Reduction of Spectral Radiance Reflectance During the Annular Solar Eclipse of 21 June 2020 from DSCOVR/EPIC

We have analyzed three EPIC images during the annular solar eclipse on June 21, 2020 when centers of the eclipse were in the Arabian Peninsula (mostly desert), the Himalayas (mostly barren land), and China (mostly cloudy over vegetation) and compared with two images for 2017 American solar eclipse over Casper, WY and Columbia, MO (vegetated surface for both). We found that the global average reductions of spectral reflectance for the three images during 2020 solar eclipse are quite different while the reductions of spectral reflectance for the two images for 2017 solar eclipse are similar. Radiative transfer model simulations suggest that different surface spectral albedo and cloud fraction attribute to the different reduction of spectral reflectance for three images during 2020 eclipse while similar spectral albedo of vegetated surface around Casper and Columbia are the main cause for the similar spectral reflectance reduction for the two images during 2017 solar eclipse.