'global' effort to map earth's magnetics ...

[TRY]

   


See the map in detail
The first global map of magnetic peculiarities - or anomalies - on Earth has been assembled by an international team of researchers.

Magnetic anomalies are caused by differences in the magnetisation of the rocks in the Earth's crust.

Many years of negotiation were required to obtain confidential data from governments and institutes.

Scientists hope to use the map to learn more about the geological composition of our planet.

   
 One should not underestimate the diplomatic efforts needed to secure support and data contributions from these organisations  
Dr Michael Purucker, Nasa
The World Digital Magnetic Anomaly Map (WDMAM) is available through the Commission for the Geological Map of the World.

The magnetic signature of the Earth's crust has been measured for many decades by a multitude of groups; but now, for the first time, the data has been combined to give a truly worldwide view of the phenomenon.

A British company involved in the project is GETECH, a spin-off from Leeds University.

Valuable tool

Managing Director Dr J Derek Fairhead explains: "The project is the result of a lot of coordinating efforts by the IAGA (International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy) organisation to put together a magnetic map of the world, and it's taken decades to get to this position.

   

The Kursk Magnetic Anomaly has been exploited for iron ores

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"Many of the companies and country organisations who hold the data in a confidential mode have been prepared to release 'decimated versions' of their data so that the commerciality of the data isn't affected.

"But the regional nature of the magnetic field can be clearly imaged and put together with all the other data to generate a global image of the magnetics."

Dr Juha Korhonen, one of the lead researchers on the project from the Geological Survey of Finland, explained that the map was available at "a low resolution".

   
The Earth's magnetic rocks[4.2 MB]
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"It represents a square grid of about five kilometres, so it's very coarse indeed. It is a starting point, and to go into detail, you can contact those organisations who have more detailed data on both the geology and mineral sources.

"There are just a few major deposits that can be seen on this map, like the Kursk iron ore deposit. Mainly one can see the major geological formations.

"It's generally considered in prospecting and resource analysis that this magnetic anomaly field is one of the most valuable tools or regional assets."

Many causes

The global map shows the variation in strength of the magnetic field after the Earth's dipole field has been removed (Earth's dipole field varies from 35,000 nanoTesla (nT) at the Equator to 70,000 nT at the poles). After removal of the dipole field, the remaining variations in the field (few hundreds of nT) are due to changes in the magnetic properties of the crustal rocks.

Hot colours (reds) indicate high values; cold colours (blues) indicate low or negative values.

   

The map shows up how the sea floor spreads apart in mid-ocean

Enlarge Image
As well as revealing ore deposits, magnetic anomalies can also show areas of ground water and sea weakness zones. It is a useful tool for geologists and geophysics, as well as a teaching resource.

The information can be viewed as a flat, two-dimensional map or rendered in 3D on a virtual globe.

There are several different causes of magnetic anomalies in the Earth's crust.

On the ocean sea bed, the map shows a striped effect. Where Earth's tectonic plates are moving apart, new crust is created at mid-ocean ridges.

As the new material spreads out and cools, minerals in the rocks that make up the crust are magnetised in the direction of the Earth's magnetic field at the time of their formation. This field reverses polarity over time, creating alternating stripes on either side of the ridge.


A different perspective on the material under our feet
On land, the dominant factors for magnetic anomalies are the thickness of the magnetised layer and the composition of the crust. Usually, young crust is relatively thin and has a low content in magnetic minerals.

The old cratons, stable interior sections of the continental crust, are thicker and have high magnetic mineral content. Perhaps the most prominent feature is the Kursk anomaly, which can be seen at the border between young western Europe and the old "Baltic Shield".

First identified in the late 18th Century, the anomalous region became the focus of a major industrial effort by the Soviets to develop iron ore mines.

Pieces in a jigsaw

The international team had many difficulties to overcome in creating its map.

Dr Korhonen said: "To acquire the Russian data required a ministry decision there. Then India released their data. We have Argentine data, similarly, which has been closed to all the world."

Dr Michael Purucker from the US space agency (Nasa), a user of the map, said: "There are literally hundreds, perhaps thousands, of organisations around the world which hold this kind of data. One should not underestimate the diplomatic efforts needed to secure support and data contributions from these organisations."

