Surface energy fluxes during the total solar eclipse over Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, on 20 March 2015

• Published in: Meteorologische Zeitschrift
• Main Authors: Schulz, Alexander, Schaller, Carsten, Maturilli, Marion, Boike, Julia, Ritter, Christoph, Foken, Thomas
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: E. SCHWEIZERBART SCIENCE PUBLISHER 2017
• Subjects: Svalbard; Ny-Ålesund; Ny Ålesund
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/45245/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/45245/1/Schulz_2017_solar_eclipse.pdf; https://www.schweizerbart.de/papers/metz/detail/prepub/87658/Surface_energy_fluxes_during_the_total_solar_eclipse_over_Ny_Alesund_Svalbard_on_20_March_2015?af=search; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.51459; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.51459.d001

On 20 March 2015, a total solar eclipse occurred over Ny-Ålesund (78.9° N, 11.9° E), Svalbard, under ideal conditions with clear sky. The cycle of the radiation fluxes is comparable with other experiments during eclipses, with even the upward longwave radiation showing significant changes, with a delay to the shortwave radiation and a slowly linear increase after the totality. Also, under polar conditions, an increase of the wind velocity before and a decrease after the totality was found, which is an indicator of the generation of an “Eclipse cyclone”. This change of the wind direction generated a local wind system with a near-surface-layer katabatic flow. During the eclipse, a remarkably large sensible heat flux was observed. The turbulent fluxes were analysed using a wavelet technique with 1-minute time resolution, which is the ideal method for investigating these highly non-steady conditions. No influences on the boundary layer structure as measured with radiosondes were found, with the exception of a wind direction change during the eclipse cyclone below the shallow inversion layer.