Ionospheric response to the solar eclipse on March 29, 2006

In the present work, results of vertical sensing of the ionosphere at the Klyuchi (Novosibirsk) and Arti (Ekaterinburg) Geophysical Observatories during the solar eclipse on March 29, 2006 are given. The maximum eclipse was observed in Novosibirsk at 11:43 UT; the obscuring phase was 92%. A maximum obscuring phase of 80% was observed at the Arti Georhysical Observatory at 11:32 UT. The results obtained are compared with the analogous data obtained in the preceding and next days as well as with the data of many-year observations on March 28, 29, and 30. The results obtained demonstrate that the eclipse affects most strongly the characteristics of the F layer. The maximum variations of the critical frequency f₀F2 were delayed by about 10 min from the maximum eclipse phase, relaxation started half an hour after the maximum eclipse phase, and the frequency decreased at most by 1.5 MHz. A decrease in the critical frequency of the F1 layer has a greater delay and smaller amplitude. The results obtained are in good agreement with previous measurements. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 9, pp. 68–72, September, 2006.