Total solar eclipse effects on evapotranspiration captured by groundwater fluctuations in a Southern Appalachian fen

Abstract

Solar eclipses provide opportunities to observe unusual natural phenomena. This paper presents data showing that diurnal groundwater fluctuations were briefly interrupted in a Southern Appalachian fen following a total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017. Groundwater levels, which were rapidly declining in the middle of a summer afternoon, nearly stabilized following totality. This anomaly in the water-level record was caused by reduced evapotranspiration (ET). ET was significantly lower (36% ± 11%, p < 0.02) over a 45-min time period following the eclipse when compared with other days within the study period, although the effects were short lived and did not have a significant impact on the daily total ET (p > 0.05). These findings may prompt evaluation of existing groundwater records along the path of totality from past eclipses or plan for studies ahead of future eclipses.

The challenge of reference evapotranspiration between the WaPOR data set and geostatistical methods

“…Limited water resources, competition between different sectors in using these resources, and expansion of irrigated land all call for optimal consumption (Moazed et al, 2012). Since, in developing countries, 92% of the total water is used in agriculture (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2008), the accurate calculation of evapotranspiration is essential for irrigation scheduling (Molden & Sakthivadivel, 1999; Allen et al, 2007), drought monitoring (Golian et al, 2019; Lorenz et al, 2017), groundwater resources management (Wilcox, 2019) and plant growth (Blatchford et al, 2020).…”