One of the challenges in gathering data from many different sources is piecing it together, and ensuring that all the data sets are in the same format.

"There are different techniques," explained Dr Korhonen. "If the techniques are somewhat similar, it's fairly easy finally doing the calculations in a similar fashion to put the map together.

"If the anomaly is defined in some other way, then we might have [a] problem. That's the main reason that the long wavelengths have been removed from the ground-based data and replaced by satellite data."

Next steps

This magnetic data has been gathered by Champ, a German and Russian-built satellite that has been in orbit since 2001. Now coming to the end of its life, it has charted the entire globe.


Swarm is a future mission of the European Space Agency
Not only does Champ measure the Earth's magnetic field, it can also measure the very long wavelength components of the Earth's crustal field with wavelengths greater than about 400 km, said Dr Fairhead.

With the publication of the first edition of the map, the team is already planning the second edition.

One area it hopes to improve on is the marine data coverage. The first edition uses information from the US National Geophysical Data Center, but there are other sources that may help to improve the accuracy of the map.

The upcoming Swarm magnetic field satellites, to be flown by the European Space Agency (Esa), will also help build new detail into the map. 


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6982485.stm

http://models.geomag.us/wdmam.html

http://projects.gtk.fi/WDMAM/

http://www.gfz-potsdam.de/portal/gfz/Struktur/Departments/Department+2/sec23/topics/models/WDMAM;jsessionid=0CA127595717DF0ED379B40E651B9677

[TRY]

 A satellite designed to map Earth's gravitational field has been hit by a software glitch and is unable to send its science data back home, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Monday.
The problem began to affect the spacecraft GOCE in late July, Mark Drinkwater, head of mission science at ESA's technical division, the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), told AFP.
"The satellite's not transmitting its scientific data because of this anomaly," Drinkwater said from Noordwijk, the Netherlands.

"All the other onboard systems are otherwise fine. We are not constrained by fuel or by time, and we have got excellent data in the bank already," Drinkwater said.
The satellite has already completed two-thirds of its mission and many science objectives have already been met, he said.

GOCE ran into a first problem in February this year when a chip failed in its primary computer. Ground engineers switched the satellite over to its backup computer.
The new problem is different from the first, being a software glitch in a module that deals with telemetry processing.
One approach is to stitch together the two computers' working parts so that the mission can recover, said Drinkwater.

Investigations into ice cover, soil moisture, ocean salinity, cloud cover, vertical winds and the planet's magnetic field are either planned or in operation.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gVhQYPXisattWr7pb4GxbF0DmFKQ

[TRY]

The flagship European Earth observation satellite Goce was knocked offline because some of its onboard systems got too cold as it circled the planet.

Goce's chilly state came to light when a patch was sent up to the hamstrung spacecraft to enable it to send key engineering data to the ground.

This revealed the floor in a part of the satellite holding the battery, the computer and the onboard power distribution unit was just a few degrees above zero.

And when the command was then despatched to Goce to tell it warm itself by about seven Celsius, the normal flow of telemetry was suddenly re-established.

However, the chill was not particularly extreme and engineers are continuing to investigate why the electronics were impacted in they way they were. Efforts continue also to try to get some functionality back into Goce's primary, or A side, computer, which was hit by a chip failure in February. Goce has been forced to work off its redundant, or B unit, ever since.

The restoration of Goce's capabilities could not have come at a better time.

The mission team is due to go before European Space Agency member-state delegations this week to ask for the funds to extend a project that had up until the anomaly returned some remarkable science.

Scientists will use its data to make high-resolution maps of the geoid which, simply put, traces "the level" on our planet.

Geoid information has many applications but perhaps the biggest knowledge gains from Goce will come in the study of ocean behaviour.

By combining gravity data with measurements of sea-surface height gathered by other spacecraft, scientists will be able to track the direction and speed of ocean currents.

Understanding better how the seas move heat around the planet will help improve the computer models that are used to forecast global climate change.

