5.67 5.40
15 5.72 6.15 5.97 6.31 5.65 5.77 5.32 4.93 4.64 4.80 4.88 5.58 5.47
16 5.58 6.14 6.10 6.64 6.02 6.19 5.71 5.21 4.68 4.89 4.75 5.28 5.60
17 4.84 5.49 5.99 6.66 6.19 6.36 5.96 5.33 4.49 4.24 3.93 4.63 5.34
M

18 4.69 4.99 5.16 5.98 6.00 6.25 5.89 4.90 3.65 3.78 3.75 4.55 4.97
19 4.59 4.83 4.83 5.37 5.20 5.39 5.16 4.50 3.40 3.61 3.69 4.50 4.59
20 4.53 4.70 4.63 4.96 4.61 4.81 4.58 3.99 3.10 3.47 3.67 4.48 4.29
SA

21 4.50 4.61 4.46 4.58 4.05 4.19 4.02 3.53 2.85 3.36 3.67 4.46 4.02
22 4.48 4.56 4.34 4.32 3.61 3.70 3.59 3.20 2.68 3.28 3.67 4.46 3.82
23 4.45 4.52 4.24 4.09 3.27 3.29 3.23 2.93 2.56 3.22 3.66 4.46 3.66
Avg 4.78 5.03 4.79 4.82 4.01 3.98 3.66 3.36 3.20 3.69 3.98 4.74 4.17

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg

m/s
2 3 4 5 6 7
Wind Speed
Figure 11: Hourly-mean wind speed values at 10m AGL in m/s. The vertical axis is in Pacific Standard Time (PST).
Time series graph of the diurnal variability for each month is shown in Figure 9.

14

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.
 Joshua Tree
Wind and Temperature Site Climate Variability Analysis For Client X, Inc.
..................................................................................................................

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg
0 5.2 5.8 8.8 10.0 14.7 17.7 21.6 21.3 18.4 12.7 8.4 4.2 12.4
1 4.9 5.5 8.4 9.6 14.2 17.2 21.2 20.8 18.0 12.3 8.1 4.0 12.1
2 4.7 5.3 8.1 9.2 13.8 16.7 20.8 20.5 17.7 12.0 7.9 3.7 11.7

PY
3 4.5 5.0 7.8 8.9 13.4 16.3 20.4 20.1 17.3 11.7 7.6 3.5 11.4
4 4.3 4.8 7.5 8.6 13.0 15.9 20.0 19.8 17.0 11.4 7.4 3.3 11.1
5 4.1 4.6 7.2 8.3 12.8 15.7 19.8 19.5 16.8 11.2 7.2 3.1 10.9
6 3.9 4.4 7.1 8.8 14.8 18.5 22.2 20.5 16.7 11.0 7.0 3.0 11.5

CO
7 3.8 4.7 8.5 11.6 18.2 21.9 25.6 24.4 19.6 11.8 7.0 2.9 13.4
8 5.3 6.7 10.7 13.6 20.3 23.8 27.6 26.6 22.6 14.9 8.7 4.0 15.4
9 7.2 8.2 12.1 15.1 21.9 25.4 29.1 28.2 24.3 16.8 10.8 6.1 17.1
Hour of Day (PST)

10 8.5 9.4 13.2 16.3 23.2 26.6 30.3 29.4 25.7 18.2 12.0 7.4 18.4
11 9.4 10.4 14.2 17.3 24.2 27.6 31.2 30.3 26.7 19.2 13.0 8.4 19.4
12 10.2 11.1 14.9 18.0 24.9 28.2 31.8 30.9 27.3 19.9 13.6 9.2 20.1
E
13 10.6 11.5 15.3 18.5 25.3 28.6 32.0 31.2 27.6 20.3 14.0 9.5 20.4
14 10.7 11.7 15.6 18.6 25.4 28.6 32.0 31.2 27.7 20.4 14.1 9.6 20.5
PL

15 10.4 11.5 15.5 18.5 25.1 28.3 31.7 30.9 27.3 20.1 13.9 9.3 20.3
16 9.7 10.9 15.1 17.9 24.4 27.6 31.0 30.3 26.7 19.5 13.4 8.6 19.6
17 8.5 9.8 14.0 16.8 23.2 26.4 29.7 29.0 25.3 18.0 12.0 7.3 18.4
18 7.6 8.7 12.5 15.0 21.3 24.4 27.7 26.8 22.9 16.1 10.9 6.4 16.7
M

19 7.0 7.9 11.5 13.3 18.9 22.0 25.4 24.7 21.4 15.1 10.3 5.9 15.3
20 6.5 7.4 10.7 12.3 17.6 20.5 24.1 23.5 20.4 14.3 9.7 5.4 14.4
21 22.7
SA

6.1 6.9 10.1 11.6 16.7 19.6 23.2 19.7 13.7 9.3 5.1 13.8
22 5.8 6.5 9.6 11.0 16.0 18.9 22.6 22.2 19.1 13.2 8.9 4.7 13.3
23 5.4 6.2 9.2 10.5 15.4 18.3 22.1 21.7 18.7 12.8 8.6 4.5 12.8
Avg 6.8 7.7 11.1 13.3 19.1 22.3 26.0 25.3 21.9 15.3 10.2 5.8 15.4

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jly Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Avg

oC

5 10 15 20 25 30
Temperature
Figure 12: Hourly-mean temperature values at 2m AGL in degrees Celsius. The vertical axis is in Pacific Standard
Time (PST). Time series graph of the diurnal variability for each month is shown in Figure 10.

15

c 2010 3TIER, Inc.