Magnetic and Electric Fields Produced in the Sea During Geomagnetic Disturbances

— To understand geomagnetic effects on systems with long conductors it is necessary to know the electric field those systems experience. For surface conductors such as power systems and pipelines this can easily be calculated from the magnetic field variations at the surface using the surface impedance of the earth. However, for calculating the electric fields in pipelines and submarine cables at the seafloor it is necessary to take account of the attenuating effect of the conducting seawater. Assuming that the fields are vertically propagating plane waves, we derive the transfer functions between the electric and magnetic fields at the seafloor and the magnetic field variations at the sea surface. These transfer functions are then used, with surface magnetic field data, to determine the power spectra of the seafloor magnetic and electric fields in a shallow sea (depth 100 m) and in the deep ocean (depth 5 km) for different values of the Kp magnetic activity index. For the period range considered (2 min to 3 hrs) the spectral characteristics of the seafloor magnetic and electric fields for a 100 m deep sea are very similar to those of the surface fields. For the deep ocean the seafloor spectra show a faster decrease in spectral density with increasing frequency compared to the surface fields. The results obtained are shown to be consistent with seafloor observations. Assessment of the seafloor electric fields produced by different levels of geomagnetic activity can be useful in the design of the power feed equipment for submarine cables and cathodic protection for undersea pipelines.     

中国电磁卫星地面对比观测系统方案研究

针对我国即将发射的电磁监测试验卫星观测物理量和观测频段, 结合我国现有地基观测基础和对比观测需求, 本文提出了地面对比观测系统设计方案, 包括观测对象、 观测频段和观测区域的选取以及台网布局方式． 在此基础上, 根据该方案在甘肃省天祝前兆台阵区域建立了古丰、 寺滩和坪城等3个台站的地面对比观测原型系统, 并取得了电磁场的初步观测资料． 对观测资料的分析结果表明, 地电场和地磁场观测数据呈典型的日变化形态, 具有较好的同步性和一致性, 能够真实地反映小区域地电场和地磁场的变化． 该结果可为今后开展试验性的星地联合观测和建立我国地震电离层立体监测体系提供技术支撑.      

Dependence of borehole shear‐horizontal‐wave seismoelectric response on soil textures

The phenomenon of acoustic waves inducing electric fields in porous media is called the seismoelectric effect. Earlier investigators proposed the usage of seismoelectric effect for well logging. Soil texture has a strong influence on the coupled wave fields during shallow surface explorations. In this article, we study the borehole pure shear‐horizontal wave and the coupling transverse‐electric field (acoustic–electrical coupling wave fields) in the partially saturated soil. Combined with related theories, we expand the formation parameters to partially saturated forms and discuss the influence of soil texture conditions on the seismoelectric wave fields. The results show that the elastic and electrical properties of porous media are sensitive to water saturation. The compositions of the acoustic and electric fields for different soil textures do not change, but the waveforms differ. We also use the secant integral method to simulate the interface‐converted electromagnetic waves. The results show that interface response strength is greatly influenced by soil texture. In addition, considering the sensitivity of the inducing electric field to fluid salinity, we also simulate the time‐domain waveforms of electric field for different pore fluid salinity levels. The results show that as the salinity increases, the electric field amplitude decreases monotonically. The above conclusions have certain significance for the application of borehole shear wave and its coupled electric fields for resource exploration, saturation assessment and groundwater pollution monitoring.     

海底电性源频率域CSEM勘探建模及水深影响分析

为了探索我国海域油气和水合物等高阻目标体CSEM勘探的可行性和方法技术,本文研究了在海水中水平电性源激励下有限水深海洋地电模型的频率域电磁响应,为进一步的1D和3D仿真计算奠定了理论基础.在推导电磁响应公式时,首先给出了各层介质的Lorentz势,然后根据Coulomb势与Lorentz势的关系,得到了各层介质的Coulomb势.各层介质中的电磁场均可以由Lorentz势或者Coulomb势计算得到,但在有限元计算时Coulomb势具有优势.长导线源的电磁场和势函数可以由电偶源的电磁场和势函数沿导线长度积分得到.文中具体给出了海水中水平电偶源和长导线源在海水层的电磁场公式,并根据该公式计算了不同水深环境下海底表面的电磁场分布,分析了海水深度对海底油气储层电磁异常的影响.结果表明,随着水深减小,异常幅度和形态特征发生明显变化.当水深很浅时(如50 m),只有同线方向的E_x和E_z两个电场分量存在明显异常.最后,以两个已知海底油田为例,计算了不同水深环境下可观测到的电场异常,展示了电性源频率域CSEM在海底勘探中(包括浅海环境)的良好应用前景.对于该方法实用化过程中还需进一步解决的问题,文中结尾部分也进行了初步探讨.     

