Adding to the growing collection of reference pages available on the drop down menu is the latest offering that display aspects of geomagnetism. This is helpful for people interested in Auroras or who want to monitor earthly effects from solar disturbances.
It was put together by WUWT contributor “Justthefacts” who has been very very helpful in putting these pages together.
See it here: http://wattsupwiththat.com/reference-pages/geomagnetism/
Wow, there’s some really impressive stuff there. I don’t understand a lot of it, but seeing it now, I’ll make sure to find out. Impressive work, once again.
Thanks – yet more to look at and try to learn from!
Fabulous. Thank you!
Thanks. This is interesting.
Would there be enough room to squeeze in the color legend below the “ACE Real Time Solar Wind” chart? Otherwise it’s colorful but hard to extract much of what it means and hard to find on the site.
yellow: Bx > 0, By < 0 (toward)
magenta: Bx 0 (away)
green: Bx > 0, By > 0
cyan: Bx < 0, By < 0
white: no data
Just brilliant! So-much info in one stop (WUWT). The service to science you do is incommensurable! We all do follow up/read up how to interpret all this chart/graphs.
Education in engineering(satellite-remote-sensing), analysis all at one web-side.
NASA take note!
I addicted to check them all, more than once a day.
Just wonder, all this info would increase the number of monitors at A. Gores office?
Anthony, you had a cunning plan to increase he’s carbon-yeti(foot) print! 🙂
NICT is not working. I clicked on the blank image, and the link is broken. — John M Reynolds
Thank you, fabulous. Tutorials next 😉
FYI, due to the joys of business tax preparation, I didn’t actually get done with this page over the weekend. Over the coming days I’ll be adding titles to some of the graphs and graphics, adding additional content and building out the source guide at the bottom.
In the interim, if anyone has any suggestions for additional content for the Geomagnatism page, or any of the other reference pages, please let me know.
Also, thanks to Leif Svalgaard, Bob Tisdale and everyone else who have offered input and content for the WUWT Reference Pages.
wayne says: February 28, 2011 at 3:21 am
“Would there be enough room to squeeze in the color legend below the “ACE Real Time Solar Wind” chart? Otherwise it’s colorful but hard to extract much of what it means and hard to find on the site.
yellow: Bx > 0, By 0, By > 0
cyan: Bx < 0, By < 0
white: no data"
Yep, I'll add a key. Note that everything below the "Boulder USGS Magnetometer – 12 Hour" graph and the "—————-" is still work in process. The sources in the gray boxes below the graphics are wrong, titles missing, etc. I'll clean it up tonight and polish it up this week.
Lucy Skywalker says: February 28, 2011 at 9:19 am
“Tutorials next ;)”
We’ve had several requests for tutorials. Can you describe what you’d like to see, e.g. like the “Atmospheric Overview:” at the bottom of the Atmosphere Reference Page?:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/reference-pages/atmosphere/
Are you thinking general subject tutorials or slide specific tutorials? I’ve been working on a summary of potential climate variables, that I was thinking of adding as reference page when complete. (Note, work in progress, input is most welcome).
1. Earth’s Rotational Energy;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotational_energy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_rotation
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6h.html
which results in day and night;
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_does_rotation_cause_day_and_night
influences Oceanic Gyres;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_gyre
helps drive and direct the Thermohaline Circulation;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermohaline_circulation
especially around Antarctica;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Conveyor_belt.svg
which is also called the Antarctic Circumpolar Current;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_Circumpolar_Current
and the Arctic:
http://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=12455&tid=441&cid=47170&ct=61&article=20727
http://www.john-daly.com/polar/flows.jpg
Earth’s Rotational Energy influences Atmospheric Circulation;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_circulation
Easterlies or Westerlies?
Tropical Cyclones;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone
Tornadoes:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado
and Polar Vortices;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_vortex
which “are caused when an area of low pressure sits at the rotation pole of a planet. This causes air to spiral down from higher in the atmosphere, like water going down a drain.”
http://www.universetoday.com/973/what-venus-and-saturn-have-in-common/
Here’s an animation of the Arctic Polar Vortex in Winter 2008 – 09;
here’s an animation of the currently uncoalesced Arctic Polar Vortex and;
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/intraseasonal/z500_nh_anim.shtml
here’s an animation of the currently uncoalesced Antarctic Polar Vortex:
http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/intraseasonal/z500_sh_anim.shtml
Lastly, Earth’s Rotational Energy drives tba;
Dynamo/ Geomagnetic
Plate Tectonics,
“Climate change on ultra-long time scales (tens of millions of years) are more than likely connected to plate tectonics. Plate motions lead to cycles of ocean basin growth and destruction, known as Wilson cycles, involving continental rifting, seafloor-spreading, subduction, and collision.”
