Response of atmospheric surface layer turbulence to a partial solar eclipse

Antonia, R. A.; Chambers, A. J.; Phong-anant, D.; Rajagopalan, S.; Sreenivasan, Katepalli R.

doi:10.1029/jc084ic04p01689

Cited by 54 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…However, in the few studies investigating PBL changes during solar eclipses, important findings are reported. Antonia et al (1979), Segal et al (1996) and Eaton et al (1997) showed that a solar eclipse affects the sensible heat-flux and the radiation flux near the surface and that the surface layer turbulence approximately follows a continuum of equilibrium states in response to the stability changes brought about by the change in surface heat flux. During the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999, Kolev et al (2005) also demonstrated that the solar eclipse affects the meteorological parameters of the atmosphere near the ground, the ozone concentration and the height of the mixing layer.…”

Section: Boundary Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

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The total solar eclipse of March 2006: overview

et al. 2008

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Abstract. This paper provides the overview of an integrated, multi-disciplinary effort to study the effects of the 29 March 2006 total solar eclipse on the environment, with special focus on the atmosphere. The eclipse has been visible over the Eastern Mediterranean, and on this occasion several research and academic institutes organised co-ordinated experimental campaigns, at different distances from eclipse totality and at various environments in terms of air quality. Detailed results and findings are presented in a number of component scientific papers included in a Special Issue of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The effects of the eclipse on meteorological parameters, though very clear, were shown to be controlled by local factors rather than the eclipse magnitudes, and the turbulence activity near surface was suppressed causing a decrease in the Planetary Boundary Layer. In addition to the above, the decrease in solar radiation has caused change to the photochemistry of the atmosphere, with night time chemistry dominating. The abrupt "switch off" of the sun, induced changes also in the ionosphere (140 up to 220 km) and the stratosphere. In the ionosphere, both photochemistry and dynamics resulted to changes in the reflection heights and the electron concentrations. Among the most important scientific findings from the experiments undertaken has been the experimental proof of eclipse induced thermal fluctuations in the ozone layer (Gravity Waves), due to the supersonic movement of the moon's shadow, for the first time with simultaneous measurements at three altitudes namely the troposphere, the stratosphere and the ionosphere.Correspondence to: E. Gerasopoulos (egera@meteo.noa.gr)Within the challenging topics of the experiments has been the investigation of eclipse impacts on ecosystems (field crops and marine plankton). The rare event of a total solar eclipse provided the opportunity to evaluate 1 dimensional (1-D) and three dimensional (3-D) radiative transfer (in the atmosphere and underwater), mesoscale meteorological, regional air quality and photochemical box models, against measurements.

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Section: Boundary Layermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Srivastava et al, 1982), boundary layer physics (e.g. Antonia et al, 1979), total columnar ozone (e.g. Kawabata, 1937), gravity waves (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The total solar eclipse of March 2006: overview

et al. 2008

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“…There are several investigations on the Earth's atmospheric and ionospheric effects of SEs [e.g., Boyd, 1966;Anderson et al, 1972;Antonia et al, 1979;Srivastava et al, 1982;Chimonas and Hines, 1970;Chimonas, 1970;Clilverd et al, 2001;Babakhanov et al, 2013 and references therein]. Further studies on SEs ionospheric effects (particularly in lower ionosphere) are warranted because of the fact that each eclipse is different from others based on the occurrence time of the year, time of the day, degree of the solar disk occultation, state of the space, and atmospheric weather and location (latitude and longitude) of observations on the Earth [Baran et al, 2003].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low‐mid latitude D region ionospheric perturbations associated with 22 July 2009 total solar eclipse: Wave‐like signatures inferred from VLF observations

