Open AccessResponse of the tropical mesopause to the longest annular solar eclipse of this millennium
Author(s) -
Sumod S. G.,
Pant T. K.,
Vineeth C.,
Hossain M. M.,
Antonita M.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2010ja016326
Subject(s) - mesopause , solar eclipse , eclipse , atmospheric sciences , photometer , daytime , context (archaeology) , zonal and meridional , gravity wave , climatology , environmental science , mesosphere , geology , physics , astrophysics , gravitational wave , astronomy , paleontology , stratosphere
The spatiotemporal evolution of the daytime mesopause temperature (MT) over a tropical station, Trivandrum (8.5°N, 77°E), has been investigated during the annular solar eclipse of 15 January 2010 using a meridional scanning Multi‐Wavelength Dayglow Photometer. This eclipse was a unique event by virtue of its exceptionally long duration and noontime occurrence over the present observational site. It has been observed that during the course of the eclipse, MT underwent significant enhancement (∼35 K). This increase in temperature was found to be present throughout the region of coverage of the photometer, i.e., ±200 km centered at Trivandrum in the meridional direction. It has also been found that the enhancement in MT revealed a preferential northward/southward movement before/after the main phase of the eclipse. In addition to this, a sudden launch of gravity waves with periodicity of ∼30 min was noticed during the first contact, which was amplified during the maximum phase of the eclipse. Another noteworthy observation was the amplification of a ∼2 hour wave during the course of the eclipse. These observations and their plausible mechanisms are discussed in detail in context of the daytime hydroxyl emissions and mesopause energetics and dynamics.