CLIMATE

&
SOLAR GEOMETRY
Climate &
Solar Geometry

•Climate
•Weather
•The seasons
•Altitude angle
•Azimuth angle
•Consequences of the altitude angle
•Sun Path
•Solar window
•Sun-path diagrams
• Definition – Climate & Weather
• Percentages of solar radiation distribution within the atmosphere (p-68)
• Elliptical orbit (p-126)
• Tilt of the Earth’s axis – seasonal variation (p-127)
• Altitude angle & Azimuth angle (p-131)
• Consequences of Altitude angle (p-128)
• Sun Path
• Solar Window (p-130)
• Sun-path Diagram (p-131)
• Sun Machine (p-136)
Climate can be defined the integration in time of the
physical states of the atmospheric environment,
characteristic of a certain geographical location.

Weather is the set of atmospheric conditions

prevailing at a given place and time. So, climate could
be defined as 'the integration in time of weather
conditions‘.
The Sun

The earth
receives almost
all its energy
from the sun in
the form of
radiation, thus
the sun is the
dominating
influence on
climates.
ELLIPTICAL ORBIT

•The orbit of the earth is an ellipse, so the distance between

the earth and sun varies as the earth revolves around the sun.
•The distance varies about 3.3% and this results in a small
annual variation in the intensity of solar radiation.

The earth’s axis of rotation is tilted to the plane of the elliptical

orbit
ELLIPTICAL ORBIT

•The sun is very far away and since it lies in the plane of the
earth’s orbit, solar radiation striking the earth is always parallel
to this plane.
•While the earth revolves around the sun, it also spins around its
own north-south axis.
•Since this axis is not perpendicular to the orbital plane and is
tilted 23.5°off the normal to this plane, the angle at which the
sun's rays hit the earth continuously changes throughout the year.
•This tilt of 23.5°is the cause of the seasons and has
major implications for solar energy.
TILT OF THE EARTH'S AXIS
Because the tilt of the earth's axis is fixed, the northern hemisphere
faces the sun in June and the southern hemisphere faces the sun in
December .
•The extreme conditions occur on June 21 when the north pole is
pointing most nearly toward the sun and on December 21 when the
north pole is pointing farthest away from the sun.

The seasons are a consequence of the tilt of the earth's axis of rotation.
Summer Solstice:
On June 21, north Arctic Circle of the earth will have 24 hours of
sunlight. This is the longest day in the northern hemisphere, and is
called the summer solstice.
•On this day, the sun's rays will be perpendicular to the earth's
surface along the Tropic of Cancer, which is, at latitude
23.5°north.

During the summer solstice (June 21), the

sun is directly overhead on the Tropic of
Cancer.
Winter Solstice:
On December 21, north Arctic Circle of the earth experiences 24
hours of darkness. This is the longest night in the northern
hemisphere and is known as the winter solstice.
•On this day, the sun is perpendicular to the southern hemisphere
along the Tropic of Capricorn, which is at latitude 23.5° south.

During the winter solstice (December 21),

the sun is directly overhead on the Tropic of
Capricorn
TILT OF THE EARTH'S AXIS
•Halfway between the longest and shortest day of the year is
the day of equal nighttime and daytime hours.
•This situation occurs twice a year, on March and September
21, and is known as the spring and fall equinox .
•On these days the sun is directly overhead on the equator.
Altitude Angle
The vertical angle at which the sun's rays strike the
earth is called the altitude angle and is a function of
•the geographic latitude,
•time of year, and
•time of day.
Altitude Angle
•The simplest situation occurs at 12 noon on the equinox, when
the sun's rays are perpendicular to the earth at the equator.
•To find the altitude angle of the sun at any latitude, draw the
ground plane tangent to the earth at that latitude.
•Altitude angle = 90°- the latitude; (A=90 °- L) [Only for
equinoxes]
CONSEQUENCES OF THE ALTITUDE ANGLE
First Effect: The first effect of the altitude angle is illustrated by the
Fig which indicates that at low angles the sun's rays pass through
more of the atmosphere.
•Consequently, the radiation reaching the surface will be weaker and
more modified in composition. The extreme case occurs at sunset
when the radiation is red and weak enough to be looked at. This is
because of the selective absorption, reflection, and refraction of
solar radiation in the atmosphere.
CONSEQUENCES OF THE ALTITUDE ANGLE
Second Effect: The second effect of the altitude angle can be
explained by the cosine law.

