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 | Arches | Aulavik National Park of Canada | Auyuittuq National Park of Canada | Badlands | Banff National Park of Canada | Bering Land Bridge National Park | Big Bend | Canyonlands | Cape Breton Highlands National Park of Canada | Capitol Reef | Channel Islands | Congaree | Crater Lake | Death Valley | Denali | Everglades | Fundy National Park of Canada | Glacier Bay | Glacier National Park of Canada | Glacier | Grand Canyon | Grand Teton | Great Basin | Great Sand Dunes | Great Smoky Mountains | Gros Morne National Park of Canada | Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve of Canada and Haida Heritage Site | Haleakala | Hawai'i Volcanoes | Isle Royale | Ivvavik National Park of Canada | Jasper National Park of Canada | Joshua Tree | Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site of Canada | Kenai Fjords | Kings Canyon | Kluane National Park Reserve of Canada | Kobuk Valley | Kootenay National Park of Canada | Kouchibouguac National Park of Canada | Lassen Volcanic | Mammoth Cave | Mealy Mountains National Park Reserve | Mount Rainier | Nááts'ihch'oh National Park Reserve of Canada | Nahanni National Park Reserve of Canada | North Cascades | Olympic | Parc national Kuururjuaq | Parc national Tursujuq | Prince Albert National Park of Canada | Pukaskwa National Park of Canada | Qausuittuq National Park of Canada | Quttinirpaaq National Park of Canada | Redwood | Riding Mountain National Park of Canada | Rocky Mountain | Saguaro | Shenandoah | Sirmilik National Park of Canada | Theodore Roosevelt | Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve of Canada | Tuktut Nogait National Park of Canada | Ukkusiksalik National Park of Canada | Vuntut National Park of Canada | Wapusk National Park of Canada | Wood Buffalo National Park of Canada | Yellowstone | Yoho National Park of Canada | Yosemite | Zion | |
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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% | 0.132% | 1.27% | 0.759% | 0.211% | 0.921% | 0.777% | 0.422% | 0.602% | 1.74% | 0.414% | 0.108% | 0.118% | 0.283% | 1.93% | 1.58% | 2.68% | 0.241% | 0.595% | 0.127% | 1.09% | 1.65% | 0.426% | 0.115% | 0.316% | 0.934% | 0.426% | 0.112% | 0.380% | 7.64% | 0.404% | 2.50% | 1.59% | 0.737% | 0.681% | 0.139% | 0.837% | 4.12% | 0.527% | 0.129% | 0.277% | 0.115% | 0.152% | 2.69% | 0.544% | 0.314% | 1.87% | 1.18% | 2.07% | 0.319% | 1.85% | 0.603% | 0.169% | 0.597% | 3.97% | 0.113% | 0.423% | 0.399% | 0.108% | 0.738% | 1.16% | 0.137% | 2.69% | 1.55% | 0.646% | 1.08% | 1.76% | 1.98% | 1.35% | 0.127% | 0.741% | 0.258% | ||||