Date of Award
2018
Document Type
Open Access Thesis
Department
Geography
Sub-Department
College of Arts and Sciences
First Advisor
April Hiscox
Abstract
Total solar eclipses supply both visual captivation and a controlled meteorological experiment through a sudden decrease in solar radiation. However, along with commonly expected changes in weather conditions, prior research suggests an adjustment of atmospheric dynamics caused by both a decrease in local incident solar radiation and the Moon’s sweeping shadow across the Earth at supersonic speed. The result is the potential production of internal gravity waves, which transfer both energy and momentum vertically to and from the upper levels of the atmosphere. A series of radiosondes were launched before, during, and after the 21 August 2017 eclipse in Batesburg, South Carolina. Observations of internal gravity waves and low level meteorological conditions are reported. Finally, the eclipse event is compared to model output which accounts for the solar eclipse. On this occasion, it is concluded that internal gravity waves were sourced from both localized convection to the southeast of the field site location as well as the total solar eclipse. Furthermore, the wave period of the proposed solar eclipse induced internal gravity waves fall in line with previous studies.
Rights
© 2018, Michael J.W. Stewart
Recommended Citation
Stewart, M. J.(2018). Internal Gravity Wave Detection During The 21 August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/4717