Predicting The Sun's Position: Figure 1 - Earth Rotates About Polar Axis
Predicting The Sun's Position: Figure 1 - Earth Rotates About Polar Axis
Predicting The Sun's Position: Figure 1 - Earth Rotates About Polar Axis
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Introduction There are many different ways of representing the position of the sun in the sky and most of these may be usefully used to help investigate sunlighting in design. In order to limit explanations, only one or two of the methods will be considered in any detail, but once the principles are understood, one should find it easy to apply those other methods not described in detail. The basic astronomical facts will be reviewed but a detailed knowledge of them is not essential for an appreciation of sunlighting.
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The Earth The Earth is effectively a spherical globe that rotates eastwards about a North-South axis approximately once every 24 hours, as shown in Figure1. A globe may be partitioned in various ways as shown in Figure 2. These prove useful in describing parts of the Earth and locating accurately different places on the Earth. If a globe is divided into two equal parts to produce two hemispheres, then the dividing line between the two parts will be a Great Circle. The axis about which the Earth rotates is known as the Polar Axis and this axis intersects the globe at the North Pole and the South Pole. A great circle passing through both poles is known as a Meridian. A great circle that is equidistant from the North and South Poles is known as the Equator. As shown in Figure 3, any place on the Earth may be specified in relation to; i) a primary meridian, ii) the equator. The Longitude describes the position of the appropriate meridian in relation to the primary meridian - it may be either East or West of the primary meridian.
LONG.
Great circle
Polar axis
Polar axis
hemisphere
Meridians
Equator
LAT.
Equator
The Latitude describes the angle from the equator towards a Pole along a particular meridian it may be either North or South of the equator.
The Earths orbit around the Sun The Earth orbits the Sun approximately once every 365 days. Its orbit lies in the same plane as the Sun and is elliptical in shape with the Sun positioned at one of the ellipses foci as shown in Figure 4. This plane is known as the Ecliptic Plane because when the moon moves into the plane there is the possibility of an eclipse. One consequence of the elliptical orbit is that the earth speeds up and slows down as it moves around the sun and this means that the length of the day, measured from noon to noon, changes throughout the year. The changing length of the Solar Day rather complicates time keeping and it is simpler to assume a constant length of day and use the
N
side view
Tilt =23.4
N
Ecliptic plane
plan view
d:\courses\benv_1\2002_03\sun_02_01.doc
Martin Wilkinson
Building Environment 1
average length of day throughout the year. This leads to the familiar time convention in the UK of Greenwich Mean Time, which is based upon the mean or average length of day over the whole year. The difference between solar time and local mean time is called the equation of time. A correction should be applied for the equation of time when it is required to know the position of the sun very accurately. However, the maximum cumulative difference between solar time and mean time is in the order of between +15 minutes and 15 minutes and for many architectural purposes it may be ignored. Solar noon occurs when the sun lies in the Meridian plane as shown in Figure 5. At noon the sun appears to be due South at higher northern latitudes and due North at higher southern latitudes. Solar time is therefore dependent upon the particular Longitude of a location, and it is clearly rather awkward if clocks need to be changed as one moves from one locale to another.
Autumn Equinox
The tilt between the Earths axis and the orbital plane A most important feature of the Earths circumstance is that the Polar Axis is tilted in relation to the orbital plane as shown in Figure 4 and Figure 6. Within the time spans considered in architecture the direction of the Polar axis relative to the orbital plane remains constant. At the present time the Tilt is at an angle of 23.4. One consequence of the tilted axis is that seasons of the year are experienced by those parts of the globe closer to the poles. The closer a region is to one of the poles, then the more seasonal is the climate experienced by that region.
Winter Solstice
S
Summer Solstice
Spring Equinox
Perpendicular to ecliptic plane Tropic of Cancer Polar axis tilt Arctic circle Equator declination Polar axis
Arctic circles and tropics The tilt also gives rise to the division of the globe into various parts. The Arctic Circles divide the regions of the Earth into those that will at some time in the year experience a 24 hour day and a 24 hour night, and those regions which always experience a day and a night.
Tropic of Capricorn
Arctic circle
December Solstice
June Solstice
The Tropics divide the regions of the Earth into those where the sun will be directly overhead at some time in the year and those where the sun will never reach the Zenith.
Declination
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The tilt of the earths axis results in a change in the relative position of the sun as the earth moves in its orbit. This change in the relative position of the sun is reflected in the change that occurs in the angle the suns rays make with the equatorial plane. This angle is known as the declination. The declination will vary from a maximum of 234 at the Summer Solstice to a minimum of -234 at the Winter Solstice. Twice in the year the declination will be zero and this occurs at the Spring and Autumn Equinox.
