Wyatt Joachim
Assignment 1: Solar Angle Calculations – Geog 1401 (Guida)
Name: Wyatt Joachim
Based on what you learned from lecture, calculate the maximum solar angle above the horizon
for the following latitudes on the given days of the year. Remember, you need to figure out the
different in the subsolar point and the latitude you’re calculating the angle for. Fill in the table
below with your answers. To figure out the
average annual solar angle
you should use the
following formula:
(Summer solstice angle + winter solstice angle + (equinox angle*2))
4
1. First, remember, what is the
subsolar point
on the following days:
Summer solstice:
_
(23.5° N)___°
Winter solstice:
_
(23.5° S)___°
Equinox:
(0°)___°
2. Fill out the table with the answers to your solar angle calculations for each listed latitude and
the given times of the year:
Latitude
Max Angle (°) at
Summer
Solstice
Max Angle (°) at
Winter Solstice
Max Angle (°) at
Equinox
Average annual
solar angle (°)
90° N
23.5°
66.5°
0°
30°
60° N
43.5°
0°
0°
10°
30° N
66.5°
0°
0°
16.5°
0°
90°
0°
0°
22.5°
3. Briefly write out the steps for how you calculated the angles to fill out the above table:
Step 1: Identify latitude and subsolar point for given date and location
Step 2: For each latitude, we calculated the solar angle using the formula: Solar Angle = 90° -
|Latitude - Subsolar Latitude|.
Step 3: We found the average annual solar angle by averaging the angles for the three
specific days.
4. Which latitude from your table above would you expect to have the
highest
amount of net
insolation annually?
_22.5___°
5. Which latitude from your table above would you expect to have the
lowest
amount of net
insolation annually?
__0__°
