Schumann resonance amplitude during the Forbush effect

The time variations in the galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity at Apatity stations have been compared to the amplitude of the first Schumann resonance (as an indicator of the global thunderstorm activity power) for 12 cases of Forbush decreases in GCRs. A performed analysis indicated that the amplitude of the first Schumann resonance decreased only once during a Forbush decrease in GCRs as compared to the quiet conditions (during the strongest event in January 2005). In the remaining cases, a statistically significant effect was not observed.     

云南地区观测的舒曼谐振背景变化特征

本文利用云南地区永胜台观测的地磁南北和东西分量开展舒曼谐振的背景变化特征分析.通过提取舒曼谐振各阶频率和功率谱密度的小时均值,分析了前三阶舒曼谐振频率和功率谱密度在分点和至点前后的周日变化特征.舒曼谐振功率谱密度的周日变化与亚洲、非洲和美洲三大闪电活动中心的活跃时段以及观测站相对于三大闪电活动中心的方位密切相关.舒曼谐振频率的周日变化特征更复杂.各阶功率谱密度和频率在夏至和秋分前后的变化幅度比春分和冬至前后大.从2011年舒曼谐振频率和功率谱密度日中值的年变化图中发现,谐振频率随季节变化的特征不明显,而功率谱密度的年度变化曲线呈半周期正弦波形态,以7月份为轴对称分布.功率谱密度的季节变化特征与闪电活动的季节变化特征相一致.南北和东西分量得到的前三阶谐振频率,第一阶约稳定在7.5 Hz.而随着阶数增加,南北分量得到的谐振频率比东西分量约大0.5 Hz.高阶谐振频率发生偏移的原因目前还不清楚.     

日本MW9.0地震前的舒曼谐振异常分析

2011年3月11日日本本州岛东海岸附近海域发生了M_W9.0地震. 基于中国云南的舒曼谐振(SR)观测站的磁场观测数据, 分析了与该次地震有关的SR疑似异常现象. 分析表明, 震前3—4天低阶谐振开始出现比较明显的幅度增强现象, 以2011年3月8日(北京时间)这一天的现象最明显, 南北向在7:00—10:00和12:00—15:00异常比较明显, 而东西向只在12:00—15:00异常相对比较强. 根据对2011年3月1—11日及对应每天前后各15天共41天的数据的联合分析, 3月8日部分时间段的低阶谐振磁场差明显高于一倍甚至两倍标准差; 相比而言, 正常的一天内各阶磁场差要明显低于一倍标准差. 最后, 根据一些日本地震学者提出的SR异常机理, 进一步分析了在云南观测站能观测到日本地震异常的可能性. 结果表明, 在永胜观测站可以观测到日本地震引起的一阶到三阶SR异常, 与发现的异常主要集中在低阶的现象比较吻合.      

Schumann resonance observation in China and anomalous disturbance possibly associated with Tohoku M9.0 earthquake

Schumann resonance (SR) is an electromagnetic resonance phenomenon in the Earth–ionosphere cavity exited by global lightning activities when the wavelength matches the circumference of the Earth, and the lowest four peak frequencies of SR are about 8, 14, 20, and 26 Hz. This article presents the new observational data of SR in China. The observations of two horizontal magnetic components (B _NS and B _EW) in the frequency band range of 3–29 Hz at Yongsheng observatory (26.7°N, 100.8°E) in southwestern China were mainly analyzed. It is found that the SR amplitudes at peak frequencies in B _NS and B _EW components all showed diurnal and seasonal variations, and that the SR amplitude in B _NS component is always higher than that in B _EW component. Diurnal variation of SR amplitude around equinoxes and solstices in B _NS component is related to active intervals of three global thunderstorm centers, while SR amplitude in B _EW component is the most significant at around 16 LT, corresponding to Asian center. SR amplitudes both in B _NS and B _EW components increase in the rainy season from May to September. In addition, the SR anomalies in association with the 2011 Japan earthquake are exhibited. The anomalous effect was characterized by an increase in amplitude at the lowest four SR modes beginning at 4 days before this earthquake. Upon analyzing the wave interference between the direct wave and disturbed wave scattered by localized modification of lower ionosphere over the epicenter, Asian and African thunderstorm centers are found to contribute to anomalous effect observed at Yongsheng station. Modeling results of SR regular and disturbed spectra at different local times led to the similar conclusion.     

