11/20/2016

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SunPathDiagrams
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SunPathDiagrams

SunPathDiagrams
Thesolaraltitude,andthesolarazimuth,canbereaddirectlyforanydateoftheyearandanyhourofthedayfromthe
solarchartsorsunpathdiagrams.Thereareseveralmethodsofprojectionforrepresentingthesun"sapparent
movementtwodimensionallybutthe"stereographic"methoddescribedhereisgenerallyused.
ConsideranypointontheEarth"ssurfacetobecoveredbyanimaginaryhemisphere.Anypointonthesurfaceofthe
hemisphereisconnectedtothesphere"snadirequivalenttoviewingtheinsidesurfaceoftheupperhemispherefrom
thenadirastheeyesposition.Theseconnecting,orsightlinescuttheequatorialplaneofthespherethisplanecan
representthehorizon.Onthisplane,attheintersectionofsightlines,everypointonthesurfaceofthehemispherecan
beprojected.Thisyieldsatwodimensionalprojection,withthehorizonformingtheoutercircleandthezeniththe
centerofthehemisphere"ssurface.Onsuchaprojection,thepathsofthesuncanbeplotted,astheywouldappearto
passovertheimaginaryskyhemispherethealtitudescanberepresentedbyaseriesofconcentricringsandthe
azimuthsbyascalefrom0to180alongtheperiphery.Hence,thealtitudeandazimuthofthesunatanydateand
timecanbereadoffdirectly.EachsuchdiagramwillbecorrectforoneLattudebyreversalofthedating,eachsuch
diagramwillalsoservefortheequivalentLatitudeintheotherhemisphere.
Thesunpathdiagramsalsohavehourlinesplottedonthem.AllthesetimesareintruesolartimethatistheSunis
duesouth(inthenorthernhemisphere)atnoon.ItwillbeseenthattheequinoxsunpathsatallLatitudesshowsunrise
exactlydueeastandsunsetduewest,at6:00and18:00hours,respectively.
Whatisthemethodtoreadthealtitudeandazimuthanglefromthesunpathdiagram?
1.SelectthechartofthecorrectLatitude.
2.Selectthedateline.
3.Selectthehourlineandmarkitsintersectionwiththedateline.
4.Readofffromtheconcentriccirclesthealtitudeangle.
5.Layastraightedgefromthecenterofthechartthroughthemarkedtimepointtotheperimeterscaleandreadoff
theazimuthangle.

http://www.newlearn.info/packages/clear/thermal/climate/sun/sunpath_diagrams.html

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