[GIS] Calculating area of solar radiation using ArcGIS Desktop

arcgis-desktopsolar radiationspatial-analyst

How can I obtain area solar radiation using ArcGIS Desktop?

Best Answer

I recommend a review of An overview of the Solar Radiation tools from the ArcGIS Help 10.2, 10.2.1, and 10.2.2:

The solar radiation analysis tools enable you to map and analyze the effects of the sun over a geographic area for specific time periods.

You can perform solar radiation analysis for a landscape or specific location using two methods:

  • The Area Solar Radiation tool is used to calculate the insolation across an entire landscape. The calculations are repeated for each location in the input topographic surface, producing insolation maps for an entire geographic area.

That page has a link to Area Solar Radiation (Spatial Analyst) which says that the tool:

Derives incoming solar radiation from a raster surface

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