On the connection between the atmospheric electric field measured at the surface and the ionospheric electric field in the Central Antarctica

Regular measurements of the atmospheric electric field made at Vostok Station (φ=78.45°S; λ=106.87°E, elevation 3500 m) in Antarctica demonstrate that extremely intense electric fields (1000–5000 V/m) can be observed during snow storms. Usually the measured value of the atmospheric electric field at Vostok is about 100–250 V/m during periods with “fair weather” conditions. Actual relation between near-surface electric fields and ionospheric electric fields remain to be a controversial problem. Some people claimed that these intense electric fields produced by snowstorms or appearing before strong earthquakes can re-distribute electric potential in the ionosphere at the heights up to 300 km. We investigated interrelation between the atmospheric and ionospheric electric fields by both experimental and theoretical methods. Our conclusion is that increased near-surface atmospheric electric fields do not contribute notably to distribution of ionospheric electric potential.     

Elongated horizontal and vertical receivers in three-dimensional electromagnetic modelling and inversion

Electromagnetic geophysical methods often rely on measurements of naturally occurring or artificially impressed electric fields. It is technically impossible, however, to measure the electric field directly. Instead, the electric field is approximated by recording the voltage difference between two electrodes and dividing the obtained voltage by the distance between the electrodes. Typically, modelling and inversion algorithms assume that the electric fields are obtained over infinitely short point-dipoles and thus measured fields are assigned to a single point between the electrodes. Such procedures imply several assumptions: (1) The electric field between the two electrodes is regarded as constant or being a potential field and (2) the receiver dimensions are negligible compared to the dimensions of the underlying modelling grid. While these conditions are often fulfilled for horizontal electric fields, borehole sensors for recordings of the vertical electric field have dimensions in the order of ≈100 m and span several modelling grid cells. Observations from such elongated borehole sensors can therefore only be interpreted properly if true receiver dimensions and variations of electrical conductivity along the receiver are considered. Here, we introduce a numerical solution to include the true receiver geometry into electromagnetic modelling schemes, which does not rely on such simplifying assumptions. The algorithm is flexible, independent of the chosen numerical method to solve Maxwell's equations and can easily be implemented in other electromagnetic modelling and inversion codes. We present conceptual modelling results for land-based controlled source electromagnetic scenarios and discuss consideration of true receiver geometries for a series of examples of horizontal and vertical electric field measurements. Comparison with Ez data measured in an observation borehole in a producing oil field shows the importance of both considering the true length of the receiver and also its orientation. We show that misalignment from the vertical axis as small as 0.1° may seriously distort the measured signal, as horizontal electric field components are mapped into the desired vertical component. Adequate inclusion of elongated receivers in modelling and inversion can also help reducing effects of static shift when interpreting (natural source) magnetotelluric data.     

How does the U-shaped potential close above the acceleration region? A study using Polar data

We present a statistical study of Polar electric field observations using auroral oval passes over Scandinavia above the acceleration region. We are especially interested in seeing whether we can find large perpendicular electric fields associated with an upward extended classical U-shaped potential drop for these passes, during which Polar is in the northern hemisphere usually at about 4 R_E altitude. We also use Polar magnetic field data to infer the existence of a field-aligned current (FAC) and conjugate ground-based magnetometers (the IMAGE magnetometer network) to check whether the event is substorm-related or not. We find several events with a FAC but only weak perpendicular electric fields at Polar. In those rare cases where the Polar electric field was large, its direction was mostly found to be incompatible with the U-shaped potential model, or it was associated with disturbed conditions (substorms), where one cannot easily distinguish between inductive and static perpendicular electric fields. We found only two cases which are compatible with the upward extended U-shaped potential picture, and even in those cases the potential value is quite small (1–kV). To check the validity of the analysis method we also estimate the perpendicular electric field on the southern hemisphere, where Polar flies within or below the acceleration region, and we found a large number of inverted-V-type signatures as expected from previous studies. To explain the lack of perpendicular electric fields at high altitudes we suggest an O-shaped potential model instead of the U-shaped one.     

