A new study has revealed how the temperature of the earth dropped during last year’s partial solar eclipse across the UK
The research revealed how the solar eclipse on March 20, 2015 resulted in a drop in land surface temperatures in parts of Britain and Europe. Britain’s Met office has held that it was the first time that satellites had been used to monitor surface “skin” temperatures during a total solar eclipse.
The Met Office said it was the first time that satellites had been used to monitor surface “skin” temperatures.
The largest temperature drops occurred where the sun was most obscured, the eclipse was longer, or the timing was earlier in the day, the Met officials explained.
The solar eclipse witnessed in 2015 was the first major solar eclipse to sweep across northern Europe in six years, bringing almost total darkness to many areas. Strangely, many people reported experiencing changes in the weather as with the eerie drop in sunlight as the moon moved across the face of the sun.
The solar eclipse in March has given scientists a never before opportunity to study the meteorological impacts of these rare events.
Using data from several mechanisms that include sensors, weather stations, satellites and weather balloons, scientists noted how the solar eclipse last year led to changes in the wind. The temperature across the UK, where 85 per cent to 97 per cent of the sun was obscured during the eclipse, dropped by an average of 1.5°F (0.83°C). In some places, temperature dropped by as much as five or six degrees. Wind speeds fell by up to 2.3 mph, while in areas with clear skies it changed direction by as much as 20 degrees.
Satellite observations of surface temperature during the March total solar eclipse and the variability of near-surface screen temperature anomalies observed during the eclipse are to be published in a special edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London.