Distribution of possible sunshine durations over rugged terrains of China*

Abstract

Abstract Based on the digital elevation model (DEM ), a new model for calculating possible sunshine duration (PSD ) is completely described. Using this model, monthly PSD with resolution of 1 km × 1 km for the rugged topography of China is calculated. Results suggest that terrain has robust effect on PSD, particularly in winter when a lower sun elevation angle exists. Besides, the proposed model taking the DEM data as the input has an ability to process mass of data and is applicable to satellite image processing platforms or Geographic Information System (GIS). The PSD (in hours) is provided in the same way as other kinds of spatial information and can be employed as basic geographic data for relevant studies as well. Keywords: possible sunshine duration (PSD)rugged terrainsspatial distributionsdigital elevation model (DEM) Sponsored by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (Grant Nos. G19990436-01 and G20000779) Sponsored by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (Grant Nos. G19990436-01 and G20000779) Notes Sponsored by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (Grant Nos. G19990436-01 and G20000779)