On the occurrence and characteristics of intense low-altitude electric fields observed by Freja

High-resolution measurements by the double probe electric field instrument on the Freja satellite are presented. The observations show that extremely intense (up to 1 V m⁻¹) and fine-structured (<1 km) electric fields exist at auroral latitudes within the altitude regime explored by Freja (up to 1700 km). The intense field events typically occur within the early morning sector of the auroral oval (01-07 MLT) during times of geomagnetic activity. In contrast to the observations within the auroral acceleration region characterized by intense converging electric fields associated with electron precipitation, upward ion beams and upward field-aligned currents, the intense electric fields observed by Freja are often found to be diverging and located within regions of downward field-aligned currents outside the electron aurora. Moreover, the intense fields are observed in conjunction with precipitating and transversely energized ions of energies 0.5-1 keV and may play an important role in the ion heating. The observations suggest that the intense electric field events are associated with small-scale low-conductivity ionospheric regions void of auroral emissions such as east-west aligned dark filaments or vortex streets of black auroral curls located between or adjacent to auroral arcs within the morningside diffuse auroral region. We suggest that these intense fields also exist at ionospheric altitudes although no such observations have yet been made. This is possible since the height-integrated conductivity associated with the dark filaments may be as low as 0.1 S or less. In addition, Freja electric field data collected outside the auroral region are discussed with particular emphasis on subauroral electric fields which are observed within the 19–01 MLT sector between the equatorward edge of the auroral oval and the inner edge of the ring current.     

Midday reversal of equatorial ionospheric electric field

A comparative study of the geomagnetic and ionospheric data at equatorial and low-latitude stations in India over the 20 year period 1956–1975 is described. The reversal of the electric field in the ionosphere over the magnetic equator during the midday hours indicated by the disappearance of the equatorial sporadic E region echoes on the ionograms is a rare phenomenon occurring on about 1% of time. Most of these events are associated with geomagnetically active periods. By comparing the simultaneous geomagnetic H field at Kodaikanal and at Alibag during the geomagnetic storms it is shown that ring current decreases are observed at both stations. However, an additional westward electric field is superimposed in the ionosphere during the main phase of the storm which can be strong enough to temporarily reverse the normally eastward electric field in the dayside ionosphere. It is suggested that these electric fields associated with the V × Bz electric fields originate at the magnetopause due to the interaction of the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field.     

TUTORIAL DISTRIBUTION OF ALTERNATING ELECTRICAL CHARGES IN A CONDUCTING MEDIUM*

The main features of the distribution of volume and surface charges in a conducting medium can be described separately for direct and alternating electromagnetic fields. The density of charges depends on the conductivity of a medium and on the electrical field. The relation is particularly simple for the quasi-stationary field, i.e., when the influence of displacement currents is negligible. Conditions are formulated under which electrical charges arise in a conducting medium: electrical charges are shown to exist for direct and quasi-stationary fields when there is a component of electric field parallel to the gradient of conductivity. The density of these charges is proportional to the applied electric field.     

水平分层孔隙介质中点源激发的震电波场数值模拟及分析

为认识地震波诱导的电磁场的特性,本文研究地震波在孔隙介质中由于动电效应引起的电磁场.基于Pride弹性-电磁耦合方程组推导了双力偶震源对应的位移-应力-电磁场间断向量的表达式,模拟了双力偶源激发的震电波场.作为比较,还模拟了爆炸点源激发的震电波场.结果表明：存在伴随纵波的电场,其各分量的波形与固相位移对应分量的波形相似,但相位相反;存在伴随横波的磁场,其波形与固相位移波形相似;双力偶震源还激发出了独立传播的辐射电磁场,其速度比纵波至少高一个数量级,几乎是“瞬间同时”到达了每个接收器,但是其强度比伴随电磁场小得多,且随着源距增大而迅速减小.本文研究还表明：伴随纵波的电场强度不仅与地震纵波幅度和动电耦合系数有关,还与由介质孔隙结构决定的流-固两相动力协调性有关,存在一种动力协调介质,纵波在这种介质中不引起电场.     

