The Variation of Ionospheric TEC During Solar Eclipse on March 20, 2015

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the variation of Total Electron Content (TEC) during the solar eclipse on 20 March 2015. For this purpose, TEC values obtained from five different GPS receivers [(morp, onsa, mar6, mets, tro1)] are examined for determining the ionospheric variation during the time of solar eclipse using percentage deviation calculation from mean values. To determine the impact of the solar eclipse, the TEC changes during the geomagnetically quiet (March 30) and the disturbing (March 19) days, as the reference days, are also studied. As a result of the examination, a behavior similar to a sunset in TEC values is observed in all stations when the percentage deviation calculations are considered. It is concluded that there is a decrease in morp, mets, mar6, onsa, and tro1 stations due to the solar eclipse by 16.45%, 6.53%, 7.99%, 8.12%, and 7.22%, respectively. There is an increase in TEC values on both reference days. However, the percentage of increase in the disturbing day is higher than the quiet day. It can be stated that the decreases in the ionospheric TEC at these five stations with eclipse size greater than 80% are due to the eclipse.