” Through the course of a Wilson cycle continents collide and split apart, mountains are uplifted and eroded, and ocean basins open and close. The re-distribution and changing size and elevation of continental land masses may have caused climate change on long time scales.”
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ice/chill.html
Earthquakes,
Mountain Building,
Long-term Changes in Geography
“By analyzing the minute changes in travel times and wave shapes for each doublet, the researchers concluded that the Earth’s inner core is rotating faster than its surface by about 0.3-0.5 degrees per year.
That may not seem like much, but it’s very fast compared to the movement of the Earth’s crust, which generally slips around only a few centimeters per year compared to the mantle below, said Xiaodong Song, a geologist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an author on the study.
The surface movement is called plate tectonics. It involves the shifting of about a dozen major plates and is what causes most earthquakes. ”
2. Earth’s Orbital Energy, Elliptical Orbit around the Sun (Eccentricity), Tilt (Obliquity) and Wobble (Axial precession):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_orbital_energy
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6h.html
creates seasons;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season
which drives annual changes in Arctic Sea Ice;
and Antarctic Sea Ice;
the freezing and melting of which helps to drive the Thermohaline Circulation;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermohaline_circulation
On longer time frames changes to Earth’s orbit, tilt and wobble called Milankovitch cycles;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milankovitch_cycles
may be responsible for the periods of Glaciation (Ice Ages);
http://www.homepage.montana.edu/~geol445/hyperglac/time1/milankov.htm
that Earth has experienced for the last several million years of its climatic record:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_age
3. Gravitational Energy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravitational_energy
The Moon and Sun have significant influence on Earth’s tide;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_force
http://www.themcdonalds.net/richard/astro/papers/602-tides-web.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tide
as well as the Moon, Sun and Earth’s gravity influences Earth’s Thermohaline Circulation;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermohaline_circulation
Earth’s gravity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convection#Gravitational_or_buoyant_convection
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=205
Sun & The Moon gravity during the different phases of the Saros cycle;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saros_cycle
which influences Oceanic Oscillations including El Nino/La Nina;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Ni%C3%B1o-Southern_Oscillation
the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO);
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Decadal_Oscillation
the Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (AMO) and;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_Multidecadal_Oscillation
the Indian_Ocean_Dipole (IOD)/Indian Ocean Oscillation (IOO)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean_Dipole
4. Solar Energy;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_energy
varies slightly based upon 11 and 22 year cycles;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_cycle
causes evaporation;
creates clouds;
results rain;
that transfers large amounts of moisture;
and results in rivers, etc.;
“The driving force behind atmospheric circulation is solar energy, which heats the atmosphere with different intensities at the equator, the middle latitudes, and the poles.”
http://www.scienceclarified.com/As-Bi/Atmospheric-Circulation.html
and evaporation and condensation may help to drive changes in atmospheric pressure:
http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/10/24015/2010/acpd-10-24015-2010.pdf
UV;
tba
Solar – Wind;
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1999/ast13dec99_1/
Solar – Coronal Holes;
http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/chole.html
Solar – Solar Energetic Particles (SEP);
http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/sep.html
Solar – Coronal Mass Ejection;
http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMF75BNJTF_index_0.html
http://www.ratedesi.com/video/v/8AuCE_NNEaM/Sun-Erupts-to-Life-Unleashes-a-Huge-CME-on-13-April-2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDZj1CmsJ64&feature=related
Solar Magnetosphere Breach;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVqWH5Qlg8Y&feature=related
Solar Polar Field Reversal;
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast15feb_1/
Solar Sector Boundary;
http://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/focus-areas/magnetosphere-ionosphere/
Solar Grand Minimum;
Leif Svalgaard says:
February 6, 2011 at 8:26 pm
“If L&P are correct and sunspots become effectively] invisible [not gone] it might mean another Grand Minimum lasting perhaps 50 years. During this time the solar cycle is still operating, cosmic rays are still modulated, and the solar wind is still buffeting the Earth.”
“It will lead to a cooling of a couple of tenths of a degree.”
