Transient land breeze: Eclipse induced wind flow modifications—Observations over plant canopy

An experiment is conducted over Cassava plant canopy at a coastal station at CTCRI, Thiruvananthapuram (8°29'N, 76°59E) to study the response of meteorological parameters and land–sea breeze circulations to the annular solar eclipse on January 15, 2010. Observations reveal decrease of solar radiation to a minimum of 96 W m−2 during the peak eclipse period. Air temperature drops by 4 °C and relative humidity increases by 20%. Sensible heat flux reduces to zero. Transient land breeze occurs for a few minutes with a time lag of about 1 h possibly due to outflow from the umbra region or temperature gradient over land with the eclipse progressing in the eastward direction. Sea breeze is delayed by about 3 h on the next day of eclipse. Spectral energy density of wind (u, v, w) and temperature attains a minimum value during totality and increases later, attributable to reduction in turbulence due to eclipse-induced stability.

► Transient land breeze lasts for a few minutes after the peak eclipse with a time lag of about 1 h.
► Onset of sea breeze delays by about 3 h on the next day of eclipse.
► Relative humidity increases by about 20% over Cassava plant canopy.
► Solar eclipse-induced effects on coastal atmospheric surface layer over plant canopy.
► Spectral density of wind and temperature attains a minimum value during the peak eclipse.