An Overview of Thunderstorm-Related Research on the Atmospheric Electric Field, Schumann Resonances, Sprites, and the Ionosphere at Sopron, Hungary

This paper gives a resume of the papers written in English which (a) describe some of the recording instruments in use at the Nagycenk Observatory (NCK) since the International Geophysical Year (IGY 1957–1958) and up to the present time, (b) summarise the most important and different types of observations associated with thunderstorms which have been made there, and (c) discuss their various geophysical interpretations. The paper describes the main results which have been obtained in four areas of thunderstorm associated atmospheric and geospace science within the context of Earth system science. These relate to the following parameters of atmospheric electricity: the vertical electric potential gradient just above the Earth’s surface and the air–Earth current as well as the point discharge current, Schumann resonance (SR) signals of the Earth-ionosphere cavity at 8, 14 and 20 Hz, transient luminous events (TLEs), and some aspects of the behaviour of the ionosphere. Deductions from these data sets are concerned with the global lightning activity and the conductivity of the air, with diurnal, seasonal, annual and long-term variations of the SR amplitudes and resonant frequencies in terms of migrating thunderstorm centres, with transient SR excitations and with sprites and other TLEs, and with ionospheric disturbances. The paper closes with some thoughts on future research directions based on the observations at NCK and Sopron and the results achieved since the IGY.     

Remote sensing of thunderstorm activity by means of VLF sferics

The results of a three-month observational period (June–August 1981) during sunlit hours (9:00–15:00 GMT) with VLF sferics at the two stations Tel Aviv, Israel, and Pretoria, South Africa, are presented and compared with rainfall data for the European-African area, with two lability indices of thunderstorm prediction, and with synoptic thunderstorm reports for the same time interval. The locations of thunderstorm centers on the continents determined from the sferics stations compare reasonably well with the distribution of rainfall, indicating that the VLF sferics method is a useful measure of rainfall, particularly in remote regions with inadequate coverage of observing stations. The lability index of Showalter (1953) appears to be rather qualitative for the prediction of thunderstorm occurrence, and any fine structure in the distribution of thunderstorm centers as seen in the sferics data is lost. The same is true of the synoptic reports of thunderstorm days. A new lability index has been developed. This index leads to a more detailed structure of thunderstorm prediction, which is consistent with the sferics data.     

云南地区震前舒曼谐振异常初步分析

舒曼谐振异常现象与地震活动性有较好的相关性,舒曼谐振异常现象可能与地震电离层扰动有关,是岩石层-大气层-电离层耦合的重要体现之一.本文详细介绍了云南舒曼谐振地震前兆观测台的系统结构和仪器参数,以及统计分析和震例分析的结果.永胜台观测数据显示2011年3月10日云南盈江M5.8级地震震前3天By分量出现舒曼异常,2011年1月23日临沧东部M4.0级地震震前2天By分量出现舒曼异常;通海台观测的By分量频谱分析结果显示,2011年5月22日红河州M4.2级地震当日前3阶谐振频率对应谱密度出现强烈扰动.研究表明,舒曼谐振地震前兆监测是一种可行的监测手段.     

Magnetic polarization of the Schumann resonances: An asymptotic theory

Horizontal components of extremely low-frequency (ELF) fields in the gyrotropic Earth–ionosphere cavity are expressed through the fields of an isotropic cavity. A linear approximation of the perturbation method with respect to two small parameters is used. These are the impedance z₀ of the isotropic ionosphere and the ratio γ≡z₂/z₁ of the off-diagonal to diagonal elements of the surface impedance matrix of the gyrotropic ionosphere. It is shown that the effect of splitting of the Schumann resonance frequencies caused by the existence of the d.c. geomagnetic field results in an “apparent” angular shift of all ground-based sources of ELF radiation toward the geographic West (“refraction of ELF fields in the gyrotropic Earth–ionosphere cavity”) and excitation of an elliptical magnetic polarization. An analytical relation for the mentioned phenomena is derived. Explicit expressions for polarization characteristics of the electromagnetic ELF noise excited by an arbitrary number of equatorial thunderstorm centers are obtained. Expected values of the “apparent” angular shift for these sources are estimated. Analysis of the estimated magnitudes shows that locations of thunderstorm centers and isolated Q-bursts determined with the use of multi-component ELF measurements should be corrected to exclude the “gyrotropic refraction” effect. Equations to calculate the necessary corrections are presented. The results are generalized to the case of an arbitrary latitudinal location of the sources.     

