Perturbations in Earth’s Atmosphere over An Indian Region during the Total Solar Eclipse on 22 July 2009

Prasad, S. B. Surendra; Kumar, Vinay; Reddy, K. Krishna; Dhaka, S. K.; Malik, Shristy; Reddy, M. Venkatarami; Krishna, U. Murali

doi:10.1007/s13351-019-8056-7

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Published: 30 August 2019

Perturbations in Earth’s Atmosphere over An Indian Region during the Total Solar Eclipse on 22 July 2009

S. B. Surendra Prasad¹,
Vinay Kumar²,
K. Krishna Reddy¹,
S. K. Dhaka²,
Shristy Malik³,
M. Venkatarami Reddy¹ &
U. Murali Krishna¹

Journal of Meteorological Research volume 33, pages 784–796 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

During a total solar eclipse (TSE) on 22 July 2009, atmospheric perturbations were monitored from the surface to thermosphere to understand TSE’s impact on the meteorological (temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and wind direction) and chemical (O₃ and NO_x) parameters around Kadapa (14.28°N, 78.42°E), a tropical semi-arid region of India. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted at Yogi Vemana University Campus, Kadapa, India, to measure the temperature, wind speed, wind direction, and concentrations of ozone (O₃), NO, NO₂, and NO_x by using the automatic weather station (AWS) and O₃ analyzer. On the eclipse day (22 July 2009), the surface observations at Kadapa showed a reduction in temperature (about 1.1°C) because of the solar insulation. Comparison of the thermal, dynamical (wind), and chemical parameters on the TSE day with control days [preceding (21 July 2009) and succeeding (23 July 2009) the TSE] illustrated the influence of solar eclipse. During the eclipse period, the O₃ mixing ratio decreased, while NO₂ and NO_x increased; however, NO remained unchanged. In addition, radio occultation (RO) temperature profiles from Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC)/Formosat Satellite Mission (FORMOSAT-3) and Thermosphere, Ionosphere, and Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellites were utilized to understand the impact of TSE on dynamics of the middle and upper atmosphere from tropopause to the thermosphere. High vertical resolution COSMIC observations revealed that during the solar eclipse, tropopause was cooler with twin peaks (double tropopause). The lower thermosphere between 110 and 130 km became warmer during the TSE, which might be caused by the dynamical response of the atmosphere in this region to the solar eclipse. The experimental data have provided very fine-scale variations of the atmospheric parameters both in time and height and also constituted a new set of results on TSE for further research.

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Acknowledgments

We sincerely acknowledge the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Bangaluru for sponsoring the Semi-arid-zone Atmopsheric Research Centre (SARC) at Yogi Vemana University, Kadapa to carry out this study. COSMIC data are obtained from the website https://cdaac-www.cosmic.ucar.edu/cdaac/login/cosmic/level2/wetPrf/ and authors are very much thankful to all members of CDAAC team for providing the COSMIC data freely. The authors acknowledge efforts of the TIMED/SABER team for free access to the data. Mr. S. B. Surendra Prasad and Mr. M. Venkatarami Reddy greatly acknowledge ISRO, Govt. of India for providing the financial support through research fellowships to carry out this study.

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Semi-arid-zone Atmospheric Research Centre (SARC), Department of Physics, Yogi Vemana University, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, 516003, India
S. B. Surendra Prasad, K. Krishna Reddy, M. Venkatarami Reddy & U. Murali Krishna
Radio and Atmospheric Physics Lab, Rajdhani College, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110015, India
Vinay Kumar & S. K. Dhaka
Department of Applied Physics, Delhi Technical University, Delhi, 110042, India
Shristy Malik

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S. B. Surendra Prasad
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Vinay Kumar
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K. Krishna Reddy
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S. K. Dhaka
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Shristy Malik
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M. Venkatarami Reddy
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U. Murali Krishna
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Correspondence to K. Krishna Reddy.

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Prasad, S.B.S., Kumar, V., Reddy, K.K. et al. Perturbations in Earth’s Atmosphere over An Indian Region during the Total Solar Eclipse on 22 July 2009. J Meteorol Res 33, 784–796 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-019-8056-7

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Received: 24 November 2018
Accepted: 08 March 2019
Published: 30 August 2019
Issue Date: August 2019
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-019-8056-7

Key words

total solar eclipse (TSE)
atmospheric perturbations
tropopause dynamics
COSMIC/FORMOSAT-3 satellite
radio occultation (RO) observations