Patent ID: 8315961
Filing Date: 2012-11-20
Classification: G01W

Abstract:
1. A method for determining an average environmental condition, comprising a processor for performing steps of the method, comprising: specifying a target date and time for determining an average environmental condition, wherein time series data include cyclical annual and diurnal components, and random meteorological conditions, and wherein the cyclical annual and diurnal components are modeled as non-linear while the random meteorological conditions are modeled as linear; converting the target date and time to an ordinal day for indexing the database, wherein the ordinal day corresponds to a stored environment condition in the database; indexing a database of time series data to retrieve the stored environment condition for each day and time where an orbital position of the earth with respect to the sun is nearest to the orbital position of the earth on the target date and time; determining the average environmental condition from the stored environmental conditions, wherein the average environmental condition is used to determine a seasonal residual, and wherein the seasonal residual is used to estimate parameters of a predictive model; and predicting a future environmental condition for a specified location based on the average environmental condition, wherein the prediction uses sidereal averaging.