Sun Path: Garissa, Kenya

Direct answer

For Garissa at -0.4527, 39.6460, the declination-only solar-noon altitude is approximately 66.1° at the June solstice, 89.5° at an equinox and 67.0° 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 197745 in administrative area 16, at -0.4527, 39.6460; replace it with the surveyed parcel point before relying on the result. As a transparent geometry check, declination-only solar-noon altitude is about 66.1° at the June solstice, 89.5° at an equinox and 67.0° at the December solstice. Representative 21st-day geometry ranges from about 12.0 hours in June to 12.0 hours in December; 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 Garissa?

Garissa is represented here at approximately -0.4527, 39.6460 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 Garissa site remain authoritative.

Garissa monthly solar geometry check for sun path

Garissa solar-geometry fingerprint at -0.4527, 39.6460

• Garissa, 21 January: declination -20.14°, noon altitude 70.31°, zenith 19.69°, geometric daylight 12.022 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.358.
• Garissa, 21 February: declination -11.23°, noon altitude 79.23°, zenith 10.77°, geometric daylight 12.012 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.190.
• Garissa, 21 March: declination -0.40°, noon altitude 89.95°, zenith 0.05°, geometric daylight 12.000 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.001.
• Garissa, 21 April: declination +11.58°, noon altitude 77.97°, zenith 12.03°, geometric daylight 11.988 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.213.
• Garissa, 21 May: declination +20.14°, noon altitude 69.41°, zenith 20.59°, geometric daylight 11.978 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.376.
• Garissa, 21 June: declination +23.45°, noon altitude 66.10°, zenith 23.90°, geometric daylight 11.974 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.443.
• Garissa, 21 July: declination +20.44°, noon altitude 69.11°, zenith 20.89°, geometric daylight 11.977 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.382.
• Garissa, 21 August: declination +11.75°, noon altitude 77.79°, zenith 12.21°, geometric daylight 11.987 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.216.
• Garissa, 21 September: declination -0.20°, noon altitude 89.75°, zenith 0.25°, geometric daylight 12.000 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.004.
• Garissa, 21 October: declination -11.75°, noon altitude 78.70°, zenith 11.30°, geometric daylight 12.013 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.200.
• Garissa, 21 November: declination -20.44°, noon altitude 70.01°, zenith 19.99°, geometric daylight 12.023 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.364.
• Garissa, 21 December: declination -23.45°, noon altitude 67.00°, zenith 23.00°, geometric daylight 12.026 hours, and vertical-object noon shadow ratio 0.424.

Harth computed the Garissa fingerprint for latitude -0.4527° with the Cooper declination approximation, 90° - |latitude - declination| at solar noon, centre-to-centre sunrise hour angle and 1 / tan(altitude) shadow ratio. Longitude 39.6460° 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: Meru, Kenya
• Sun Path: Embu, Kenya
• Sun Path: Isiolo, Kenya
• Sun Path: Wajir, Kenya
• All solar & daylight data guidance for Kenya
• Climate Design Data: Garissa, Kenya

Sources and method

Location data from the GeoNames KE dump (CC BY 4.0, snapshot 2026-08-31, GeoNames ID 197745). Regulatory starting point: National Construction Authority and the applicable county government. 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

• nca.go.ke

• gml.noaa.gov