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It is the complement to the solar altitude or solar elevation, which is the altitude angle or elevation angle between the sun’s rays and a horizontal plane. [1] [2] At solar noon, the zenith angle is at a minimum and is equal to latitude minus solar declination angle. This is the basis by which ancient mariners navigated the oceans. [3]
This is the coordinate system normally used to calculate the position of the Sun in terms of solar zenith angle and solar azimuth angle, and the two parameters can be used to depict the Sun path. [3] This calculation is useful in astronomy, navigation, surveying, meteorology, climatology, solar energy, and sundial design.
For a plane-parallel atmosphere, the airmass factor is simple to determine if one knows the solar zenith angle θ: m = 1/cos(θ). As time passes, the Sun moves across the sky, and therefore θ and m vary according to known astronomical laws. Direct solar radiation as a function of secant of solar zenith angle at Niamey, Niger. December 24, 2006.
A 2021 publication [8] about solar geometry first calculates the x-, y-, and z-component of the solar vector, which is a unit vector with its tail fixed at the observer's location and its head kept pointing toward the Sun, and then uses the components to calculate the solar zenith angle and solar azimuth angle. The calculated solar vector at 1 ...
Approximate dates when the solar zenith angle reaches a minimum of 0 degrees vs latitude superimposed on an equirectangular world map. The example in blue shows the dates of Lahaina Noon at Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
The polar angle may be called inclination angle, zenith angle, normal angle, or the colatitude. The user may choose to replace the inclination angle by its complement , the elevation angle (or altitude angle ), measured upward between the reference plane and the radial line—i.e., from the reference plane upward (towards to the positive z-axis ...
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For example, at 10:30 AM local apparent time the hour angle is −22.5° (15° per hour times 1.5 hours before noon). [4] The cosine of the hour angle (cos(h)) is used to calculate the solar zenith angle. At solar noon, h = 0.000 so cos(h) = 1, and before and after solar noon the cos(± h) term = the same value for morning (negative hour angle ...