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AGU: Journal of Geophysical Research, Atmospheres

 

Keywords

  • total solar eclipse
  • 23 November 2003
  • meteorological effect
  • Dome Fuji
  • Antarctic ice sheet
  • solar eclipse from space

Index Terms

  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pressure, density, and temperature
  • Atmospheric Processes: General or miscellaneous
  • Atmospheric Processes: Radiative processes
  • Cryosphere: Ice sheets
Abstract
Cited By (1)
 

Abstract

JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 114, D18115, 15 PP., 2009
doi:10.1029/2009JD011886

Total solar eclipse over Antarctica on 23 November 2003 and its effects on the atmosphere and snow near the ice sheet surface at Dome Fuji

Takao Kameda

Snow and Ice Research Laboratory, Kitami Institute of Technology, Kitami, Japan

Koji Fujita

Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

Okimasa Sugita

Observations Department, Japan Meteorological Agency, Tokyo, Japan

Naohiko Hirasawa

National Institute of Polar Research, Tokyo, Japan

Shuhei Takahashi

Snow and Ice Research Laboratory, Kitami Institute of Technology, Kitami, Japan

The Moon cast a long shadow over Antarctica on 23 November 2003 in a total solar eclipse. The eclipse was observed at Dome Fuji Station, located at the highest point of East Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, and lasted 1 h 41 min 37 s in a cloudless condition, during which the Sun was completely obscured for 1 min 43 s. This was the first total solar eclipse to be observed in the Antarctic ice sheet. During the eclipse at Dome Fuji, the air temperature at 1.5 m above the snow surface and the subsurface snow temperature decreased by 3.0 K and 1.8 K, respectively. Estimated surface snow temperatures decreased by 4.6 K. Atmospheric pressure and wind direction did not change, but the wind speed possibly decreased by 0.3 m/s with decreasing air temperature; natural variations in wind speed before and after the eclipse made it difficult to identify a true effect of the solar eclipse. Variations of energy components (net shortwave and longwave radiations, sensible and latent heat fluxes, and geothermal heat) during the eclipse were investigated. The total loss of global solar radiation during the eclipse was 0.60 MJ m−2, equaling 1.6% of the total daily global solar radiation. Regional effects of the eclipse due to a reduction of global solar radiation for air temperature and snow temperature ranged from 0.015 to 0.020 K (W m−2)−1. We additionally examined the relation between eclipse obscuration (the fraction of the Sun's surface area occulted by the Moon) and the reduction of global solar radiation from the first to second contacts. The eclipse was also observed from space by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors onboard NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites. The observational results of this study will contribute to detailed model calculations for clarifying the meteorological effects of eclipses.

Received 9 February 2009; accepted 1 May 2009; published 23 September 2009.

Citation: Kameda, T., K. Fujita, O. Sugita, N. Hirasawa, and S. Takahashi (2009), Total solar eclipse over Antarctica on 23 November 2003 and its effects on the atmosphere and snow near the ice sheet surface at Dome Fuji, J. Geophys. Res., 114, D18115, doi:10.1029/2009JD011886.

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