Sun Path: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Direct answer

For Abu Dhabi at 24.4512, 54.3970, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 89.0° at the June solstice, 65.5° at an equinox and 42.1° at the December solstice. Refine these geometry checks with the project date, civil time, facade azimuth, terrain and local horizon. The reproducible location record is GeoNames ID 292968 in administrative area 01, at 24.4512, 54.3970; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 89.0° at the June solstice, 65.5° at an equinox and 42.1° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 10.5 hours in December to 13.5 hours in June; this excludes atmospheric refraction, terrain and obstruction effects. The cited national authority is a discovery starting point; current local documents and a named qualified reviewer control project use of this sun path record.

Prepared by Harth · Prepared from the cited location and country sources; local project inputs remain unreviewed · Published 2026-08-26 · Updated 2026-08-31.

What must be verified for Abu Dhabi?

Abu Dhabi is represented here at approximately 24.4512, 54.3970 for discovery and workflow planning. A project address, parcel, elevation, exposure, authority, and submission date must replace that city-centre reference before design use.

How should sun path be established?

1. Fix the surveyed site and local time basis.
2. Select an authoritative weather source or a named solar-position algorithm.
3. Record period, percentile or scenario and units.
4. Test sensitivity to elevation, exposure, urban form and horizon.
5. Save the source file, retrieval date and checker in the model record.

What are the limits of this worksheet?

This sun-path-workflow page is a project-starting worksheet, not a design value or approval. The controlling authority and qualified professionals for the Abu Dhabi site remain authoritative.

Abu Dhabi monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Abu Dhabi solar-geometry fingerprint at 24.4512, 54.3970

• Abu Dhabi, 21 January: declination -20.14°, noon altitude 45.41°, zenith 44.59°, geometric daylight 10.720 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.986.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 February: declination -11.23°, noon altitude 54.32°, zenith 35.68°, geometric daylight 11.310 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.718.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 March: declination -0.40°, noon altitude 65.15°, zenith 24.85°, geometric daylight 11.976 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.463.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 April: declination +11.58°, noon altitude 77.13°, zenith 12.87°, geometric daylight 12.713 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.229.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 May: declination +20.14°, noon altitude 85.69°, zenith 4.31°, geometric daylight 13.280 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.075.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 June: declination +23.45°, noon altitude 89.00°, zenith 1.00°, geometric daylight 13.517 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.017.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 July: declination +20.44°, noon altitude 85.99°, zenith 4.01°, geometric daylight 13.301 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.070.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 August: declination +11.75°, noon altitude 77.30°, zenith 12.70°, geometric daylight 12.724 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.225.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 September: declination -0.20°, noon altitude 65.35°, zenith 24.65°, geometric daylight 11.988 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.459.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 October: declination -11.75°, noon altitude 53.79°, zenith 36.21°, geometric daylight 11.276 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.732.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 November: declination -20.44°, noon altitude 45.11°, zenith 44.89°, geometric daylight 10.699 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.996.
• Abu Dhabi, 21 December: declination -23.45°, noon altitude 42.10°, zenith 47.90°, geometric daylight 10.483 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 1.107.

Harth computed the Abu Dhabi fingerprint for latitude 24.4512° with the Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle and 1 / tan(altitude) shadow ratio. Longitude 54.3970° is retained for a later civil-time conversion; this screen does not perform that conversion. See NOAA's solar calculation details. Atmospheric refraction, terrain, facade azimuth and obstructions remain outside this first-pass comparison.

Where can you explore related guidance?

• Explore all solar data guidance
• Sun Path: Musaffah, UAE
• Sun Path: Mohammed Bin Zayed City, UAE
• Sun Path: Khalifah A City, UAE
• Sun Path: Bani Yas City, UAE
• All solar & daylight data guidance for United Arab Emirates

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames AE dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 292968). Regulatory starting point: UAE Government overview of local building authorities. Figures are illustrative — verify against the current locally adopted edition for the site. Solar-method context: NOAA Solar Calculation Details; the Harth monthly table uses a simpler declination and geometric-daylight approximation whose stated limitations must be retained.

Source links

• download.geonames.org

• u.ae

• gml.noaa.gov