Solar Influences on Climate:
http://www.leif.org/EOS/2009RG000282.pdf
Statistical issues about solar–climate relations
http://www.leif.org/EOS/Yiou-565-2010.pdf
5. Geothermal Energy;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geothermal_energy
especially when released by volcanoes;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcano
which have been shown to influence Earth’s climate;
http://www.geology.sdsu.edu/how_volcanoes_work/climate_effects.html
http://www.longrangeweather.com/global_temperatures.htm
including in the infamous Year Without a Summer;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_Without_a_Summer
which was partially caused by the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1815_eruption_of_Mount_Tambora
and is called a Volcanic Winter:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanic_winter
6. Cosmic Forces;
Galactic Cosmic Rays;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_cosmic_ray
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_ray
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/08/04/a-link-between-the-sun-cosmic-rays-aerosols-and-liquid-water-clouds-appears-to-exist-on-a-global-scale/
Galactic Magnetic Fields;
http://www.scholarpedia.org/article/Galactic_magnetic_fields
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_tide
Asteroids
Comets
7. Magnetic Forces;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_magnetic_field
Solar – Above;
Earth Core Changes:
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/42580
“appears to be generated in the Earth’s core by a dynamo process, associated with the circulation of liquid metal in the core, driven by internal heat sources”
Moving Poles;
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/GeomagneticPoles.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetosphere
including movement of Poles:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/12/091224-north-pole-magnetic-russia-earth-core.html
8. Atmospheric Composition
Aerosols
Particulates
Greenhouse Gases
9. Albedo
tba
10. Anthropogenic
Increases in carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide,
changes in ozone concentrations and distribution,
increases in particulates and aerosols,
soot, land use changes,
urban heat islands, etc
General summaries of the potential variables involved in Earth’s climate system;
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/7y.html
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/pd/climate/factsheets/whatfactors.pdf
How about this:
http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/index.html
Being as I am, pathologically gullible, and compulsively sceptical about everything, especially scepticism, plus culpably ignorant about anything vaguely resembling physics, I would consider it a kindness if someone could please explain in a reasonably simple, handwaving terms, not necessarily cogently (after all, achieving cogency without maths would be rather a big ask!) But preferably comprehensibly, one tiny little thing:
If I do not rely on a magnetic compass, then why should I be particularly concerned about the possibility that our magnetic field might suddenly flip, scramble, or (less plausibly) disappear for a few millennia?
In the hope of forestalling unnecessary digressions and invective, please either omit references to solar wind, cosmic rays, atmospheric depletion, killer aurorae, and similar entertainments. Or at least if the temptation proves irresistible, please motivate any such considerations carefully, because although Dear Henry and Dear Liza have repeatedly attempted to fetch such concerns for my trembling and respectful attention, it seems that there are holes in both their buckets.
So if anyone wishes to explain why ozone holes and global aurorae should be matters of concern to anyone on this planet, I should be charmed, if terrified, to hear them. So far it has been or handwaving and noise that subsided rapidly in the face of sceptical challenge.
Seriously, I don’t believe a bloody word of anything I have seen along those lines so far, but I am certainly willing to listen to anything even reasonable, let alone compelling. And by the way, I happen to be a biologist; I do greatly care not only for the planet, but for comparatively minor parochial ecological and evolutionary events and influences. So let ‘er rip!
Thanks, in not very great anticipation!
Jon
Thanks again Anthony and Justthefacts.
Justthefacts..possible to swap this solar IMF view of Earth’s interplanetary space orbit http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/sept/ace/27day/aces.gif with the GSE version seen here? http://gse.gi.alaska.edu/recent/javascript_movie.html
The animated version on the above link gives a more enhanced view of how the IMF motions can vary over a solar rotation period.
Me mum crashed a hip replacement and my power supply on my main computer could be causing some hardware issues. Dad with mid alzh.. and I are fine lol..I’ll be back..
Carla says: March 1, 2011 at 6:05 am
Justthefacts..possible to swap this solar IMF view of Earth’s interplanetary space orbit http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/sept/ace/27day/aces.gif with the GSE version seen here? http://gse.gi.alaska.edu/recent/javascript_movie.html
The animated version on the above link gives a more enhanced view of how the IMF motions can vary over a solar rotation period.
Me mum crashed a hip replacement and my power supply on my main computer could be causing some hardware issues. Dad with mid alzh.. and I are fine lol..I’ll be back..
I added the GSE version to both the Solar and Geomagnetic pages, but also left the NICT ACE version. Thank you for your input. I hope that your mum is doing ok. 🙂