Record Label : surface_downwelling_shortwave_flux_in_air_assuming_clear_sky
Record Title : Surface Downwelling Shortwave Flux in Air Assuming Clear Sky
CF Standard Name : surface_downwelling_shortwave_flux_in_air_assuming_clear_sky
Record Description : The surface called "surface" means the lower boundary of the atmosphere. Downwelling radiation is radiation from above. It does not mean "net downward". The sign convention is that "upwelling" is positive upwards and "downwelling" is positive downwards. The term "shortwave" means shortwave radiation. Surface downwelling shortwave is the sum of direct and diffuse solar radiation incident on the surface, and is sometimes called "global radiation". When thought of as being incident on a surface, a radiative flux is sometimes called "irradiance". In addition, it is identical with the quantity measured by a cosine-collector light-meter and sometimes called "vector irradiance". In accordance with common usage in geophysical disciplines, "flux" implies per unit area, called "flux density" in physics. A phrase assuming_condition indicates that the named quantity is the value which would obtain if all aspects of the system were unaltered except for the assumption of the circumstances specified by the condition. "Clear sky" means in the absence of clouds.
Canonical Units : W m-2
MIP Variable :