Sun_02_01.doc
There are thus 4 times in the year when the declination takes particular values that are especially significant: Astronomical occurance Winter Solstice Vernal (Spring) Equinox Summer Solstice Autumnal Equinox D -23.4 0 +23.4 0 Calendar date rd. 23 December st. 21 March rd. 23 June rd. 23 September
The Winter Solstice is that time of year when the declination is a minimum. Because the direction of Tilt is not exactly in line with major axis, it is not the case that this coincides with the shortest day of the year. The Summer Solstice is that time of year when the declination is a maximum. Similarly to the other solstice, the longest day does not necessarily coincide with the summer solstice. The Equinoxes are those times of year when the day and night are of equal time. Thus the sun will rise at 6am and set at 6pm. At other times in the year the Declination may be evaluated by the approximate equation:
Day angle = d = 2 (N 1) 365
radians
Solar Declination = s
Zenith
Meridian
A more accurate formulation for declination is given in the margin and this may be used for computer generated diagrams.
Altitude
Altitude ring
North
West
Azimuth
Z
Ground plane
East
- the altitude of the sun above the ground or horizon plane z the compass direction of the sun on the ground plane.
The Azimuth may be given in two ways; either East or West of South, or clockwise from North. In general, the azimuth is most often given in terms of the angle from North, but in these notes the angle will be given as an angle East or West of South. Figure 10 shows a shadow cast by a vertical pole and how the length and position of the shadow are affected by the altitude and azimuth of the sun.
South
GNOMON
+
Vertical Pole in ground
Altitude
Azimuth
SOUTH
Building Environment 1
Declination
The angle of the sun's rays to the equatorial plane, positive in summer. The angle from the equator to a position on Earth's surface. The angle the Earth needs to rotate to bring the meridian to noon. Each hour of time is equivalent to 15 deg. The day number, January 1st is 1.
Latitude
Hour angle
sin z =
Day Number
tan z =
Application of the above formulae are not necessarily the best way to appreciate the various effects of the suns position and a more graphical approach may usefully be adopted. However the above formulae may be usefully used where more precise information is needed.
Winter
Noon
2pm
4pm
Sundials The Gnomon is a point in space through which the rays of the sun pass to later shine upon some surface. The shadow on the ground cast by a flagpole will depend upon the suns altitude and azimuth, and if the topmost tip of the flagpole is considered, then it will sweep out a path on the ground as the sun moves across the sky. The topmost tip of the flagpole may be considered as a gnomon. It may occur to you that a simple perspective is also constructed as a gnomic projection.
Equinox
10am 8am
Summer
SOUTH
Winter
Noon
+$
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Plotting the paths of the tip of the shadow for different times throughout the year will produce a sun dial as shown in Figure 11.
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Using the horizontal sundial If the height of the gnomon is known then the sundial can be used to construct the shadows created by buildings at different times of year. This is done simply by measuring the length of the shadow on the sundial and increasing the length in proportion to how much greater is the height of the building to the height of the gnomon. The direction of the shadow will be the same as that on the sundial. This is shown diagrammatically in Figure 12. Sun patches created by sunlight shining through windows can be constructed in a similar manner to show the effect of sunlight through different types of window at different times of year as in Figure 13. The sundial may also be used in what is sometimes called the aviators 6RODU method. If the sundial is placed on a model and is viewed so that the :DOO $]LPXWK gnomon is lined up with a particular time of year, then the eye is positioned in the direction of the sun at that time of year as in Figure 14. All that the eye will see on the model will therefore be exposed to sunlight at that time of year. Clearly, as the eye is very much nearer
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to the model than the sun, there will be increasing discrepancies as ones gaze moves away from the centre of the sundial. For this reason it is best to view the model from some distance away so that ones direction of view stays fairly constant as one views the whole model.
Winter
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Noon
Sunpath diagrams
Equinox
8am
2pm 10am
4pm
There are many different ways of graphically displaying the relative position of the sun at different times of the day and year. These range from, i) ii) iii) Sun dials, these are gnomic projections, Rectangular projections of the sky, Circular sunpath diagrams.
Summer
SOUTH
There is no one method that is preferable to all others, and each has its own advantages and disadvantages. For hand sketching diagrams, I believe that the Stereographic diagram has distinct advantages. The diagram allows the whole sky to be considered and this means there is no need to construct a new diagram for each different orientation of the faade. Also, all the sunpaths and time lines are arcs of circles and these are reasonably easy to sketch for even the non artistic. However its advantages are less pronounced with the advent of the computer, as now calculations and redrawing can be undertaken without effort. Never the less, it still is a most useful way of considering the suns position. In computer applications, it does lend itself to serious design because it allows the consideration of a number of variables at one time, and this is not always possible with some of the other techniques of displaying sunpaths.
