Library · Noun reference
radiation
Downward surface shortwave radiation.
Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Semantic type | Gridded environmental observations |
| Units by source | gridmet: default: W m-2 |
| Spatial coverage | Contiguous United States |
| Temporal resolution | daily |
| Available source flavors | gridmet |
Usage
data.radiation(*, source='gridmet', bbox=None, geometry=None, aoi_geojson=None, lat=None, lon=None, start=None, end=None, **kwargs)
Import with from cubedynamics import data. Keyword-only parameters and defaults above come from Python.
Available sources
| Source | Coverage | Resolution | Time | Selection constraint |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| gridmet | Contiguous United States | 4,638.3 m | 1979-present; daily | Surface downward shortwave radiation, not net radiation. |
Returned data
An xarray.DataArray named radiation, normally with time, y, x dimensions. time stores acquisition/observation times; y and x store grid coordinates in the declared CRS. Inspect the actual dimensions and CRS before combining sources.
Units are source-specific (above), not silently harmonized. Attributes include scientific_noun, source_flavor, source_variables, source_provider, source_product, spatial_query, temporal_query, crs, retrieved_at, data_state, and serving/schema provenance. See provenance helpers.
Minimal reproducible example
Network example: requires the provider and its optional dependencies. This is a real-data request, not an offline certification. For frozen inputs, use the reviewed notebooks.
from cubedynamics import data
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
cube = data.radiation(
source="gridmet", bbox=[-105.55, 39.85, -105.05, 40.15],
start="2024-06-01", end="2024-06-03",
)
cube.isel(time=0).plot()
plt.show()
Quality and provenance
| Source | Lifecycle | Revision | Revision status | Live health | QA profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gridmet | implemented | radiation.gridmet@2026-08-26.1 | VALIDATED | STALE | climate_continuous_daily |
Revision validity is not a claim that the live endpoint is available today. Certification evidence distinguishes reviewed fixtures from live checks. Each source's selection constraint above remains part of the interpretation.