Balloon measurement of vertical and horizontal atmospheric electric fields

Summary Twenty-eight balloons have been flown in Canada to measure vertical and horizontal electric fields at balloon altitudes. A horizontal electric field of magnitude typically between 10 and 50 millivolts/meter has been measured at night at high latitudes in association with auroras and magnetic disturbances. Its origin is in the magnetosphere and it maps to balloon alitudes with small attenuation according to Maxwell's equations. The vertical electric field at the balloon displays variations as the horizontal ionospheric field changes in order to maintain . Thus, magnetospheric processes affect both vertical and horizontal atmospheric electric fields and the potential differences induced by these processes may be comparable to weather induced potential differences. Weather processes have also been observed to produce large horizontal electric fields at balloon altitudes. Methods of distinguishing horizontal fields of ionospheric origin from those of weather origin are investigated with the conclusion that a determination of the source of a given event can often if not generally be made.This paper was presented byU. Fahleson     

Techniques and instrumentation for study of natural electromagnetic induction at sea

Electromagnetic fluctuations in the ocean have external sources above (ionospheric) and below (secular variation of the earth's magnetic field), and internal, purely oceanic sources associated with interaction between water velocity fields and the earth's field. Energy diagrams indicative of the electromagnetic activity in the sea are presented. From the latter, estimates of the resolution required in electromagnetic research at sea can be made. Absolute minima of 1 γ and 0.05 μV/m are necessary for magnetic and electric fields, respectively. Because the ocean shields overhead sources at frequencies above a few hundred c/h and because motional fields have weak signatures, a resolution at least 10 times higher would considerably enhance the scope of such research.The response of electric field instruments to motionally induced fields depends upon whether they are fixed or drifting, but both types respond similarly to fields of external origin.The most stringent limitation to electric field sampling in the sea is the difficulty in achieving low-noise electrical continuity between measuring circuits and sea water. Even the best matched silver—silver chloride electrodes introduce variable electrochemical signals hard to maintain below a millivolt. These mask very low frequency signals unless sophisticated techniques such as electrode switching are used.     

电场产生的赤道扩展F的时空演变

利用计算机模拟研究了非均匀电场产生的赤道扩展Ｆ的时空演变。非均匀电场能在赤道电离层Ｆ区底部触发Ｒａｙｌｅｉｇｈ－Ｔａｙｌｏｒ不稳定性，导致等离子体泡形态。计算中非均匀电场的幅度取为０．２５－１．００ｍＶ／ｍ，所产生的等离子体泡在２０００ｓ以内就能穿过Ｆ峰达到５４０ｋｍ的高度。所得结果阐明了非均匀电场在赤道扩展Ｆ中的作用，指出了产生等离子体泡一种可能的扰动源。由于Ｅ区和Ｆ区电场是相互影响的，从而揭示了Ｅ区和Ｆ区扰动的相互联系。     

面极化模拟解释激发极化异常的不适用性

在椭球座标系中对均匀外电流场中的面极化椭球体的电场进行了求解.在解拉普拉斯方程时一般解的系数是椭球座标的函数,因而解答不正确,这表明了面极化体激发极化电场分布和求正确解的复杂性.此解答和均匀外电流场中体极化椭球体的电场解答的明显差别,说明两类电场不具有相似性.因此,用面极化模拟解释通常为体极化的实际地质体的激发极化异常显然是不适用的.物理模拟证实了这一理论研究结果.     