North
R=r 0
West
Zenith = 90 East
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South
Constant altitude
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Projection Plane
altitude ring on
projection plane W
r = R0 tan
90 2
S
Figure 16 The Stereographic projection
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Polar axis
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When sketching a sunpath for a particular location, it is really only necessary to consider four times in the year, i) ii) iii) the Winter Solstice, the Summer Solstice, the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes.
LAT.
Direction of sun
Equatorial plane
The two Equinoxes have the same sun path loci and therefore it is rarely the case that more than three sun path loci need be plotted on the sun path diagram. The suns altitude at noon can be derived from Figure 17 and is given by,
Noon = 90 L + D .
During the summer months, above the arctic circle the sun will not set, and therefore the sun path locus will be a circle on a stereographic projection. All that is needed to draw a circle is its diameter. One end of the diameter will be given by the position of the sun a noon, and the other by the suns position at midnight, as shown in Figure 18. If the altitude is measured from the southern direction it will be given by the formula,
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LAT.
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Midnight = 270 L D
and if the altitude is measured from the northern direction it will be given by,
Equatorial plane
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cos z =0 =
sin D . cos L
It is worthwhile noting that, where the sun does not cross the horizon, the above relation does not hold. Therefore, there will be no solution when the latitude is >66 for either the summer, or the winter solstice.
Sun_02_01.doc
Sketching a Sunpath
Sketching sunpaths for the City of Bath which is at a Latitude of 513 North. Noting that at solar noon the sun is due South and at the maximum altitude given by the relation:
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Noon = 90 L + D .
For the equinoxes, March 21st. and September 23rd., when the declination is 0.
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Noon = 90 51.3
= 38.7
Noting also that at the equinoxes, the sun rises due East and sets due West, there are three known positions on the Sunpath locus for the equinox, and these are shown on Figure 19. These may be used to sketch the first of the Sunpath loci, as is shown in Figure 20.
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st.
cos z =0 =
sin D cos L
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(DV
sin 23.4 0.397 cos z =0 = = = 0.635 cos 51.3 0.625 z =0 = cos 1 (0.635) = 129.4
Therefore the azimuth of sunrise and sunset are respectively1294 East and West of South, as is shown in Figure 21. There are then three positions of the sun that can be connected together by an arc of a circle that denotes its Sunpath, as shown in Figure 4.
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Figure 22 Sun path at Summer Solstice
Building Environment 1
cos z =0 = z = 0
sin( 23.4) + sin 23.4 0.397 = = = 0.635 cos 51.3 cos 51.3 0.625 = cos 1 (0.635) = 50.6
Therefore, there is no need to go through the calculation of the azimuth twice. It is simpler to use the fact that the sunrise and sunset for the two Solstices are symmetrically positioned about the EastWest axis. This is shown diagrammatically in Figure 23 where the known sun positions for the Winter Solstice are plotted. Figure 24 shows the three points connected by the arc of a circle to give the Sunpath locus for the Winter Solstice.
The three Sunpath loci can then be collected together on the same diagram to give the range of sun positions throughout the year, as is shown in Figure 25.
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Figure 25 Sun path diagram
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Although not exactly correct, for the purposes of sketching, the intermediate hour lines may be positioned on the basis of spacing them equally between the noon and 6 clock hour lines, as in Figure 27.
