Effect of March 9, 2016 Total Solar Eclipse on geomagnetic field variation

Abstract

During solar eclipse, solar radiation to the Earth is blocked by the Moon. Thus, the ionization process in the ionosphere is disrupted, as well as the variation of geomagnetic field. The disturbance of geomagnetic field is caused by electric current in the E layer of the ionosphere. At low latitude, the current which is dominant in quiet day is the Sq currents. The blocking of solar radiation cause decrement in electron density in the blocked region. The aim of the research is to find the effect of total solar eclipse to the geomagnetic field. The measurement of the geomagnetic field variation during total solar eclipse on March 9, 2016 was carried out at the Meteorological station of BMKG in Ternate (0° 49′ 45.20 ″N; 127° 22′ 54.00″ E). By eliminating the geomagnetic disturbance that occurred in a daily geomagnetic field variation, the pattern of quiet day which is usually in a shape of smooth curve became affected. During the total solar eclipse on March 9, 2016 from 00:30 until 02:00 UT, we found that the geomagnetic field variation of the quiet day decreased by -5 nT.