Problems of Menotactic Orientation According to the Polarized Light of the Sky

Abstract

It is shown that the knowledge of the E-vector direction of the linearly polarized light at any point of the sky alone is insufficient for the determination of the position of the sun. If the E-vector direction of a second point is not known the knowledge of at least one other parameter is necessary. This parameter might be the height of the sun over the horizon. With the knowledge of the height the infinite number of solutions for the sun's position becomes reduced to two, or in special cases to one. These cases are derived. © 1975, Verlag der Zeitschrift für Naturforschung. All rights reserved.