The pan-European team working on Goce hopes to win approval for a mission extension up until at least the end of 2012.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11224193

[TRY]

Climate satellite 'blinded' by radio interference

 Oct 6, 2010

...One is a leak into a band of the electromagnetic spectrum (1400-1427 MHz in the L-band) which is assigned to space astronomy and Earth exploration satellites by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
This source came from overpowerful transmitters in adjacent bands, ESA said.
The other cause is illegal transmissions by TV, radio links and networks such as security systems that are blasting into the precious radio band.
"Also, terrestrial radars appear to cause interference," ESA said...

...The problem with SMOS has run in parallel with a hitch with the satellite's sister, a probe called Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE)...

...GOCE and SMOS are on the agency's roster of "Earth Explorer" projects to further fundamental understanding about the Earth.
Investigations into ice cover, cloud cover, vertical winds and the planet's magnetic field are either planned or in operation...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iOlbgHPSMvOx7-4MySoQ7Ry7541g?docId=CNG.1227616179375c52ffa71e0507f6867b.be1

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European Gravity Probe Returned to Normal Orbit 

04 October 2010

...A pair of apparently unrelated malfunctions in and around the computer system of the Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer had stopped data telemetry and forced ESA managers to raise GOCE's orbit to 263 kilometers, some 7 kilometers above its optimal operating altitude, while they worked to correct the problem...

...The higher orbit was needed so that GOCE's flight path could be maintained more easily even if its xenon-ion electric propulsion system was switched off for brief periods during the corrective maneuvers. During normal GOCE operations, these engines provide thrust to counter drag on the satellite's orbital motion caused by residual atmosphere. With telemetry now restored, the satellite has been returned to its normal orbit and is providing its full complement of data...

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/europe-satellite-goce-orbit-normal-101004.html

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Astrium completes first Swarm flight unit

Oct 20 2010

* Trio of satellites to explore the Earth’s geomagnetic field 
* A “journey to the centre of the Earth” starting from space

...Swarm will, in a manner of speaking, follow in the footsteps of Jules Verne’s novel “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”. Today, however, it is no longer necessary to dig tunnels or drill holes in order to take a close look at the composition of the Earth’s interior and the processes taking place there. With Swarm this can be achieved from orbit, with the key words in this context being ...
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“satellite remote sensing”.
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...Astrium began developing its first satellite for magnetic-field research in deep space – the ISEE-B – back in the 1970s. This work continued with the development of the four-satellite Cluster formation that has been in orbit since 2000. In the field of low Earth orbit satellites, the German satellite Champ, also launched in 2000, was built to an Astrium design. The Swarm constellation is now the next logical step along this path. In terms of technology, Swarm has direct predecessors in the Champ satellite and the Cryosat satellite, which will map the polar ice caps and for which Astrium was also responsible. When it comes to overall system design, individual subsystems or test ranges, Astrium’ s satellite builders can draw on the wealth of experience they gained in these earlier projects...

...Swarm is part of ESA´s “Living Planet“ Programme and Astrium is also actively involved in developing other satellites for ESA’s Earth Explorer missions. Astrium is the prime contractor for the EarthCARE Earth observation satellite which is currently under construction and for the ADM-Aeolus wind mission and its Aladin instrument. Furthermore, Astrium built the ice exploring mission Cryosat-2, which was launched on April 8th, 2010. Astrium also supplied the platform for GOCE which has been successfully “surfing” the Earth’s gravitational field since 17 March 2009. Astrium also developed and built the Miras payload for the SMOS mission for the observation of soil moisture and salinity over the oceans, which was launched on 2 November 2009...

...EADS is a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services. In 2009, the Group – comprising Airbus, Astrium, Cassidian and Eurocopter – generated revenues of € 42.8 billion and employed a workforce of more than 119,000...

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=125270

[phasma]

interesting one TRY - as we probably all know the poles are shifting - as they apparently do occasionally.

The crap they are spraying in the air combined with the electron stripping (magnetising?) potential of the many atmospheric heaters around the world might be in some way linked to this.

