Study on Astronomical Solar Radiation over Rugged Terrain Using DEM Data

This paper is based on a distributed model for calculating daily astronomical solar radiation with a resolution of 90 m × 90 m SRTM (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission) DEM. We use a ray-tracing method and integral by subparagraph to calculate the conditions of terrain shading information, and through an integral way to make a visualization of astronomical solar radiation. The result shows that the geographical and topographical factors make a visible effect on the spatial distribution of astronomical solar radiation over a rugged area.