Model/data comparison of the F2-region parameters for the 11 August 1999 solar eclipse Original Research Article

The study investigated the effects of a solar eclipse on the upper atmosphere, using Global Self-Consistent Model of the Thermosphere-Ionosphere and Protonosphere (GSM-TIP) developed in West Department of IZMIRAN. We investigated the solar eclipse of August 11, 1999 with a path of totality starting at 10:00 UT over England and disappearing near the Bay of Bengal (India) at 12:34 UT. The numerical model results of the calculation of f0F2 were compared with experimental data of f0F2 obtained for the European region and collected in Ionospheric Despatch Centre in Europe (IDCE), Warsaw. The model results have shown substantial decreasing of f0F2 over all the European sector (of 1-1,5 MHz). The region of the depression moves from England to Turkey with maximal decreasing along eclipse path. Comparisons with experimental f0F2 data show a reasonable agreement for a number of station such as Warsaw, Kaliningrad, Lannion with exception of Sofia.