The cosine law states that the intensity on a tilted surface equals
the normal intensity times the cosine of the angle of incidence.

Figure shows how the same amount of radiation is distributed over

a larger area, therefore less radiation falls on unit area.
What causes winter ?

The temperature of the air, as well as that of the land, is mainly a

result of the amount of solar radiation absorbed by the land. The air
is mainly heated or cooled by its contact with the earth. The
reasons for less radiation falling on the ground in the winter are the
following.

1. Most important is the fact that there are far fewer hours of
daylight in the winter. The exact number is a function of latitude.

2. The second reason for reduced heating of the earth is the cosine
law. On December 21, the solar radiation falling on a square foot
of land is significantly less than that on June 21.

3. Lastly, the lower sun angles increase the amount of atmosphere

the sun must pass through and, therefore, there is again less
radiation reaching.
Sun Path

In Fig. we see an imaginary sky dome placed over the building site.
Every hour the point at which the sun's rays penetrate the sky dome is
marked. When all the points for one day are connected, we get a line
called the sun path for that day.

•The highest sun path of the

year
(summer solstice),

•The lowest sun path

(winter solstice),

•The middle sun path

(equinox).
An East elevation of the sky dome

The sun moves 23.5 degrees each side of the equinoxes

because of the tilt of the earth’s axis of rotation. The total
vertical travel between winter and summer is therefore,
47 degrees. The actual altitude, however, depends on the
latitude.
Solar window

The sun enters the sky dome only between the sun paths of
the summer and winter solstices. Since the solar radiation is
quite weak in the early and late hours of the day, the part of
the sky dome through which the most useful of the sun's rays
enter is called the solar window.
Solar window
•Figure shows the conventional solar window, which is assumed
to begin at 9 A.M. and end at 3 P.M.

•Ideally, no trees, buildings, or other obstacles should block the

sun's rays entering through the solar window during those
months when solar energy is desired.
Altitude and Azimuth angle

Altitude angle:
•The projection of
this sun ray lies in
the ground plane.
The vertical angle
from this projection
to the sun ray is
called the altitude.
It tells us how high
the sun is in the
sky.
• It is measured in
a vertical plane
Altitude and Azimuth angle

Azimuth angle:
•The horizontal
angle, which is
measured from a
north-south line, is
called the azimuth.
•It is measured in a
horizontal plane.
The diffuse radiation

•The above discussions on sun angles refer

only to direct radiation. Water and dust
particles scatter the solar radiation (Fig.
above) so that on cloudy, humid, or dusty
days the diffuse radiation becomes the
dominant form of solar energy.
HORIZONTAL VERTICAL SUN-PATH DIAGRAMS
•The sky dome shown has an azimuth grid, an altitude grid and the
sun paths for each month of the year for 32° N latitude.

•when the sun paths are plotted on a horizontal projection of the

sky dome, we get a sun-path diagram such as Fig.

•The concentric rings describe the altitude, and the radial lines
define azimuth.
HORIZONTAL VERTICAL SUN-PATH DIAGRAMS
HORIZONTAL SUN-PATH DIAGRAMS

Example: Find the Altitude and Azimuth of the sun, on February 21

at 9 AM in the 36°N Latitude Horizontal sun path diagram

Step 1. use the sun-path diagram

for 36°N latitude.

Step 2. On this sun-path diagram

find the intersection of the sun path
for February 21 (curve II) and the 9
A.M. line. This represents the
location of the sun.

Step 3. From the concentric circles,

the altitude is found to be about
27°.

Step 4. From the radial lines, the

azimuth is found to be about 51°
east of south.
SUN-PATH MODELS
•Three-dimensional models of the sun path diagrams are especially
helpful in understanding the complex geometry of sun angles .
•For simplicity only the sun paths for June 21, March/September 21,
and December 21 are shown.
•These models can help a designer better visualize how the sun will
relate to a building located at the center of the sun-path model.
•The various models illustrate how sun paths vary with latitude.