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Total solar eclipse effects on evapotranspiration captured by groundwater fluctuations in a Southern Appalachian fen
Author(s) -
Wilcox Jeffrey D.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.13419
Subject(s) - solar eclipse , evapotranspiration , environmental science , groundwater , anomaly (physics) , period (music) , hydrology (agriculture) , eclipse , atmospheric sciences , climatology , geology , ecology , physics , geotechnical engineering , condensed matter physics , astronomy , acoustics , biology
Solar eclipses provide opportunities to observe unusual natural phenomena. This paper presents data showing that diurnal groundwater fluctuations were briefly interrupted in a Southern Appalachian fen following a total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. Groundwater levels, which were rapidly declining in the middle of a summer afternoon, nearly stabilized following totality. This anomaly in the water‐level record was caused by reduced evapotranspiration (ET). ET was significantly lower (36% ± 11%, p < 0.02) over a 45‐min time period following the eclipse when compared with other days within the study period, although the effects were short lived and did not have a significant impact on the daily total ET ( p > 0.05). These findings may prompt evaluation of existing groundwater records along the path of totality from past eclipses or plan for studies ahead of future eclipses.