Investigation of Schumann resonance polarization parameters

The Earth–ionosphere cavity is characterized by a number of disturbances which cause departures from the behaviour expected for the spherical symmetric case usually applied in model calculations. The main effects are the inhomogeneity of the upper atmosphere which is characterised by different conductivity profiles during day and night, and the conductivity anisotropy introduced by the Earths magnetic field. Standing waves, excited by the global thunderstorm activity, with an eigenfrequency of ≈8 Hz develop in this cavity. This phenomenon, which is called Schumann resonance, suffers a frequency splitting due to the removal of the spherical symmetry.At the Institut für Geophysik we measured the electromagnetic field components for a whole year at frequencies up to 20 Hz. We present the results of the analysis of the polarization of individual events of the horizontal magnetic field components. With the help of the polarization parameters as indicators, we show the existence of the aforementioned splitting. A frequency difference of 0.1–0.2 Hz between the two elliptical modes has been estimated.     

Annual variations of the amplitude characteristic of the noise magnetic field in the ELF frequency range based on the results of high-latitude observations

The annual variation of a number of amplitude characteristics of the noise electromagnetic field in the frequency range near the first Schumann resonance (and in particular the mean values of the modulus of horizontal magnetic components and parameters of the distribution function of noise pulses over amplitudes) was obtained and analyzed based on the results of three-year measurements performed at the high-latitude magnetic observatory Lovozero. The summer increase in mean and median values of the magnetic component of noises associated with electrical storms and the lack of annual variations of the exponent that empirically describes the distribution of amplitudes of noise signals were found. The relationship between the seasonal (winter/summer in the northern hemisphere) increase in the mean value of the modulus of the horizontal magnetic field component and seasonal increase in the global number of lightning discharges is shown by the correlation of the results of satellite observations and measurements of the magnetic component.     

电离层舒曼共振的空间观测

通过功率谱分析和波阻抗函数计算,本文证实了Aureol 3卫星在电离层高度上(>600km)观测到的极低频(ELF)波场扰动是和舒曼共振相关的电磁振荡.与舒曼共振地面观测相比较,Aureol 3观测到的舒曼共振电场分量具有很好的谐振谱结构,峰值频率和各阶舒曼共振本征频率对应;磁场分量的高阶峰值频率偏离14, 20, 26Hz等舒曼共振本征频率;随着卫星高度的改变,电场与磁场谐振的一阶最大能量峰值并不会发生在同一频率,结合本文分析的数据,分别位于78Hz和10Hz;水平方向的磁场分量更接近南北方向的线极化而不是地球－电离层空腔中的椭圆极化;波阻抗随频率表现出不太规则的准正弦振荡,它会随着频率增加和飞行高度上升呈现减小的趋势.虽然舒曼共振信号和电离层密度梯度间的非线性作用可以解释舒曼共振空间观测的部分特征,但需加入其他机制,如电离层不稳定性,传播模式的耦合,进一步了解电离层高度上舒曼共振各种特征产生的原因.     

舒曼共振：测量全球热带气温的最新方法

全球气候突变已成为全世界科学家、企业家和政治家共同关注的焦点问题之一。为了准确地预测全球温度的变化趋势和变化速度，我们必须对全球大气温度进行更为广泛更为精确的测量，研究和发展测量大气温度的新方法。由于全球年平均温度变化不过零点几度，相当于其绝对温度的千分之几，由直接测量全球数千个测点的气温来准确估算全球大气平均温度及其变化是困难的。因此，找出一些依赖于气温的涨落而非线性变化的物理参量是很有用的。这样，测量那些参量的明显变化可以准确地确定温度的细微变化。同地球一电离层谐振腔以及全球范围的闪电活动相联系的舒曼共振的振幅就是这样一种物理量。舒曼共振是一种全球性的电磁现象，它能敏感地反映整个热带大气的温度变化。这就是说，在全球任何一个背景噪声较低的地点设置一个舒曼共振台站，可由这一台站纪录的舒曼共振幅度的明显变化推断全球热带大气气温的细微变化。     