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Figure 26 Construction of Hour Lines
Sun_02_01.doc
For Latitudes beyond the Arctic circle At latitudes greater than 666N, the sun will not rise above the horizon at the Winter Solstice. Therefore only two Sunpath loci are required to show the extreme ranges of the suns position in the sky, that at the Equinoxes and that of the Summer Solstice. At the Summer Solstice the sun will be above the horizon for the whole day and therefore its Sunpath is sketched using the position of the sun at noon and midnight. Considering the Figure 18 used to obtain the relation for the altitude of the sun at midnight, it should be noted that the sun will appear to be due North. Considering the Sunpath for a Latitude of 70 North: At the Equinoxes the Declination is zero and the maximum altitude at noon will be, Noon = 90 70 = 20 . The sunrise and sunset are respectively due East and West. At the Summer Solstice the Declination is +23.4 and therefore the maximum altitude at noon will be, Noon = 90 70 + 23.4 = 20 + 23.4 = 43.4 . And the minimum altitude of the sun at midnight will be,
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Polar axis
Direction of sun
Declination
Zenith
These are then used to plot the sunpaths as is shown in Figure 28 . For Latitudes within the Tropics For Latitudes within the tropics the sun will pass overhead through the zenith at some time of year. Therefore, it is important to realise that at the summer solstice the sun may be to the North in Northern latitudes and to the south in southern latitudes. This should be apparent from the cross section through the earth at noon shown in Figure 29. As an example, sketching the sunpaths for the Latitude of 10 N: At the Equinoxes, the Declination = 0, and the max altitude is,
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Equatorial plane
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Noon = 90 L + D = 90 10 + 0 = 80
At the Summer solstice, the declination is 23.4, and the altitude is,
Building Environment 1
North
cos z = z = 0
Ecliptic plane Declination
sin D sin 23.4 0.397 = = = 0.403 cos L cos10 0.985 = cos 1 (0.403) = 113.8
At The Winter Solstice, the declination is 23.4, and the altitude is,
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Direction of sun
Zenith
For Southern Latitudes In southern latitudes the sun will primarily be due north at solar noon. The sun will still rise in the East and set in the West. If there is doubt in your mind about where the sun is, then consider again a diagram of the cross section through the ecliptic plane as in Figure 31. If a convention is adopted that the altitude of the sun at noon and midnight is always measured from the south, then by convention Northern latitudes are positive and Southern Latitudes are negative. From Figure 31, it will be seen that the altitude of the sun at noon will be given by,
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Noon = 90 + = 90 + ( L + D)
but as the Latitude is to the South, by convention L is negative, and so,
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Noon = 90 + ( ( L ) + D ) Noon = 90 L + D
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The three latitudes previously considered for northern latitudes are reconsidered here as being southern latitudes, and the altitudes and azimuths needed for sketching the diagrams are listed in the table. The diagrams for southern latitudes are shown in the margin in Figures 32-34.
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Sun_02_01.doc
The stereographic projection displays the whole sky on a flat plane. In order to fully utilise the diagram, it is necessary to relate it to the three dimensional reality, and to only consider the diagram as a two dimensional drawing will lead to misunderstandings.
Baseline
20 40 60 80
Particularly useful in conjunction with the projection itself is a shading protractor such as is shown in Figure xx. This aid divides the hemisphere of sky into a series of inclined plane and vertical planes. A single inclined plane is shown in Figure xx, and it can be seen that it divides the hemisphere of sky into two parts; that above the inclined plane and that below the inclined plane.
Sky Vault
This inclined plane is positioned within the hemisphere of sky by two quantities: i) ii) The Vertical Shading Angle VSA The orientation of the Ground Line GL
VSA
Figure xx shows the single inclined plane of Figure xx plotted on a stereographic projection. Some aspects should be noted about the locus of the line positioning of the inclined plane on the diagram: i) the altitude of the inclined plane ( VSA), and the altitude circle of VSA coincide on a line normal to the Ground Line, ii) the altitude of the inclined plane is zero where the Ground Line meets the horizon line, the locus is an arc of a circle on the stereographic projection.
GL Ground Line
iii)
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A special case of the inclined plane is when the VSA is 90. Such a vertical plane is shown in Figure xx, and Figure xx shows this plane plotted on a stereographic projection. Being simply a vertical plane passing through the centre of the projection, it has a constant azimuth and will just be a radial line emanating from the centre of the projection. A protractor will normally have a series of radial lines representing vertical planes on the opposite side of the ground line, as is shown in the example of a protractor in Figure xx.
Inclined plane
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Viewing a room The stereographic projection may be used to display a room as seen from some point. Consider the 10m square room shown in Figure xx. Assume that the projection is centred on the centre of the room at a height of 1m.
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Ground Line
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Building Environment 1
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Each of the walls intersection with the ceiling will lie in an inclined plane emanating from the rooms centre. The inclined planes, each of a vertical shading angle 1 , will therefore represent the junction of the ceiling and walls.
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1 = tan 1 = 31
These are plotted on a stereographic projection with the shading protractor and using the angle of VSA=31. The walls intersect in a vertical plane with a constant azimuth and therefore are shown by radial lines. These may be constructed either by using the angle z2 , or drawn as a radial lines emanating from the corners of the ceiling. The vertical sides of the window subtend an azimuth of z1 and the head of the window lies in an inclined plane of angle 2 where;
3 5
2 = tan 1
2
]
2 = 21.8 5
and
z1 = tan 1
4 = 38.7 5
Thus Figure xx shows a stereographic projection of the room seen from its centre. This projection may then be superimposed over a Sunpath diagram as is shown in Figure xx, and the sunpaths seen through the aperture of the window will be seen by the point at the centre of the room. Clearly the room projection should be correctly orientated with respect to the Sunpath diagram.
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