Ionospheric effects associated with the solar eclipse on March 18, 1988

Abstract

The responses of ionospheric parameters to the March 18, 1988 solar eclipse were investigated using vertical sounding data from the USSR and Japanese ground station. By the time of the maximal eclipse, a gradual decrease of electron concentration values in the E-layer maximum was recorded at all observation points. In the F2 layer, the decrease in ionization was observed only 30-35 minutes after the maximal phase of solar eclipse. A spectral analysis of the critical frequency values in the F2 layer for the 24-hr period, which included measurements made before, during, and after the eclipse, indicated a sharp increase of oscillations in the F2 layer, with periods between 1.7 and 2.4 hrs during the eclipse.