Localized climatic responses during the 29 march 2006 eclipse at Manavgat, Turkey

Changes in the physical state of the 10m ground atmospheric layer owing to a sharp drop in the direct solar radiation have been observed during the March 29, 2006 total solar eclipse (TSE). Observations were conducted near the town of Manavgat, Turkey. Temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, speed and direction of the wind were measured with a fast automatic meteorological station with high resolution specially designed for this event. In addition, temperature in the 20 cm soil layer were measured. The difference in temperature changes at different heights before, during and after the total phase was in the interval 16-17 °C. Minimum of the air temperature during the TSE was measured 2 min after the end of the total phase. Atmospheric pressure was sharply changed from 1021 hPa - at the beginning of the eclipse (09 h 38 min 28 s ) to 1028 hPa - 1 min 26 s after the end of the total phase (10 h 58 min 49 s). The relative humidity increases from 72 % up to -76 % after the total phase. Speed of the wind was measured in 5 minutes during the partial phases and in 1 min during the total phase. It decreases with 3 m/s just before the total phase and increases after the end of the total phase changing its direction from south-east to north-east, which coincides with the motion of the lunar shade on the earth.