Temperature variation in the mesosphere during solar eclipse

Rocket-borne observations of the extinction of solar hydrogen Lyman-alpha radiation made during the solar eclipses of 20 May 1966 at Karistos for normal and 44% visibility and of 7 March 1970 at East Quoddy for normal, 10% and 0.6% visibility have been used to study the variation of temperature in the mesosphere during these events. It is seen that near the mesopause the decrease of temperature at Karistos is by 20° K for 44% visibility and at East Quoddy by 100° K for 0.6% visibility. Possible causes of these temperature variationsvis-a-vis molecular oxygen and pressure variations have been briefly discussed.     

Measuring the position of the polarization plane of solar coronal emission during eclipse observations

We analyze the suitability of digital equipment with CCD arrays for polarization measurements of solar coronal emission during eclipses. The effect of errors in the method on the derived plane of polarization is estimated. In principle, precise measurements of the plane of polarization can be used to determine the amplitude and direction of the current of a heliospheric plasma sheet. The errors in ordinary nondigital photometric measurements (5%) are too large to enable the resolution of a number of problems having to do with the three-dimensional structure of the solar corona.     

日食诱发厄尔尼诺现象的热-动力机制

潮汐变化引起的大气圈、海洋圈和岩石圈差异旋转的计算结果显示:地球扁率变大时,赤道面的高速气流和洋流产生与地球自转方向相反的由东向西运动,类似赤道东风带;地球扁率变小时,大气和海洋赤道突起减小并向两极流动,在南北纬35°线以上的中高纬度地区,形成两极突起,该计算结果与全球风带分布完全符合。综合分析表明,太阳在赤道面时,赤道东风加强,海洋南北赤道暖流加强;太阳在南北回归线时,西风带加强。日、地、月在同一直线上时将增强这一效应。日月大潮引起的大气、海洋和固体地球的差异旋转是日食多次发生在赤道引发拉尼娜事件产生的动力学机制。     

Observations of the atmospheric surface layer parameters over a semi arid region during the solar eclipse of August 11th, 1999

This paper discusses the observations of the Atmospheric Surface Layer (ASL) parameters during the solar eclipse of August 11th, 1999. Intensive surface layer experiments were conducted at Ahmedabad (23‡21′N, 72‡36′E), the western part of India, which was close to the totality path. This rare event provided by nature is utilised to document the surface layer effects during the eclipse period using measurements of high frequency fluctuations of temperature, tri-axial wind components as well as mean parameters such as temperature, humidity, wind speed and subsoil temperature. Analysis showed that during the eclipse period, the turbulence parameters were affected leading to the suppression of the turbulence process, the main dynamic process in the atmospheric boundary layer, while the mean parameters showed variations within the natural variability of the observational period. The spectra of the wind components and temperature indicated decrease in spectral power by one order in magnitude during the eclipse period. The rate of dissipation of turbulent kinetic energy is found to decrease by more than one order during the eclipse period. The stability parameter showed a change from unstable to stable condition during the period of eclipse and back to unstable condition by the end of eclipse     

Recent advances in solar radio physics

We review high spatial resolution microwave observations of solar active regions, coronal loops and flares. Observations of preflare active regions are presented; in particular we discuss the interpretations of reversal of polarization at the flare site and the role of newly emerging flux in triggering the onset of flares. We discuss the spatial locations of microwave burst emitting regions; loops or arcades of loops appear to be the sites of flare energy release in microwave bursts. We provide direct observational evidence of magnetic reconnection as the primary cause of acceleration of electrons in microwave bursts.     

An experimental set-up for carbon isotopic analysis of atmospheric CO 2 and an example of ecosystem response during solar eclipse 2010

