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-   -   Shadow calculation (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=603703)

  • Oct 14, 2011, 05:07 AM
    jukis666
    Shadow calculation
    Here?s a challenge that I can't solve:
    The task is to ether to calculate the light of a shadow from a tall building (church) and it's direction (preferably azimuth in degrees) or to calculate a precise position of the tip of the shadow (GPS coordinates). The parameters are as follows:
    - The location of the building is N 57? 23.763 E 021? 34.071.
    - the high of the building is 30.5 meters;
    - the date and time when the shadow appeared is January 18, 2009 at 11:50 (UTC/GMT 2 hours).
    Can anyone help me with this task?
  • Oct 14, 2011, 06:18 AM
    ebaines
    First what you need to determine is the position of the sun from the perspective of an observer at those coordinates at that precise time. Here's a handy site for doing that: NOAA Solar Position Calculator

    From the coordinates you provided this church is in Latvia. The time zone is -2 hours GMT, not +2 hours. When I enter position latitide = 57 degrees, 23 minutes, 4 seconds north and longitude 21 degrees, 34 minutes and 4 seconds east with offset to UTC of -2 hours for the date and time you provided the site reports that the sun was at altitude = 11.38 degrees and azimuth = 167.06 degrees. Note the sun is just above the horizon - not surprising for a place that far north in winter.

    Can you take it from here?

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