Sun direction calculations

[matti]

I try to plan my missions so that the sun is at its best direction.

SunCalc is a nice page that shows the direction of the sun at different times, times of the year and places.

SunCalc sun position and sunlight phases calculator

It takes into account the daylight saving time, and the difference between user's location and the official timezone (where solar noon is at 12:00 on normal time). It also takes into account that apparently the time of the solar noon varies somewhat depending on the time of the season.

It seems to use the user's timezone so be careful if you plan a mission on a different timezone!

If you want a more precise time than the slider at the top, you can see it on the browser's address bar.

You can save a view in your browser by putting the desired GPS in the address, the next number determines the zoom factor, and the rest is for the date and time. For example next year's longest day in New York:

SunCalc sun position and sunlight phases calculator

Are there similar apps?

 

[KAOS Imagery]

I've used the Photographer's Ephemeris for years. It's free via the web browser or you can purchase an app version for your smartphone.

www.app.photoephemeris.com

 

[Neil_Hines]

Thanks for your guide friend I will check it and hope it works.

 

[matti]

Thanks for the tip -- The Photographer's Ephemeris does more than I could ever think to ask for! There is some learning curve but it is well worth it.

I also got Photographer's Ephemeris 3D and The Photographer's Transit with the $20 iPad bundle but I'm not yet sure how useful they are for me.

One thing I'm unsure is how much _vertical_ coverage I get with a certain altitude and distance with my P3P. For example: how far should the AC start the Litchi mission if I want my home to be visible from 50 or 120 m altitude when there is 20% sky visible above the horizon?

...p.s. I have made a LibreOffice spreadsheet of the FOV calculations for P3P (saved also as Excel .xlsx format). Just enter the AC Distance (or altitude -- i.e. the distance from the P3P camera to the object) in meters, feet etc (the results use the same unit). The results show the object's maximum diagonal diameter and the object's maximum X- and Y-dimensions for 4:3 and 16:9 aspect ratios.