  We discuss the measurements of the main parameters of the ionospheric
response to the total solar eclipse of June 21, 2001. This study is based on
using the data from three stations of the global GPS network located in the
area of the totality band in Africa. This period was characterized by a low
level of geomagnetic disturbance (the Dst-index varied from -6 to 22 nT), which
alleviated greatly the problem of detecting the ionospheric response to
eclipse. An analysis revealed a clearly pronounced effect of a decrease
(depression) of the total electron content (TEC) for all GPS stations. The
delay between the smallest value of the TEC with respect to eclipse totality
was 9-37 min. The depth and duration of the TEC depression were 0.5-0.9 TECU
and 30-67 min, respectively. The results obtained in this study are in good
agreement with earlier measurements and theoretical estimations.
