Global-scale data-model comparison of the July 2nd, 2019 total solar eclipse’s thermospheric effect

<p>NASA&#8217;s Global-scale Observation of Limb and Disk&#8217;s (GOLD) instrument observed the July 2, 2019 total solar eclipse&#8217;s effect in the thermosphere from a geostationary orbit above South America. GOLD&#8217;s observations of compositional and neutral temperature changes induced by the eclipse are different from the modeled effects. Combined Thermospheric Ionospheric Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE-GCM) and GLobal airglOW (GLOW) modeling of GOLD&#8217;s observation is relatively successful in reproducing morphologically changes. However, the model underestimates the compositional changes. GOLD observation show a &#931;O/N₂ column density ratio enhancement of ~ 80 % near the totality, but the model predicts ~ 10 % enhancement. This indicates that there are inadequacies in current modeling capabilities for thermospheric changes during an eclipse. GOLD&#8217;s thermospheric measurements provide an important, new test of the models. We will present detailed data-model comparisons of measurements versus modeling results for the July 2^nd eclipse.</p>