Statistical and Wavelet Transform-Based Study of the Latitudinal Ionospheric Response to an Annular Solar Eclipse on June 21, 2020

Abstract

The ionosphere is a very complex and variable part of the atmosphere and it is controlled by solar activity. A solar eclipse is one of the phenomena which depicts a major impact on the ionosphere. In this study, we have analyzed the TEC data of 11 IGS-TEC stations (including one GPS station namely Agra) corresponding to a solar eclipse of June 21, 2020 for the duration of June 07–21, 2020. The TEC variations show lower values on the eclipse’s day in comparison to the other days from the mean of each station except some of the stations like Agra (≈2 TECU), BHR4 (≈1TECU), IISC (≈0.5TECU) have shown the enhanced TEC variations. These results are examined by applying wavelet transform techniques such as continuous wavelet transforms (CWTs), and wavelet decomposition over the average, addition, and multiplication of TEC data of 11 stations for the duration of 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM on the eclipse’s day. These results match very well with our statistical results and depict a better representation of the TEC variations during the solar eclipse. The wavelet decomposition of TEC variation has provided that TEC is affected by solar eclipse globally. These TEC variations are interpreted in terms of the mechanisms available in the literature.