Analytical configurations of a force-free magnetic cylinder in the solar wind

The problem of a smooth field configuration, which should be an initial configuration in modeling (using the method of coarse particles) the problem of a stationary solar wind flow around a magnetic cloud in the case of a spatially two-dimensional statement (when a magnetic cloud is considered as a force-free magnetic cylinder with a finite radius) is considered. It has been indicated that such a statement is possible only when the magnetic field in the solar wind is parallel to the cylinder axis. The method for finding the magnetic field of a force-free cylinder with a finite radius, when some field component is specified and another component is determined based on this one (which makes it possible to construct fields with preassigned properties), has been proposed. The variant for constructing the initial field configuration in the transition region around a cylinder has been proposed. This variant makes it possible to gradually pass from homogeneous crossed fields in the solar wind to a force-free magnetic and zero electric fields within a cylinder, an electric field being potential and orthogonal to a magnetic field (in the reference system related to a magnetic cloud).     

Large-scale E-region electric field structure due to gravity wave winds

Oscillatory neutral wind motions, such as those of atmospheric gravity waves which propagate through the E-region of the ionosphere, appear to produce local electric fields in the source region. Although the net effect of these oscillatory fields vanishes outside the source region, the local fields themselves are not shorted out along the magnetic field lines, as is usually assumed. We present in situ measurements of neutral winds and the correlated electric fields, and show that local electric fields of the order of a few mV/m can be sustained by the neutral wind motions.     

The relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using EISCAT data

The relationship between electric fields, height-integrated conductivities and electric currents in the high-latitude nightside electrojet region is known to be complex. The tristatic nature of the EISCAT UHF radar facility provides an excellent means of exploring this interrelationship as it enables simultaneous estimates to be made of the full electric field vector and the ionospheric Hall and Pedersen conductances, further allowing the determination of both field-perpendicular electric current components. Over 1300 h of common programme observations by the UHF radar system provide the basis of a statistical study of electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere, from which preliminary results are presented. Times at which there is significant solar contribution to the ionospheric conductances have been excluded by limiting the observations according to solar zenith angle. Initial results indicate that, in general, the times of peak conductance, identified from the entire set of EISCAT observations, do not correspond to the times of the largest electric field values; the relative contribution of ionospheric conductance and electric field to the electrojet currents therefore depends critically on local time, a conclusion which corroborates work by previous authors. Simultaneous measurements confirm a tendency for a decrease in both Hall and Pedersen conductances to be accompanied by an increase in the electric field, at least for moderate and large electric field value, a tendency which is also identified to some extent in the ratio of the conductances, which acts as an indicator of the energy of precipitating particles.     

地电场观测中若干问题的讨论

“九五”期间在全国陆续建设了二十来个地电场观测场地,经过几年的观测,已经观测到了一些地电场的基本特征,但在观测中也发现存在很多问题。现就一些主要问题展开讨论,并提出建议,供地电场的观测和建设参考。     

Numerical analysis of multicomponent responses of surface-hole transient electromagnetic method

We calculate the multicomponent responses of surface-hole transient electromagnetic method. The methods and models are unsuitable as geoelectric models of conductive surrounding rocks because they are based on regular local targets. We also propose a calculation and analysis scheme based on numerical simulations of the subsurface transient electromagnetic fields. In the modeling of the electromagnetic fields, the forward modeling simulations are performed by using the finite-difference time-domain method and the discrete image method, which combines the Gaver–Stehfest inverse Laplace transform with the Prony method to solve the initial electromagnetic fields. The precision in the iterative computations is ensured by using the transmission boundary conditions. For the response analysis, we customize geoelectric models consisting of near-borehole targets and conductive wall rocks and implement forward modeling simulations. The observed electric fields are converted into induced electromotive force responses using multicomponent observation devices. By comparing the transient electric fields and multicomponent responses under different conditions, we suggest that the multicomponent-induced electromotive force responses are related to the horizontal and vertical gradient variations of the transient electric field at different times. The characteristics of the response are determined by the varying the subsurface transient electromagnetic fields, i.e., diffusion, attenuation and distortion, under different conditions as well as the electromagnetic fields at the observation positions. The calculation and analysis scheme of the response consider the surrounding rocks and the anomalous field of the local targets. It therefore can account for the geological data better than conventional transient field response analysis of local targets.