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- Title
TEC Depletion Generated by the Total Solar Eclipse of 2 July 2019.
- Authors
Eisenbeis, Julian; Occhipinti, Giovanni
- Abstract
A total solar eclipse occurred at the ascending node of the Moon's orbit on 2 July 2019, with an eclipse magnitude of 1.0459. The totality was visible from the southern Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand to the Coquimbo Region (Chile) and Central Argentina at sunset, with the maximum of 4 min 32 s visible from the Pacific Ocean. The recent Great American Eclipse, 21 August 2017, clearly showed that the ionosphere is strongly affected by the totality. In order to explore the ionospheric signature of the 2019 eclipse, we use data of ∼110 GNSS stations seeing multiple GPS and GLONASS satellites to visualize the eclipse signature on the total electron content (TEC) in the southern hemisphere. The location of the South American GNSS stations, at the end of the path of totality, right before sunset, makes the eclipse signature in the ionospheric TEC act like an early sunset with 15 TEC‐Unit variations, corresponding to 40% of background ionization. The effect reaches only four TEC‐Units, corresponding to 25%–40% of background ionization, for the more westerly observations, where we clearly highlight the effect of the eclipse in the ionosphere and the following recovery to normality. By applying the omega‐k analysis, we can find TIDs with wavelengths of around 100 km and larger than 200 km and with periods of 20–50 min, which supports the results of the Great American Eclipse. Using different grids, we can also prove the robustness of the omega‐k analysis. Plain Language Summary: A total solar eclipse occurred on 2 July 2019 over the Pacific Ocean and South America with the eclipse shadow reaching the eastern coast of South America near Buenos Aires around sunset. We calculate the differential total electron content (TEC) to visualize the evolution of the phenomena with high spatial and temporal resolution. The effect of the eclipse in the ionosphere is clearly visible and appears as TEC depletion, which for some stations of central and eastern South America looks just like an early sunset. The omega‐k analysis confirms the results of the Great American Eclipse regarding wavelength and period of the TIDs induced by the shadow of the Moon. Using different grids, we proved the robustness of the omega‐k analysis. The effect of the solar eclipses in the southern hemisphere is coherent with the observations in the northern hemisphere even if we do not recognize the presence of bow waves. Key Points: GNSS observations of solar eclipse show total electron content (TEC) depletionsWe observe TIDs of >200‐km wavelength that are related to the TEC depletion due to the Moon's shadowTotal solar eclipse proves robustness of the omega‐k analysis
- Subjects
SOUTHERN Hemisphere; TOTAL solar eclipses; TOTAL electron content (Atmosphere); ATMOSPHERIC ionization; ATMOSPHERIC electron precipitation
- Publication
Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics, 2021, Vol 126, Issue 12, p1
- ISSN
2169-9380
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1029/2021JA029186