Abstract
AbstractData from ionosonde and global positioning system (GPS) total electron content (TEC) observations reveal a number of ionospheric phenomena during the total solar eclipse on 21 August 2017 over North America. The eclipse started over the West Coast at ∼16:00 UTC (∼07:53 LT) and ended over the East Coast at ∼20:00 UTC (∼14:46 LT). We identify a growth of plasma density irregularities and turbulence on the bottomside ionosphere during the eclipse totality (at ∼10:03 LT over Idaho Falls), signified by the distinct appearance of spread‐F echoes in the ionosonde data. In addition, data from the ionosonde observations also show some characteristic signatures of traveling ionospheric disturbances at ∼300‐km altitude during the eclipse. Finally, large reductions in TEC and ionospheric plasma densities (by 33–45%) due to the eclipse were observed in both the GPS TEC and ionosonde data.
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