We present here, an experimental set-up developed for the first time in India for the determination of mixing ratio and carbon isotopic ratio of air-CO₂. The set-up includes traps for collection and extraction of CO₂ from air samples using cryogenic procedures, followed by the measurement of CO₂ mixing ratio using an MKS Baratron gauge and analysis of isotopic ratios using the dual inlet peripheral of a high sensitivity isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS) MAT 253. The internal reproducibility (precision) for the δ ¹³C measurement is established based on repeat analyses of CO₂±0.03‰. The set-up is calibrated with international carbonate and air-CO₂ standards. An in-house air-CO₂ mixture, ‘OASIS AIRMIX’ is prepared mixing CO₂ from a high purity cylinder with O₂ and N₂ and an aliquot of this mixture is routinely analyzed together with the air samples. The external reproducibility for the measurement of the CO₂ mixing ratio and carbon isotopic ratios are ±7 (n?=?169) $\upmu $ mol·mol^???1 and ±0.05 (n?=?169) ‰ based on the mean of the difference between two aliquots of reference air mixture analyzed during daily operation carried out during November 2009–December 2011. The correction due to the isobaric interference of N₂O on air-CO₂ samples is determined separately by analyzing mixture of CO₂ (of known isotopic composition) and N₂O in varying proportions. A +0.2‰ correction in the δ ¹³C value for a N₂O concentration of 329 ppb is determined. As an application, we present results from an experiment conducted during solar eclipse of 2010. The isotopic ratio in CO₂ and the carbon dioxide mixing ratio in the air samples collected during the event are different from neighbouring samples, suggesting the role of atmospheric inversion in trapping the emitted CO₂ from the urban atmosphere during the eclipse.     

Peculiarities of polarized radio emission of solar active regions

Spectra of solar-flare active regions displaying peculiarities in their polarized radio emission observed on the RATAN-600 radio telescope at 2–16 GHz are considered. An appreciable dip of the circularly polarized emission (Stokes parameter V) in the middle of the microwave range (6–12 GHz), sometimes with a reversal of the sign of the polarization, is unusual. In some cases, the ordinary emission also dominates at long microwave wavelengths. Expected peculiarities of the frequency structure of microwave sources are calculated in simple models with loops in the form of hot and cool tori. Numerical calculations of these spectra show that the above features of the polarized emission can be explained by the presence of a hot region in the solar corona. It is shown that the parameters of the spectrum of the polarized emission can be used to determine the magnetic field in this hot region and the product of the relative magnetic-field gradient and the loop thickness.     

Power spectrum of brightness temperature fluctuations derived from solar eclipse observations at 2.8 GHz

In this paper we report on the MEM power spectrum analysis of brightness temperature fluctuations observed at 2.8 GHz during the total solar eclipse of 16 February 1980. The observed periodicities range from 3.5 min to 64 min. These periodicities may arise due to spatial and/or temporal variations in the solar radio emission. The observed periodicities imply presence of scale sizes ranging from 70,000 to 600,000 km assuming that the brightness fluctuations arise because of spatial variation only. On the other hand, if these fluctuations are due to temporal variation, the observed periodicities correspond well to predicted modes of solar global oscillations.     

On the effect of the partial solar eclipse of 29 April 1976 on electron content

Faraday rotation measurements made at a chain of stations and group delay measurements made at Ootacamund from ATS-6 are examined for the partial solar eclipse event of 29 April 1976. There is no evidence of eclipse-induced gravity waves in these measurements extending from Ootacamund near dip equator to Patiala (dip 45° N). Eclipse-induced fluctuations were however reported at Trivandrum, about 300 km south of Ootacamund.     

Flare-plasma diagnostics from millisecond pulsations of the solar radio emission

Two solar radio bursts exhibiting narrow-band millisecond pulsations in intensity and polarization are analyzed. There were considerable time delays between the left-and right-circularly polarized components of the radio emission. The observed oscillations of the degree of polarization are due to the different group velocities of the ordinary and extraordinary modes in their propagation from the source to the observer; the frequency dependence of the delay is in excellent agreement with the theoretically calculated group delay in a magnetoactive plasma. It unambiguously follows that the pulsed radio emission is generated near the double upper hybrid frequency by the nonlinear plasma mechanism, since the source emission has a low degree of polarization. In addition to dispersion effects, a Fourier analysis also reveals effects associated with the source inhomogeneity. We detected a frequency drift of pulsations (autodelays) with different signs for different polarization components. This drift suggests that, apart from the dispersion effects, there are also the effects related to inhomogeneity of the radio source. It is shown, in particular, that the upper hybrid modes (generating the radio emission) are unstable in regions with enhanced gradients of the plasma density and/or magnetic field.     