More research needed clearly

[TRY]

Force field: The mission to map Earth's magnetism

Nov 1 2010

...The molten core is a self-sustaining dynamo, which is the main source of the planet’s magnetic field. That much, at least, we know; but we have no idea how it works. Finding out more about it is the goal of the Swarm mission, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) attempt to map the texture and fluctuations of the magnetic field; although it may seem paradoxical, the best way to find out what’s happening deep inside the planet is to go into space...

...But the field is complex, and although we’ve known about it since 1600 -an English doctor, William Gilbert, was the first to describe it - we don’t understand how it works. The field is made up from several components. There’s the contribution of the molten core, but how the movement of the liquid iron generates the field is a complete mystery. Another contribution comes from naturally magnetic minerals in the Earth’s crust, such as ores of iron and nickel, and certain magnetic volcanic rocks. The ionosphere - the layer of ionised gases in the atmosphere from about 60km to 500km above the planet’s surface - also generates a magnetic field that contributes to the whole. Lastly, and rather surprisingly, the oceans, made from conductive salt water, generate a magnetic field as their currents move the water across the surface of the planet...

...It’s becoming increasingly important that we understand more about the magnetic field; primarily, it’s responsible for our ongoing existence, but also because more and more of the technology we rely on depends upon it. The field protects communications, global positioning and Earth observation satellites from the solar wind.!!! It may also be responsible for aspects of the climate!!!...

...CHAMP burned up in the atmosphere in September, but Swarm is poised to continue its work. Among its objectives, according to Yvon Menard of ESA, is to determine why the magnetic North Pole ’walks’ around 50km per year; why the polarity of the magnetic field periodically inverts - a phenomenon that was first discovered early in the 20th century, and which some believe to be imminent; how the field influences the ’space weather’ of magnetic storms caused by the Sun’s activity; and to understand the still-obscure physics of the magnetic field...

...Using three satellites rather than the single CHAMP spacecraft will allow Swarm to detect the field’s fluctuations with much higher resolution, Lühr explained. The satellites will fly in polar orbits, about 300-500km up, with the Earth turning underneath them; two satellites will fly alongside each other, while the third will fly in a higher orbit. The two different orbital planes will gradually diverge, so that by the end of the four-year mission, the two planes will be at right angles to each other. This allows magnetic signals to be detected from a variety of different angles and elevations to give fine detail on the texture of the field...

...The instruments that will allow the satellites to make these measurements required careful development and testing. Each spacecraft carries two magnetometers on the 4.5m boom, which extends from the satellites’ narrow end - a vector magnetometer, which measures the strength and direction of the field, in the middle of the boom, and a scalar magnetometer at the end. ’The satellites themselves are rather noisy, in terms of magnetism, and we want to measure the signal from the Earth, not the noise,’ explained prime project manager Albert Zaglauer. ’So we put the instruments away from the main satellite body, with the most sensitive instrument the furthest away. The scalar magnetometer can measure with accuracies of 1-2 nanotesla, to measure the signals from ocean currents, so we need to make sure it isn’t influenced by the satellite...

...The satellites will be launched from Plesetsk in Siberia, fixed into the payload bay with their booms folded back onto the main body. There is only a 50mm clearance between the three spacecraft, but experiments using a shaking table have established that the CFRP structure can resist launch vibrations...

http://www.theengineer.co.uk/in-depth/the-big-story/force-field-the-mission-to-map-earths-magnetism/1005747.article

[phasma]

I see, they want to mess around with earths magnetic motor - yeah, that sure sounds like a great plan to me !

:/

NOT GOOD - and why!

We already know the poles are shifting, or about to "flip"

TRY - did you check out the haarp code thread i posted yet?

[carlee]

bump

[TRY]

Thanks Carlee! This subject is quite important on many levels. Here's alittle tracking info to add...

http://www.spaceweather.com/flybys/search_results_printable.php?zip=22205&PHPSESSID=15b2s929r4o07pqrocbf0hseo5

[TRY]

Two Earth Observation Missions Chosen For Further Study

 27 November 2010

...As part of the procedure to realize ESA's series of Earth Explorers, two new mission proposals have been selected for further development. The missions, called FLEX and CarbonSat, now vying to be the eighth Earth Explorer, both address key climate and environmental change issues...

