Measurements of the Strength of Radio Reception, Atmospheric Ionization, and Other Meteorological Elements During the Solar Eclipse of April 8, 1921
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Measurements of the Strength of Radio Reception, Atmospheric Ionization, and Other Meteorological Elements During the Solar Eclipse of April 8, 1921
During the solar eclipse of April 8, 1921, I, thanks to the kind assistance of the Deputy People’s Commissar Lyubovich, organized parallel measurements of the strength of radio reception, atmospheric ionization, and other meteorological elements.
The signals were sent by the Moscow high-power radio station on Khodynka. Reports on the observed reception strengths at various moments of the solar eclipse, by the audion method and with a galvanometer, were received at the time from Moscow (2 points), from Saratov, and from Minsk. Measurements of ionization were made in Moscow (the district of the transmitting station).
The instruments for the measurements were provided thanks to the kindness of Academician P. P. Lazarev and Professor A. P. Sokolov. The results of the observations are summarized in the appended tables. The beginning of the solar eclipse in Moscow, according to decree time, was 1 h 20 m; maximum coverage of the sun, 2 h 40 m; end, 3 h 58 m.
Reception strength
(The figures for Saratov, Minsk, and Protopopov give the reception strength by the audion method; the figures of Rzhevkin and Vvedensky were obtained with a galvanometer.)
| 12½ | 13 | 13½ | 14 | 14½ | 15 | 15½ | 16 | 16½ | 17 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hours | 12½ | 13 | 13½ | 14 | 14½ | 15 | 15½ | 16 | 16½ | 17 |
| Saratov | 4.76 | 4.76 | 7.69 | 9.09 | 11.11 | 5.00 | 5.00 | 5.00 | — | 5.00 |
| Minsk | — | — | — | 25.0 | 33.3 | 31.3 | 17.9 | 17.9 | 14.3 | 14.3 |
| Moscow (B. A. Protopopov) | 3.13 | 3.03 | 4.17 | 6.67 | 7.69 | 5.88 | 4.44 | 4.88 | 3.77 | 4.17 |
| Moscow. S. P. Rzhevkin and B. A. Vvedensky | — | 17 | 15 | 17(?) | 18 | 10 | 12 | 13 | 10 | 13 |
maximum.
Ionization
| 12½ | 13 | 13½ | 14 | 14½ | 15 | 15½ | 16 | 16½ | 17 | 17½ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dissipation of negative charge. With Gerdien’s apparatus (V. I. Baranov). | — | 0.50 | — | 0.77 | 0.85 | 0.77 | 0.73 | 0.78 | 0.36 | 0.43 | 0.26 |
| Dissipation of positive charge. With Ebert’s apparatus (A. Irisov). | — | 3.0 | — | 2.9 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 3.0 | — | 3.5 | — | 2.6 |
| With Schmidt’s apparatus (E. V. Shpolsky and V. V. Shuleikin). | — | — | — | 0.25 | 0.20 | 0.15 | — | 0.25 | — | — | — |
minimum.
The reception strength at the moment of the greatest coverage of the sun passes through a maximum, while the ionization of the atmosphere passes through a minimum (lags behind).
Similar measurements for radio signals from Paris were made by Take und Vos (Ber. d. D. Phys. Ges. 10 (1912)) during the solar eclipse of April 17, 1912, and they obtained the same result.
V. A. Kurchagin (Physical Institute of Moscow University) made measurements of the polarization of sunlight.
Polarization of sunlight.
| 12½ | 13 | 13½ | 14 | 14½ | 15 | 15½ | 16 | 16½ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Polarization R. | 0.53 | 0.51 | 0.50 | 0.47 | 0.44 | 0.40 | 0.34 | 0.26 | 0.40 |
A shift of the minimum from noon was detected.
Finally, B. V. Deryagin (Physical Institute of the Moscow Scientific Institute), working with a de Colongue deflector, did not detect, to an accuracy of 0.3%, any change in the magnetic elements of the Earth during the solar eclipse.
The present communication has been compiled on the basis of not all the observed figures. A complete and precise report on the results obtained will be published.
Institute of Biological Physics.
Moscow.
B. Il’in.