[B_R_Khan]

Hi!

I am trying to understand how solar calculator calculates coordinates for sun direction. I have gone through all the formulas for calculating azimuth and altitude angle but I don't understand how open foam converts these angles into coordinates. In solarCalculator.C, there is a piece of code that calculates xyz coordinates as:

     direction_.z() = -sin(beta_);
     direction_.y() =  cos(beta_)*cos(theta_); // South axis
     direction_.x() =  cos(beta_)*sin(theta_); // West axis

The above trigonometric formulas do not consider the hypotenuse multiplication to calculates x, y and z coordinates.
I might be missing something. Please guide

Thanks!

[mAlletto]

This looks like sperical coordinates

[fedenr]

It seems that these lines are not calculating the coordinates, but the unit vectors of x, y, and z.

[B_R_Khan]

Originally Posted by fedenr

It seems that these lines are not calculating the coordinates, but the unit vectors of x, y, and z.

Yes you are right. I figured out that they are unit vectors calculated via theta and beta in radians.
Thanks!