...At the Earth Observation Program Board Member States meeting, held on 24 November, it was decided to go ahead with the recommendation for FLEX and CarbonSat to move forward to 'Phase-A/B1'...

...The CarbonSat mission would quantify and monitor the distribution of two of the most important greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, also released through human activity: carbon dioxide and methane. Data from the mission would lead to a better understanding of the sources and sinks of these two gases and how they are linked to climate change...

...The FLEX mission aims to provide global maps of vegetation fluorescence, which can be converted into an indicator of photosynthetic activity. These data would improve our understanding of how much carbon is stored in plants and their role in the carbon and water cycles...

...The mission would work in combination with the Ocean and Land Color Instrument and the Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer on Sentinel-3 to improve models of future atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations...

!  There are three Earth Explorers in orbit: GOCE, SMOS and CryoSat; a further three being constructed: Swarm, ADM-Aeolus and EarthCARE; and three undergoing feasibility studies competing for selection as Earth Explorer-7: BIOMASS, PREMIER and CoReH2O !

http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1956857/two_earth_observation_missions_chosen_for_further_study/

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http://www.esa.int/gsp/ACT/doc/ARI/ARI%20Study%20Report/ACT-RPT-MAD-ARI-05-4107b-Electrostatic-Surrey.pdf
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http://www.liv.ac.uk/~holme/absbook.pdf
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http://www.tudelft.nl/live/binaries/93bbb2f6-57c3-4a0f-bef8-bdcd979d520c/doc/DO2004-1-vulnerability.pdf

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvUhHjWkgQ8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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[TRY]

Solar Holler: Satellite Network Preps to Help Predict Stormy Space Weather

...Dec 20 2010...

...Much of the solar storm information that APL scientists seek to analyze comes from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE), a $4-million National Science Foundation–funded program that APL initiated in June 2008 along with !The Boeing Co.! and Iridium Communications to monitor magnetic-field disruptions in Earth's upper atmosphere. At the core of AMPERE is a communications network with 66 Iridium satellites, each of which has a magnetometer capable of monitoring Earth's magnetic field...

...Iridium's satellites operate in near-circular low Earth orbits (LEO) about 780 kilometers above the surface, traveling at about 27,000 kilometers per hour and circling the planet in about 100 minutes. There are 11 satellites in each of six orbital planes and their paths intersect roughly over the North and South poles...

... "we're more reliant on space technology now than we ever were before,"...

..."My suspicion is that in this [upcoming] cycle of solar activity we will learn something about how sensitive we really are."...

...AMPERE took a major step toward real-time measurements in August when Boeing created a new data pathway for transferring AMPERE magnetic field samples from Iridium's satellites at a rate of every two to 20 seconds. Previous sampling, which took place every 200 seconds or so, was not frequent enough to capture information about solar storm–induced electric currents flowing into and out of the ionosphere, including the location and strength of these currents and their impact on Earth's magnetic field...

...Electric currents that flow into and out of the ionosphere, which AMPERE monitors, have various effects on it as well as the atmosphere in general that can cause problems with tracking LEO space debris, the use of GPS systems, and even terrestrial power plants—as was the case when a geomagnetic storm took down Quebec's power grid in 1989. "The operators didn't know what was happening." One of AMPERE's goals is to be able to issue advance alerts to such critical operations about when they may be impacted by solar storms...

...The ability to gather more information more frequently is "a bit like having a new telescope that finally lets you see things you've never seen before"...

...AMPERE already shares information with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, and Iridium's next-generation satellite network—called, appropriately, Iridium NEXT—is expected to work more closely with NOAA, NASA and OTHER GOVERNMENT ENTITIES. Each of the 72 NEXT satellites placed in orbit beginning in 2015 will be built with the capacity to carry sensors from NOAA and other groups into orbit so as to provide real-time, two-way communication...
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=solar-storm-forecasting
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http://www.jhuapl.edu/newscenter/pressreleases/2008/080721.asp
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http://iridium.com/assets/PDFs/network-reliability/GLOBAL-NETWORK_THE-SATELLITE-CONSTELLATION.pdf
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