2011年3月7~8日永胜站震前舒曼谐振异常数值模拟分析

2011年3月10日中国云南盈江发生5.8级地震, 3月11日日本本州岛东海岸附近海域发生9.0级地震。 2011年3月7日、 8日云南永胜地磁台站观测到了舒曼谐振前4阶振幅异常增大。 本文建立了基于三维时域有限差分方法的舒曼谐振模型, 利用该模型对盈江地震对永胜站观测到的舒曼谐振影响进行了数值分析。 通过对实验和模拟结果进行分析, 认为此次云南永胜观测到的舒曼谐振异常不仅与日本地震相关也可能与云南盈江地震相关。     

Specific distribution of the noise electromagnetic field level at high latitudes in the vicinity of the first Schumann resonance

The distributions of the natural noise electromagnetic field level in the vicinity of the first Schumann resonance have been studied based on data from Lovozero observatory (the Kola Peninsula). Daily curves of noise level excesses over specified thresholds at different geomagnetic disturbances have been constructed. It has been indicated that the curves are morphologically similar on magnetically quiet days but are highly variable from day to day, although the averaged curves are similar in some characteristics to the unitary variation in the surface quasistatic electric field. The possibilities of applying the known formula for the probability distribution of the VLF atmospheric radio noise amplitude in order to analytically describe the noise level probability distribution have been considered. It has been detected that geomagnetic disturbances pronouncedly affect the distribution parameters, sharply increasing the amount of large-amplitude noise.     

Global Lightning Activity on the Basis of Inversions of Natural ELF Electromagnetic Data Observed at Multiple Stations around the World

The monitoring of global lightning activity and its spatial and temporal variations is known to be very essential for the study of global warming, the subject of greatest concern to human beings on planet Earth today. As a method of remote sensing for the global lightning distribution, we have proposed an inverse problem by using the data of natural electromagnetic noise in the ELF (extremely low frequency) Schumann resonance (SR) band observed simultaneously at a few stations around the world. The fundamentals of this inversion problem (or ELF tomography) to the SR data have been presented and the first attempt to deduce the global lightning distribution by means of the real SR data has been performed, which has indicated a possibility of snapshots of well-known thunderstorm centers on the globe. This ELF tomography consists of two stages. The first stage is the inversion of the ELF field power spectra to the distribution of lightning intensity by distance relative to an observation point. The obtained distance profiles of intensity of sources at a few stations are used as tomographic projections for reconstructing a spatial distribution of sources in the second stage. Maps of the global lightning distributions constructed by the result of inversions of ELF background field spectra obtained from three stations around the world show that the most active regions vary meridionally on the diurnal time scale being connected mainly with continental areas in the tropics. We do hope that this kind of inversion method to multi-stationed ELF data will be of great importance in the future.     

电磁监测台站观测的舒曼谐振背景变化

舒曼谐振是由闪电激发的电离层与地面之间的全球电磁震荡,在地球与电离层空腔中传播,由于共振作用,其电磁波能量明显高于其他频率电磁波能量.舒曼谐振具有稳定的频域参数和频谱结构,近几年的研究发现,地震发生前会使这些固有参数发生扰动,因此利用舒曼谐振异常来进行地震短临监测可能是一种行之有效的手段.要判断舒曼谐振地震电磁异常,了解舒曼谐振电磁场背景变化规律是前提.本文利用极低频电磁台站观测的天然电磁场数据,处理和分析了各台站观测的舒曼谐振频率电磁场功率谱随时间的变化,得到了舒曼谐振随季节和纬度的背景变化规律.并提出将舒曼谐振背景变化规律应用到地震短临监测预报中,能够为今后辨别地震监测中的舒曼谐振异常提供物理依据.     

