HF Radar Observations and Modeling of the Impact of the 8 April 2024 Total Solar Eclipse on the Ionosphere‐Thermosphere System
Abstract The path of totality of the 8 April 2024 solar eclipse traversed the fields‐of‐view of four US SuperDARN radars. This rare scenario provided an excellent opportunity to monitor the large‐scale ionospheric response to the eclipse. In this study, we present observations made by the Blackstone (BKS) SuperDARN radar and a Digisonde during the eclipse. Two striking effects were observed by the BKS radar: (a) the Doppler velocities associated with ground scatter coalesced into a pattern clearly organized by the line of totality, with a reversal in sign across this line, and, (b) a delay of 45 min between time of maximum obscuration and maximum effect on the skip distance. The skip distance estimated using a SAMI3 simulation of the eclipse did not however capture the asymmetric time‐delay. These observations suggest that the neutral atmosphere plays an important role in controlling ionospheric plasma dynamics, which were missing in SAMI3 simulations.
Authors
- J. M. Holmes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1025-6694)
- J. B. H. Baker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6255-3039)
- G. Farinas Perez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7853-0747)
- E. V. Dao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0766-1701)
- G. W. Perry (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4690-5783)
- J. M. Ruohoniemi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2747-7066)
- K. T. Sterne (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1076-0009)
- Kuldeep Pandey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7842-2612)
- David R. Themens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2567-8187)
- J. D. Huba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7372-0007)
- Alex T. Chartier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4215-031X)
- W. A. Bristow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7845-8631)
- B. Kunduri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7406-7641)
- Simon Shepherd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1992-4118)
- E. G. Thomas (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8036-8793)
- Daniel J. Emmons (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3495-6372)
Institutions
- Dartmouth College (US)
- New Jersey Institute of Technology (US)
- United States Air Force Research Laboratory (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- Bradley Hospital (US)
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (US)
- Syntek Technologies (United States) (US)
- U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (US)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Geophysical Research Letters
- Published
- 2024-12-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024gl112484
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.99
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- James Merrill House
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
- Office of Naval Research
- Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Office of Naval Research Global