Ground-Based Microwave Measurements of Mesospheric Ozone Variations over Moscow Region during the Solar Eclipses of 20 March 2015 and 25 October 2022

Abstract

An increase in the ozone content in the mesosphere over the Moscow region during the solar eclipses of 20 March 2015 and 25 October 2022 was observed by means of a ground-based microwave radiometer operated at frequencies of the ozone spectral line of 142.175 GHz. Changes in ozone mixing ratio (OMR) at altitudes of 90 km and 65 km were estimated and compared with diurnal ozone variations measured on the dates closest to the events. It was found that the observed increase in the OMR at 90 km during the 20 March 2015 eclipse was almost two times greater than during the 25 October 2022 eclipse, although the maximum Sun’s obscurations of these eclipses were close to each other (0.625 and 0.646). Most likely, this difference can be explained by the difference in concentration of atomic hydrogen, which plays an important role in ozone destruction at altitudes of around 90 km and above.

Keywords

• solar eclipse
• mesospheric ozone
• microwave spectrometer
• ozone profile
• geomagnetic storm
• atomic hydrogen