Effects of Energetic Solar Emissions on the Earth–Ionosphere Cavity of Schumann Resonances

Schumann resonances (SR) are the electromagnetic oscillations of the spherical cavity bounded by the electrically conductive Earth and the conductive but dissipative lower ionosphere (Schumann in Z Naturforsch A 7:6627–6628, 1952). Energetic emissions from the Sun can exert a varied influence on the various parameters of the Earth’s SR: modal frequencies, amplitudes and dissipation parameters. The SR response at multiple receiving stations is considered for two extraordinary solar events from Solar Cycle 23: the Bastille Day event (July 14, 2000) and the Halloween event (October/November 2003). Distinct differences are noted in the ionospheric depths of penetration for X-radiation and solar protons with correspondingly distinct signs of the frequency response. The preferential impact of the protons in the magnetically unshielded polar regions leads to a marked anisotropic frequency response in the two magnetic field components. The general immunity of SR amplitudes to these extreme external perturbations serves to remind us that the amplitude parameter is largely controlled by lightning activity within the Earth–ionosphere cavity.     

Peculiar transient events in the Schumann resonance band and their possible explanation

Superimposed on the continuous Schumann resonance (SR) background in the extremely low frequency (ELF) band, transient signals (e.g. bursts) can be observed, which originate from intense lightning discharges occurring at different locations on the globe. From the many transients that were observed at the Astronomical and Geophysical Observatory (AGO) of Comenius University near Modra, western Slovakia, in the vertical electric field component mainly during May and June of 2006, a peculiar group of events could be recognized. According to the waveform analysis, these peculiar events in most cases consist of two overlapping transients with a characteristic time difference of 0.13–0.15 s between the onsets. On the other hand, the spectrum of these peculiar transients showed discernible SR peaks for higher modes as well (n>7). The same events could be found in the records of the Széchenyi István Geophysical Observatory of the Geodetic and Geophysical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences near Nagycenk, Hungary (NCK). The natural origin of the peculiar events was verified from the NCK data and the source location was determined from the second transient. The results suggest that the two consecutive transients originated in the same thunderstorm. Furthermore, the phase spectrum analysis indicates that the sources have coherently excited the Earth-ionosphere cavity. These findings seem to support the idea that electromagnetic waves orbiting the Earth might trigger lightning discharges. The possibility that electromagnetic waves may trigger discharges was first considered by Nikola Tesla.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis>-type bursts in magnetic oscillations of ELF range as a phenomenon reflecting the properties of the global Earth-ionosphere resonator

The observation results of Q-type bursts in the measurements of the horizontal component of the noise magnetic field in the range of the first Schumann resonance in polar regions (Lovozero high-latitude observatory) are presented. Automatic selection of Q-type bursts from the experimental data series is implemented on the basis of a waveform recognition algorithm. The resonant nature of Q-bursts is shown. The possibility of selecting such events in magnetic excitation conditions is highlighted. The global resonator quality upon decreasing the selected waveform amplitudes is estimated. The data obtained by this method are compared with estimates on the basis of Fourier analysis and values known from the world literature. The possible reasons for disagreements of the estimates are analyzed, including the problem of selecting the function approximating the spectrum, the problem of accounting for the background, and the possible irregularity of the spectrum. It is shown that Q-type bursts, besides the quality, allow estimating the resonant frequency of the first oscillation mode; however, the accuracy of such estimation is lower as compared to the results of Fourier analysis methods.     

Thunderstorm activity dynamics during hurricanes

Results of studying the thunderstorm activity dynamics during the Pacific hurricanes in August and October 2001, using broadband recording of the time forms of atmospherics on Kamchatka, have been presented. The number of atmospherics per minute at simultaneously determined azimuths of their sources has been used as an example of thunderstorm activity. An analysis of data processing results has indicated (a) in the absence of hurricanes, the maximal atmospheric flux level (10 ± 4 pulse/min) was observed at night, and the daylight level was 3 ± 1 pulse/min; (b) thunderstorm activity increases at the stage of tropical depression regardless of depression development into hurricane; in this case the flux of atmospherics can increase to 250 pulse/min at night and can be widely variable (5–100 pulse/min) in daytime; (c) in the sate of hurricane maturity, the thunderstorm activity level is not higher than the background level. It has been indicated that IGWs in the Earth’s atmosphere and the lower ionosphere are caused by lightning strokes accompanied by shock waves during expansion of the lighning channel. The results obtained are of interest in studying anomalous effects in the natural electromagnetic field in the VLF band during increased seismic activity on Kamchatka.