The effect of the 1999 total solar eclipse on the ionosphere

Bamford, R.

doi:10.1016/s1464-1917(01)00016-2

Cited by 24 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…This receiver is exclusively dedicated to providing measurements complementing the Digisonde measurements, whereas in 2005 only the data from the International GNSS Service (IGS) receiver was available, which had a time resolution of 15 min (Stankov et al 2011). This combination of improvements in both the hardware and software units makes it now possible to produce reliable soundings at a much higher cadence, which in turn results in more accurate estimations of the changes in the ionosphere (Bamford 2001;Davis et al 2001).…”

Section: Comparison With Ionospheric Observations From the Eclipse Onmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-instrument observations of the solar eclipse on 20 March 2015 and its effects on the ionosphere over Belgium and Europe

Stankov

Bergeot

Berghmans

et al. 2017

J. Space Weather Space Clim.

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A total solar eclipse occurred on 20 March 2015, with a totality path passing mostly above the North Atlantic Ocean, which resulted in a partial solar eclipse over Belgium and large parts of Europe. In anticipation of this event, a dedicated observational campaign was set up at the Belgian Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence (STCE). The objective was to perform high-quality observations of the eclipse and the associated effects on the geospace environment by utilising the advanced space-and ground-based instrumentation available to the STCE in order to further our understanding of these effects, particularly on the ionosphere. The study highlights the crucial importance of taking into account the eclipse geometry when analysing the ionospheric behaviour during eclipses and interpreting the eclipse effects. A detailed review of the eclipse geometry proves that considering the actual obscuration level and solar zenith angle at ionospheric heights is much more important for the analysis than at the commonly referenced Earth's surface or at the plasmaspheric heights. The eclipse occurred during the recovery phase of a strong geomagnetic storm which certainly had an impact on (some of) the ionospheric characteristics and perhaps caused the omission of some ''low-profile'' effects. However, the analysis of the ionosonde measurements, carried out at unprecedented high rates during the eclipse, suggests the occurrence of travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs). Also, the high temporal and spatial resolution measurements proved very important in revealing and estimating some finer details of the delay in the ionospheric reaction and the ionospheric disturbances.

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Section: Comparison With Ionospheric Observations From the Eclipse Onmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multi-instrument observations of the solar eclipse on 20 March 2015 and its effects on the ionosphere over Belgium and Europe

Stankov

Bergeot

Berghmans

et al. 2017

J. Space Weather Space Clim.

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“…During the total solar eclipse of March 9, 1997 at Irkutsk, the greatest change in the electron density that occurred at heights of 200 km is about 50% (Kurkin et al, 2001). The ionosondes showed that even in the partial shadow, at total solar eclipse of August 11, 1999, the peak electron densities of F and E regions decreased by as much as 20-35% (Bamford, 2001). A strong reduction in the electron density appeared at 150, 200 and 250 km altitude during the total solar eclipse of August 11, 1999(Farges et al, 2003.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Possible effects of the total solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 on the geomagnetic field variations over Elaziǧ-Turkey

Özcan

Aydoǧdu

2004

Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics

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“…It has been found that the ionospheric response to the solar eclipse is generally manifested as a decrease in total electron content [ Afraimovich et al , 1998; Jakowski et al , 2008], an increase of the F layer minimum height and of the effective reflection heights [ Schodel et al , 1973; Cheng et al , 1992], and a density drop in the F layer maximum, which are the usual characteristics for the nightside ionosphere [ Flaherty et al , 1970; Boitman et al , 1999; Bamford , 2001; Farges et al , 2001]. Moreover, the cooling spot of the lunar shadow caused by the solar eclipse, which travels with supersonic speed in the lower atmosphere, would change the thermal structure near the eclipsed region and act as a continuous source of gravity waves that build up into a bow wave [ Chimonas , 1970; Chimonas and Hines , 1970, 1971].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancement and HF Doppler observations of sporadic‐E during the solar eclipse of 22 July 2009

et al. 2010

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[1] The sporadic E (Es) frequently emerging in midlatitude during summer is a very special layer in the ionosphere, and its formation mechanism is different to from that of other layers. The total solar eclipse of 22 July 2009 provided a very unique opportunity to study the relationship of Es and solar radiation. During the solar eclipse day and the days before and after, the vertical incidence ionosonde was located in Wuhan to record the ionograms for this event. Two oblique incidence high-frequency radio systems were used to record the waves from Wuhan to Suzhou and from Wuhan to Huaian. The enhancement of Es during the eclipse period was observed in the vertical and oblique incidence ionograms. The quasi-periodic fluctuations in the critical frequency and Doppler frequency shift curves indicated the possible existence of the gravity waves, which may be responsible for the Es enhancement. However, we find that the enhancement occurred earlier than the appearance of gravity waves and consider that there may be other mechanisms which contribute to the observed enhancement in the ionosphere. A hypothesis is put forward that the cooling effect of the lunar shadow induced powerful airflow from the northern and southern limits of the shadow toward its center, which accelerated the irregularities in Es to produce the large-scale Doppler shift in the reflected waves and form the meridional windshear. Both the windshear and the gravity waves may affect the Es layer and increase the electron concentration. Many observed phenomena are in accordance with this.

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The effect of the 1999 total solar eclipse on the ionosphere

Cited by 24 publications

References 10 publications

Multi-instrument observations of the solar eclipse on 20 March 2015 and its effects on the ionosphere over Belgium and Europe

Multi-instrument observations of the solar eclipse on 20 March 2015 and its effects on the ionosphere over Belgium and Europe

Possible effects of the total solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 on the geomagnetic field variations over Elaziǧ-Turkey

Enhancement and HF Doppler observations of sporadic‐E during the solar eclipse of 22 July 2009

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