Point Discharge Current During a Solar Eclipse

• Published in: Earth, moon, and planets Vol. 111; no. 1-2; pp. 79 - 87
• Main Authors: De, S. S., Paul, Suman, Barui, S., Hazra, P., Kala, D., Haldar, D. K., Ghosh, A., Guha, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.11.2013; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Astronomy; Astrophysics and Astroparticles; Atmospheric aerosols; Atmospheric sciences; Discharge; Earth; Eclipses; Electric fields; Moon; Observations and Techniques; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Planetology; Planets; Solar eclipse effects; Solar eclipses; Space Exploration and Astronautics; Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics; Solar eclipse; Atmospheric leakage current; Non-linearity in the lower atmosphere; Vertical electric potential gradient
• ISSN: 0167-9295; 1573-0794
• DOI: 10.1007/s11038-013-9424-4

The effect of solar eclipse of July 22, 2009, obscuring up to 91 %, upon the value of point discharge current (PDC) has been reported in this paper. The observation had been taken from Kolkata (Lat. 22.56°N, Long. 88.5°E). During the eclipse period, significant variations in the magnitude of PDC were observed than their average value for the same period in other days. The average value of the PDC for the successive ±10 days adjacent to the solar eclipse day was about 2.253 A.U. (Arbitrary Unit), while the minimum value showed about 2.242 A.U. at the time of greatest phase at 06:26.4 IST (Indian Standard Time). The results are mainly interpreted in terms of changes of the conductivity of the medium during the solar eclipse.