Modeling Solar Eclipses at Extreme Ultra Violet Wavelengths and the
Effects of Nonuniform Eclipse Shadow on the Ionosphere-Thermosphere
system
Abstract
The impacts of solar eclipses on the ionosphere-thermosphere system
particularly the composition, density, and transport are studied using
numerical simulation and subsequent model-data comparison. We introduce
a model of a solar eclipse mask (shadow) at Extreme Ultra Violet (EUV)
wavelengths that computes the corresponding shadowing as a function of
space, time, and wavelength of the input solar image. The current model
includes interfaces for Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) EUV telescopes
providing solar images at nine different wavelengths. We show the
significance of the EUV eclipse shadow spatial variability and that it
varies significantly with wavelength owing to the highly variable solar
coronal emissions. We demonstrate geometrical differences between the
EUV eclipse shadow compared to a geometrically symmetric simplification
revealing changes in occultation vary
$\pm$20\%. The EUV eclipse mask is
validated with in-situ solar flux measurements by the PROBA2/LYRA
instrument suite showing the model captures the morphology and
amplitudes of transient variability while the modeled gradients are
slower. The effects of spatially EUV eclipse masks are investigated with
Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model (GITM) for the 21 August 2017
eclipse. The results reveal that the modeled EUV eclipse mask, in
comparison with the geometrically symmetric approximation, causes
changes in the Total Electron Content (TEC) in order of
$\pm$20\%, 5-20\% in
F-region plasma drift, and 20-30\% in F-region neutral
winds.