Abstract
Abstract. This paper provides the overview of an integrated, multi-disciplinary effort to study the effects of the 29 March 2006 total solar eclipse on the environment, with special focus on the atmosphere. The eclipse has been visible over the Eastern Mediterranean, and on this occasion several research and academic institutes organised co-ordinated experimental campaigns, at different distances from eclipse totality and at various environments in terms of air quality. Detailed results and findings are presented in a number of component scientific papers included in a Special Issue of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. The effects of the eclipse on meteorological parameters, though very clear, were shown to be controlled by local factors rather than the eclipse magnitudes, and the turbulence activity near surface was suppressed causing a decrease in the Planetary Boundary Layer. In addition to the above, the decrease in solar radiation has caused change to the photochemistry of the atmosphere, with night time chemistry dominating. The abrupt "switch off" of the sun, induced changes also in the ionosphere (140 up to 220 km) and the stratosphere. In the ionosphere, both photochemistry and dynamics resulted to changes in the reflection heights and the electron concentrations. Among the most important scientific findings from the experiments undertaken has been the experimental proof of eclipse induced thermal fluctuations in the ozone layer (Gravity Waves), due to the supersonic movement of the moon's shadow, for the first time with simultaneous measurements at three altitudes namely the troposphere, the stratosphere and the ionosphere. Within the challenging topics of the experiments has been the investigation of eclipse impacts on ecosystems (field crops and marine plankton). The rare event of a total solar eclipse provided the opportunity to evaluate 1 dimensional (1-D) and three dimensional (3-D) radiative transfer (in the atmosphere and underwater), mesoscale meteorological, regional air quality and photochemical box models, against measurements.
Highlights
The word “eclipse” derives from the ancient Greek verb εκλειπ ω [ikLIpo] which means to vanish
Emphasis was given on the response of the atmosphere to the abrupt change of the solar radiation by means of meteorological, physical and chemical parameters and on the signals found in the ionosphere and the stratosphere
On the occasion of the 29 March 2006 total solar eclipse, visible over the Eastern Mediterranean, several research and academic institutes organised co-ordinated experiments to study the effects of a total solar eclipse on the environment
Summary
The word “eclipse” derives from the ancient Greek verb εκλειπ ω [ikLIpo] which means to vanish. Observations of solar eclipses date back to at least 2500 BC in the writings that have survived from ancient China and Babylon. An attempt to provide solid evidence of a theory that has changed history was related to an eclipse: in 1915 Einstein claimed in his General Theory of Relativity that massive objects warp space and time, and proposed as a test to observe light deflection from distant stars as it passes close to the sun. Four years later, another physicist, Arthur Eddington, performed
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