Insolation
WorldPhysical EnvironmentAverage annual levels of solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface
NOAAA map shows areas of insolation (incoming solar radiation) across the world, categorized by watts per square meter.
The map illustrates global insolation, showing variations in incoming solar radiation from the tropics to the polar regions. In the Northern Hemisphere, high insolation (220 to 280 plus watts per square meter), highlighted as dark green to dark red spans from northwestern Mexico through southern Texas, Florida, and the Caribbean, across the Atlantic to North Africa and Southwest Asia, with peaks in the eastern Sahara and Arabian Peninsula. In the Southern Hemisphere, high insolation areas stretch from East Africa to South Africa and across the Indian Ocean to most of Australia, with other high insolation zones in the Central Pacific and south-central South America. Middle insolation values (120 to 219 watts per square meter), highlighted as light blue to green, are found between 50 degrees north and 50 degrees south latitude, excluding high insolation regions. Low insolation areas (80 to 119 watts per square meter), highlighted as blue to light blue, are located north of the 50-degree lines to the poles in North America, the North Atlantic, and Eurasia, and around the Southern Ocean in Antarctica. The lowest insolation values (less than 80 watts per square meter), highlighted as dark blue, are in the ocean east of northern Greenland.
240–259 | 220–239 | 200–219 | 180–199 | 160–179 | 140–159 | 120–139 | 100–119 | 80–99 | Less than 80 | Risk level 1 (very low) | Risk level 2 | Risk level 3 (low) | Risk level 4 | Risk level 5 (moderate) | Risk level 6 | Sea-Level Rise Vulnerability (2 m) | Class | Rank | Score | Bad Creek Hydroelectric Power Plant SC USA | Bath County Pumped Storage Hydroelecric Power Plant VA USA | Beauharnois Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Bersimis-1 Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Blenheim Gilboa Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant NY USA | Bonneville Hydro Power Plant OR USA | Boundary Dam Hydro Power Plant WA USA | Castaic Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant CA USA | Chief Joseph Hydro Power Plant WA USA | Churchill Falls Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | G M Shrum (W.A.C. Bennett) Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Glen Canyon Dam Hydro Power Plant AZ USA | Grand Coulee Hydro Power Plant WA USA | Helms Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant CA USA | Hoover Dam Hydro Power Plant AZ/NV USA | John Day Hydro Power Plant OR USA | Kettle Rapids Hydroelectric generating Station Canada | La Grande-1 Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | La Grande-2-A Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | La grande-3 Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | La grande-4 Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Limestone Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Long Spruce Hydroelectric Geneerating Station Canada | Ludington Hydro Power Plant MI USA | Manic-2 (Jean-Lesage) Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Manic-3 (Rene-Levesque) Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Manic-5 Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Manic-5-PA Hydroelectric generating Station Canada | Mica Creek Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Muddy Run Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant PA USA | Northfield Mountain Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant MA USA | Outardes-3 Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | R.H. Saunders Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Raccoon Mountain Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant TN USA | Revelstoke Hydroelectric Power Plant Canada | Robert Moses Niagara Hydro Power Plant NY USA | Robert-Bourassa Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | Rocky Mountain Pumped Storage Hydro Hydro Power Plant GA USA | Rocky Reach Hydro Power Plant WA USA | Sir Adam Beck II Hydroelectric Generating Station Canada | The Dalles Hydro Power Plant OR USA | Toktogul Hydroelectric Power Plant Kyrgyzstan | Wanapum Hydro Power Plant WA USA | |
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| 13.3% | 34.1% | 49.4% | 36.1% | 40.7% | 37.0% | 24.4% | 42.3% | 44.7% | 2.23% | 49.2% | 8.45% | 12.0% | 18.7% | 9.20% | 0.891% | 0.318% | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||