Suntraced

Suntraced is a neologism used across disciplines to refer to methods or outcomes tied to tracing or simulating the sun’s path and its effects on a scene or object. The exact meaning varies by context, and there is no single standardized definition.

In architecture and urban planning, suntraced analysis describes the practice of mapping the sun’s trajectory over a site through the year to evaluate daylight penetration, shading, and solar access. Tools include sun-path diagrams, solar angles, and shading studies, which inform building orientation, façade design, and passive solar strategies.

In photography and visual arts, suntraced imagery can refer to long-exposure techniques that reveal solar trails or to post-processing that highlights the sun’s trajectory across a scene. The concept is used to convey time, movement, or solar dynamics.

In computer graphics and visualization, suntraced rendering is a term sometimes used to denote physically based rendering approaches that trace light paths from a sun source to compute illumination, shadows, and scattering. It is closely related to ray tracing and global illumination techniques.

Etymology and usage: The term arises from combining sun and traced, emphasizing the tracing of the sun’s path or influence. Because it is informal, practitioners may attach different specifics to it depending on the field. See also: solar path diagram, solar radiation, ray tracing, daylighting.