Solar angle

1. Solar angle

2. Solar Angle • Solar Zenith Angle (SZA): angel between the sun and the point directly above your heat at solar noon • Zenith - 90° from the horizon • Solar noon – sun at the highest point in the day • Solar Angle (SA): angle between the sun and YOUR horizon (you are the vertex of the angle)

3. Declination – the latitude where the noon sun is at zenith (directly overhead, 90°). • The declination varies from 23.5°N and 23.5°S every year – total of 47 ° • Latitude – the latitude of the observer (who is checking out the solar angle) • For our calculations, the school is at 41°N latitude

4. Solar Zenith Angle is found… • SZA = Latitude – Declination (if this angle is negative, the sun is in the northern sky; positive-sun is in the southern sky) • Solar Angle is found… • SA =90 ° - |SZA| http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/manuals/instructor_manual/how_to/calculating_nsa.html