Maurya¹,

Phanikumar

Singh³

et al. 2014

JGR Space Physics

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We present first report on the periodic wave-like signatures (WLS) in the D region ionosphere during 22 July 2009 total solar eclipse using JJI, Japan, very low frequency (VLF) navigational transmitter signal (22.2 kHz) observations at stations, Allahabad, Varanasi and Nainital in Indian Sector, Busan in Korea, and Suva in Fiji. The signal amplitude increased on 22 July by about 6 and 7 dB at Allahabad and Varanasi and decreased by about 2.7, 3.5, and 0.5 dB at Nainital, Busan, and Suva, respectively, as compared to 24 July 2009 (normal day). The increase/decrease in the amplitude can be understood in terms of modal interference at the sites of modes converted at the discontinuity created by the eclipse intercepting the different transmitter-receiver great circle paths. The wavelet analysis shows the presence of WLS of period~16-40 min at stations under total eclipse and of period~30-80 min at stations under partial eclipse (~85-54% totality) with delay times between~50 and 100 min at different stations. The intensity of WLS was maximum for paths in the partially eclipsed region and minimum in the fully eclipsed region. The features of WLS on eclipse day seem almost similar to WLS observed in the nighttime of normal days (e.g., 24 July 2009). The WLS could be generated by sudden cutoff of the photo-ionization creating nighttime like conditions in the D region ionosphere and solar eclipse induced gravity waves coming to ionosphere from below and above. The present observations shed additional light on the current understanding of gravity waves induced D region ionospheric perturbations.

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“…Although several early studies (e.g., Stewart and Rouse, 1974;Antonia et al, 1979) examined the impact of solar eclipses on surface processes, it was not until the late 1990s and early 2000s that the focus shifted to the variations in temperature, humidity, wind speed, turbulence and atmospheric chemistry. Fernández et al (1993a, b) analyzed the variations produced by the total eclipse of 11 July 1991 on different meteorological fields using a set of surface stations and radio soundings for different sites in Costa Rica.…”

Section: A Montornès Et Al: Solar Eclipses In Wrf-arw Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementation of Bessel's method for solar eclipses prediction in the WRF-ARW model

Montornès

Codina

Zack³

et al. 2016

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Solar eclipses are predictable astronomical events that abruptly reduce the incoming solar radiation into the Earth's atmosphere, which frequently results in nonnegligible changes in meteorological fields. The meteorological impacts of these events have been analyzed in many studies since the late 1960s. The recent growth in the solar energy industry has greatly increased the interest in providing more detail in the modeling of solar radiation variations in numerical weather prediction (NWP) models for the use in solar resource assessment and forecasting applications. The significant impact of the recent partial and total solar eclipses that occurred in the USA (23 October 2014) and Europe (20 March 2015) on solar power generation have provided additional motivation and interest for including these astronomical events in the current solar parameterizations.Although some studies added solar eclipse episodes within NWP codes in the 1990s and 2000s, they used eclipse parameterizations designed for a particular case study. In contrast to these earlier implementations, this paper documents a new package for the Weather Research and ForecastingAdvanced Research WRF (WRF-ARW) model that can simulate any partial, total or hybrid solar eclipse for the period 1950 to 2050 and is also extensible to a longer period. The algorithm analytically computes the trajectory of the Moon's shadow and the degree of obscuration of the solar disk at each grid point of the domain based on Bessel's method and the Five Millennium Catalog of Solar Eclipses provided by NASA, with a negligible computational time. Then, the incoming radiation is modified accordingly at each grid point of the domain.This contribution is divided in three parts. First, the implementation of Bessel's method is validated for solar eclipses in the period 1950-2050, by comparing the shadow trajectory with values provided by NASA. Latitude and longitude are determined with a bias lower than 5 × 10 −3 degrees (i.e., ∼ 550 m at the Equator) and are slightly overestimated and underestimated, respectively. The second part includes a validation of the simulated global horizontal irradiance (GHI) for four total solar eclipses with measurements from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN). The results show an improvement in mean absolute error (MAE) from 77 to 90 % under cloudless skies. Lower agreement between modeled and measured GHI is observed under cloudy conditions because the effect of clouds is not included in the simulations for a better analysis of the eclipse outcomes. Finally, an introductory discussion of eclipse-induced perturbations in the surface meteorological fields (e.g., temperature, wind speed) is provided by comparing the WRF-eclipse outcomes with control simulations.

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Response of atmospheric surface layer turbulence to a partial solar eclipse

Cited by 54 publications

References 6 publications

The total solar eclipse of March 2006: overview

The total solar eclipse of March 2006: overview

Low‐mid latitude D region ionospheric perturbations associated with 22 July 2009 total solar eclipse: Wave‐like signatures inferred from VLF observations

Implementation of Bessel's method for solar eclipses prediction in the WRF-ARW model

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