A study of eruptive solar events with negative radio bursts

Solar events of June 15/16, 2000, June 1/2, 2002, February 6, 2002, and February 7, 2002, have been studied. These events probably belong to a poorly studied class of explosive eruptions. In such events disintegration of the magnetic structure of an eruptive filament and dispersing of its fragments as a cloud over a considerable part of the solar surface are possible. The analysis of SOHO/EIT extreme ultraviolet images obtained in the 195 Å and 304 Å channels has revealed the appearance of dimmings of various shapes and propagation of a coronal wave for June 1/2, 2002. In all the events the Nobeyama, Learmonth, and Ussuriysk observatories recorded negative radio bursts at several frequencies in the 1–10 GHz range. Most likely, these bursts were due to absorption of solar radio emission in clouds produced by fragments of filaments. Absorption of the solar background radiation can be observed as a depression of the emission in the 304 Å channel. A model has been developed, which permits one to estimate parameters of absorbing plasma such as temperature, optical thickness, area of the absorbing cloud, and its height above the chromosphere from the radio absorption observed at several frequencies. The obtained values of the temperature, 8000–9000 K, demonstrate that the absorber was the material of an erupted cool filament. The model estimate of the masses of the ejecta in the considered events were ～10¹⁵ g, which is comparable to masses of typical filaments and coronal mass ejections.     

Detection of a cyclotron line in the radio spectrum of a solar active region and its interpretation

Observations of the active region AR 7962 obtained at 2–32 cm on the RATAN-600 radio telescope on May 10–12, 1996, are presented. The high-resolution measurements detected a narrow feature near 8.5 cm against the background of the smooth spectrum of the local source associated with sunspots. This narrow-band emission is identified with a bright, pointlike, high-frequency source at 1.7 cm recorded on maps made using the Nobeyama radio telescope. The characteristics of the observed line (lifetime 3 days, brightness temperature of the order of several million Kelvin, relative width of about 10%) suggest that it can be explained as thermal cyclotron radiation at the third harmonic of the electron gyrofrequency from a compact source containing a dense, hot plasma; the corresponding higher frequency emission could be due to thermal Bremsstrahlung. Analysis of the RATAN-600 and Nobeyama data can be used to probe the magnetic field, kinetic temperature, and electron density in the radiation source in the corona.     

Modeling the frequency dependence of the durations of solar radio spikes

The dependence of the durations of millisecond narrow-band solar radio spikes τ on the frequency f at which they are emitted is studied. A regression analysis of available experimental data at 0.3–3 GHz yields the relationship τ ∝ f ^?1.29±0.08, refining the known Güdel-Benz law. This relationship differs at a statistically significant level from the intuitive expectation τ ∝ f ^?1; this requires a physical interpretation. The frequency dependences of the pulse durations for various modes of cyclotron maser emission near the first, second, and third harmonics of the electron cyclotron frequency have been modeled. The model relationships for different cyclotron maser emission modes are different; only the results of the model for the second harmonic of the extraordinary wave are consistent with the observed behavior. Thus, this wave is a probable candidate for the dominant mode in spike bursts.     

Properties of solar wind turbulence from radio occultation experiments with the NOZOMI spacecraft

Radio-sounding experiments using signals from the Japanese NOZOMI spacecraft to probe the circum solar plasma were performed from December 2000 through January 2001. They can be used to obtain information about the properties of the solar wind plasma in the region where it is accelerated at heliocentric distances of 12.8–36.9R _s (where R _s is the radius of the Sun). Measurements of the intensity and frequency of the received signals were carried out with high time resolution (～0.05 s for the frequency and ～0.0064 s for the intensity), making it possible to investigate the anisotropy of inhomogeneities and the spatial spectrum of the turbulence of the circum solar plasma. Analysis of these radio-sounding data has shown that the scintillation index and intensity of the frequency fluctuations decrease approximately according to a power law with increasing distance of the line of sight from the Sun. Measurements of the amplitude fluctuations and estimates of the solar wind velocity derived from spatially separated observations indicate the presence of small-scale inhomogeneities with sizes of the order of 50 km at heliocentric distances less than 25R _s , which are elongated in the radial direction with anisotropy coefficients from 2.3 to 3.0. The inhomogeneities at heliocentric distances exceeding 30R _s become close to isotropic.     

Long-term oscillations in solar active regions based on magnetic fields and radio emission

A comparative analysis of sunspot oscillations and related radio sources in the active regions AR 8949, AR 8951, and AR 8953 is carried out using SOHO MDI data and simultaneous observations with the Nobeyama Radioheliograph, with a one-minute time resolution on scales of tens to hundreds of minutes. The radio sources in the selected active regions are ～40 000–60 000 km away from the corresponding spots, with the periods of long-term oscillations of the radio sources being ～12% longer.