Spatial diversification of the solar conditions in the Pogórze Zachodniobeskidzkie region (methodical test)

The aim of the study is an attempt of spatial presentation of the solar conditions in the Pogórze Zachodniobeskidzkie region with use of GIS. Moreover, the paper is a methodical study of the possibilities of using the GIS techniques in the fi eld of climatology. The study makes use of the meteorological data on sunshine duration from the years 1991–2000 collected in the scientific station of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management of the Jagiellonian University in Gaik-Brzezowa. Insolation for an area on a map was determined by the use of the Stružka method. According to this method, the annual course of the solar radiation rate is similar in different years and it is possible to calculate the insolation of an area on a given slope and to calculate its solar radiation for a level surface. In the result of the analysis, it was found that the Pogórze Zachodniobeskidzkie region has very good solar conditions. This refers to both the duration and solar radiation, which reaches an area of any slope. Effective sunshine duration in this area exceeds over 100 hours of the average amount of sunshine duration for Poland, and over 70 per cent of the area under study has bigger amounts of total solar radiation than those for a level surface. Particularly privileged are the southern slopes near the Dobczycki Reservoir, where insolation is 60 per cent higher than on the northern slopes. (author)