Transcript Here - Crescent School

Duration and Intensity
of Solar Radiation
Sunlight is directly over
Tropic of Cancer.
Sunlight
The length of time the
Tropic of Cancer is
exposed to daylight on
this date is greater than
the length of time it is in
darkness. (The yellow
line is longer than the
red line.)
This means more solar
radiation is received and
temperatures are higher.
June 21/22 - Summer Solstice in
Northern Hemisphere
This is the duration of
solar radiation received.
The opposite is true at
the Tropic of Capricorn.
Sunlight
The length of time the
Tropic of Capricorn
spends in the daylight is
shorter than in darkness.
Therefore, less solar
energy is received here,
and temperatures are
cooler.
It is winter in the
Southern Hemisphere.
June 21/22 - Winter Solstice in
Southern Hemisphere
Notice that above the
Arctic Circle, 66.5oN,
the sunlight is
constant. The sun
never sets.
It is called the “Land
of the Midnight Sun”.
South of the Antarctic
Circle the opposite is
true: 24 hours of no
(direct) sunlight.
Here the angle of incidence of
the sunlight is directly overhead,
or at 900 to the horizon. The
sun’s energy is the most intense.
Here at the Tropic of Capricorn
the angle of incidence of the
sunlight is directly overhead, or
at 900 to the horizon. The sun’s
energy is the most intense. This
is the summer solstice.
Here at the Tropic of Cancer the
angle of incidence of the sunlight
is much less direct and therefore
less intense. This is the winter
solstice.