Abstract
The effect of solar eclipse of July 22, 2009, obscuring up to 91 %, upon the value of point discharge current (PDC) has been reported in this paper. The observation had been taken from Kolkata (Lat. 22.56°N, Long. 88.5°E). During the eclipse period, significant variations in the magnitude of PDC were observed than their average value for the same period in other days. The average value of the PDC for the successive ±10 days adjacent to the solar eclipse day was about 2.253 A.U. (Arbitrary Unit), while the minimum value showed about 2.242 A.U. at the time of greatest phase at 06:26.4 IST (Indian Standard Time). The results are mainly interpreted in terms of changes of the conductivity of the medium during the solar eclipse.
Keywords
Atmospheric leakage current Vertical electric potential gradient Solar eclipse Non-linearity in the lower atmosphereNotes
Acknowledgments
This study is supported by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) through S. K. Mitra Centre for Research in Space Environment, Institute of Radio Physics and Electronics, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India. They are thankful to the respected reviewers of this paper for their valuables comments and suggestions, the inclusion of those have sufficiently improved this revised version. The authors are also thankful to Prof. A. Maitra, the Head of the Department of Radio Physics and Electronics, University of Calcutta, for his interest in the problem.
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