Qatar is one of the world's sunniest countries

Qatar is among the sunniest spots on the planet, according to two scientists working on a new project that studies cloud coverage across the world.

Using 15 years’ worth of satellite photos tracking cloud cover internationally, EarthEnv researchers have compiled a cloud atlas of sorts.

Their research was published at the end of last month and aims to show how important clouds are when it comes to understanding habitats, the ecosystem and species distributions, as well as making predictions about the future of the environment.

Sunny/cloudy spots

The team, which has the support of NASA and Yale University, among others, found that northern Africa, much of the Gulf and parts of Australia are among the sunniest places in the world for most of the year.

Shadier, cloudy places include South America and Africa near the equator and Indonesia.

Despite the past few months of fair weather and occasional rain, news that Qatar has a lot of sun isn’t likely to surprise anyone living here – especially given today’s weather forecast.

According to the Qatar Meteorology Department, temperatures will hit a searing 38C (100F) in Doha this week.

Temperatures are currently between 33-38 °C and 40 °C in Abu Hamor, its higher than the average about 5 degrees. pic.twitter.com/oM30nGL3eg

— أرصاد قطر (@qatarweather) April 26, 2016