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dc.contributor.authorZhang, Shun-Rong
dc.contributor.authorErickson, Philip j.
dc.contributor.authorGoncharenko, Larisa
dc.contributor.authorCoster, Anthea
dc.contributor.authorRideout, William
dc.contributor.authorVierinen, Juha
dc.date.accessioned2018-07-03T12:19:38Z
dc.date.available2018-07-03T12:19:38Z
dc.date.issued2017-12-04
dc.description.abstractDuring solar eclipses, the Moon's shadow causes a large reduction in atmospheric energy input, including not only the stratosphere but also the thermosphere and ionosphere. The eclipse shadow has a supersonic motion which is theoretically expected to generate atmospheric bow waves, similar to a fast‐moving river boat, with waves starting in the lower atmosphere and propagating into the ionosphere. However, previous geographically limited observations have had difficulty detecting these weak waves within the natural background atmospheric variability, and the existence of eclipse‐induced ionospheric waves and their evolution in a complex coupling system remain controversial. During the 21 August 2017 eclipse, high fidelity and wide coverage ionospheric observations provided for the first time an oversampled set of eclipse data, using a dense network of Global Navigation Satellite System receivers at ∼2,000 sites in North America. We show the first unambiguous evidence of ionospheric bow waves as electron content disturbances over central/eastern United States, with ∼1 h duration, 300–400 km wavelength and 280 m/s phase speed emanating from and tailing the totality region. We also identify large ionospheric perturbations moving at the supersonic speed of the maximum solar obscuration which are too fast to be associated with known gravity wave or large‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbance processes. This study reveals complex interconnections between the Sun, Moon, and Earth's neutral atmosphere and ionosphere and demonstrates persistent coupling processes between different components of the Earth's atmosphere, a topic of significant community interest.en_US
dc.description.abstract<i>Plain Language Summary</i>: During solar eclipses, the Moon's shadow causes a large reduction in atmospheric energy input, including the stratosphere and both the thermosphere and ionosphere (∼100–1,000 km altitudes). Theoretical studies since the 1960s have predicted that the Moon's supersonic shadow should generate atmospheric bow waves, similar to a fast‐moving river boat. However, observations were geographically limited for these weak and complicated waves. In 2017, high fidelity and wide coverage ionospheric observations were made using a North American Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) ∼2,000 receiver network. Eclipse passage generated clear ionospheric bow waves in electron content disturbances emanating from totality primarily over central/eastern United States. Study of wave characteristics reveals complex interconnections between the Sun, Moon, and Earth's neutral atmosphere and ionosphere.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipU.S. National Science Foundation grant AGS-1242204 NASA grant NNX17AH71G NASA LWS MURI grant ONR15-FOA-0011 ONR N00014-17-1-2186en_US
dc.descriptionAn edited version of this paper was published by AGU. Copyright 2017 American Geophysical Union. Zhang, S., Erickson, P.J., Goncharenko, L., Coster, A., Rideout, W. & Vierinen, J. (2017). Ionospheric bow waves and perturbations induced by the 21 August 2017 solar eclipse. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(24), 12067-12073. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076054. To view the published article, go to <a href=https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076054> https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076054</a>.en_US
dc.identifier.citationZhang, S., Erickson, P.J., Goncharenko, L., Coster, A., Rideout, W. & Vierinen, J. (2017). Ionospheric bow waves and perturbations induced by the 21 August 2017 solar eclipse. Geophysical Research Letters, 44(24), 12067-12073. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076054en_US
dc.identifier.cristinIDFRIDAID 1521288
dc.identifier.issn0094-8276
dc.identifier.issn1944-8007
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10037/13136
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherAmerican Geophysical Union (AGU)en_US
dc.relation.journalGeophysical Research Letters
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccessen_US
dc.subjectVDP::Matematikk og Naturvitenskap: 400::Fysikk: 430en_US
dc.subjectVDP::Mathematics and natural science: 400::Physics: 430en_US
dc.subjectsolar eclipseen_US
dc.subjectionospheric bow wavesen_US
dc.subjecttraveling ionospheric disturbancesen_US
dc.subjectionosphere, thermosphere, and low atmosphere couplingen_US
dc.subjectsupersonic Moon shadowen_US
dc.titleIonospheric bow waves and perturbations induced by the 21 August 2017 solar eclipseen_US
dc.typeJournal articleen_US
dc.typeTidsskriftartikkelen_US
dc.typePeer revieweden_US


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