Question

I’m wondering if there is a python function/module that calculates the local time after midnight (or local solar time) given the UTC time and longitude? It doesn’t need to take into account daylight saving time.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Or if you want to go even shorter, you could use NOAA’s low-accuracy equations:

#!/usr/local/bin/python

import sys
from datetime import datetime, time, timedelta
from math import pi, cos, sin

def solar_time(dt, longit):
    return ha

def main():
    if len(sys.argv) != 4:
        print 'Usage: hour_angle.py [YYYY/MM/DD] [HH:MM:SS] [longitude]'
        sys.exit()
    else:
        dt = datetime.strptime(sys.argv[1] + ' ' + sys.argv[2], '%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S')
        longit = float(sys.argv[3])

    gamma = 2 * pi / 365 * (dt.timetuple().tm_yday - 1 + float(dt.hour - 12) / 24)
    eqtime = 229.18 * (0.000075 + 0.001868 * cos(gamma) - 0.032077 * sin(gamma) \
             - 0.014615 * cos(2 * gamma) - 0.040849 * sin(2 * gamma))
    decl = 0.006918 - 0.399912 * cos(gamma) + 0.070257 * sin(gamma) \
           - 0.006758 * cos(2 * gamma) + 0.000907 * sin(2 * gamma) \
           - 0.002697 * cos(3 * gamma) + 0.00148 * sin(3 * gamma)
    time_offset = eqtime + 4 * longit
    tst = dt.hour * 60 + dt.minute + dt.second / 60 + time_offset
    solar_time = datetime.combine(dt.date(), time(0)) + timedelta(minutes=tst)
    print solar_time

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()