Sunshine recorders

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Campbell-Stokes recorder
Campbell-Stokes recorder

Sunshine Recorders are used to indicate the amount of sunshine at a given location. The results are used to help provide information on the climate of an area and some of the fields it is of importance to are science, agriculture and tourism.

Traditionally, sunshine recorders are divided into two groups. In the first group the time of the occurrence of the event is provided by the sun itself and in the second a clock type device is used to provide the time scale.

The older type of recorders required the interpretation of the results by an observer and these may have differed from one person to another. Today, with the use of electronics and computers it is possible to record the sunshine duration that does not rely on an observers interpretation. At the same time the newer recorders can also measure the global and diffuse radiation.