Ionosonde and GPS total electron content observations during the 26 December 2019 annular solar eclipse over Indonesia

Abstract

We report the investigation of the ionospheric response to the passage of an annular solar eclipse over Southeast Asia on 26 December 2019 using multiple sets of observations. Two ionosondes (one at Kototabang and another at Pontianak) were used to measure dynamical changes in the ionospheric layer during the event. A network of ground-based GPS receiver stations in Indonesia was used to derive the distribution of total electron content (TEC) over the region. In addition, extreme ultraviolet (EUV) images of the Sun from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) instrument on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) satellite were also analyzed to determine possible impacts of solar-active regions on the changes that occurred in the ionosphere during the eclipse. We found −1.62 and −1.90 MHz reductions (24.0 % and 27.5 % relative reduction) in foF2 during the solar eclipse over Kototabang and Pontianak, respectively. The respective TEC reductions over Kototabang and Pontianak during the eclipse were −4.34 and −5.45 TECU (24.9 % and 27.9 % relative reduction). Data from both ionosondes indicate a consistent 34–36 min delay between maximum eclipse and minimum foF2. The corresponding time delays for eclipse-related TEC reduction at these two locations were 40 and 16 min, respectively. The ionospheric F layer was found to descend with a speed of 9–19 m s−1 during the first half of the eclipse period. We also found an apparent rise in the ionospheric F-layer height near the end of the solar eclipse period, equivalent to a vertical drift velocity of 44–47 m s−1. The GPS TEC data mapping along a set of cross-sectional cuts indicates that the greatest TEC reduction actually occurred to the north of the solar-eclipse path, opposite of the direction from which the lunar shadow fell. As the central path of the solar eclipse was located just to the north of the southern equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crest, it is suspected that such a peculiar TEC reduction pattern was caused by plasma flow associated with the equatorial fountain effect. Net perturbations of TEC were also computed and analyzed, which revealed the presence of some wavelike fluctuations associated with the solar-eclipse event. Some of the observed TEC perturbation patterns that propagated with a velocity matching the lunar shadow may be explained in terms of nonuniform EUV illumination that arose as various active regions on the Sun went obstructed and unobstructed during the eclipse. The remaining wavelike features are likely to be traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) generated by the passage of the solar eclipse on top of other diurnal factors.