Coordinated weather balloon solar radiation measurements during a solar eclipse

Harrison, G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0693-347X, Marlton, G., Williams, P. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9713-9820 and Nicoll, K. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5580-6325 (2016) Coordinated weather balloon solar radiation measurements during a solar eclipse. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 374 (2077). 20150221. ISSN 1364-503X doi: 10.1098/rsta.2015.0221 (themed issue: Atmospheric effects of solar eclipses stimulated by the 2015 UK eclipse)

Abstract/Summary

Solar eclipses provide a rapidly changing solar radiation environment. These changes can be studied using simple photodiode sensors, if the radiation reaching the sensors is unaffected by cloud.Transporting the sensors aloft using standard meteorological instrument packages modified to carry extra sensors, provides one promising but hitherto unexploited possibility for making solar eclipse radiation measurements. For the 20th March 2015 solar eclipse, a coordinated campaign of balloon-carried solar radiation measurements was undertaken from Reading (51.44N, 0.94W), Lerwick (60.15N, 1.13W) and Reykjavik (64.13N, 21.90W), straddling the path of the eclipse.The balloons reached sufficient altitude at the eclipse time for eclipse-induced variations in solar radiation and solar limb darkening to be measured above cloud. Because the sensor platforms were free to swing, techniques have been evaluated to correct the measurements for their changing orientation. In the swing-averaged technique, the mean value across a set of swings was used to approximate the radiation falling on a horizontal surface; in the swing-maximum technique, the direct beam was estimated by assuming the sensing surface becomes normal to the solar beam direction at a maximum swing. Both approaches, essentially independent,give values that agree with theoretical expectations for the eclipse-induced radiation changes.

Additional Information	Theme issue ‘Atmospheric effects of solar eclipses stimulated by the 2015 UK eclipse’ compiled and edited by R. Giles Harrison and Edward Hanna
Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/54862
Item Type	Article
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > NCAS Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Additional Information	Theme issue ‘Atmospheric effects of solar eclipses stimulated by the 2015 UK eclipse’ compiled and edited by R. Giles Harrison and Edward Hanna
Publisher	Royal Society Publishing
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