Changes in cosmic ray cut-off rigidities due to secular variations of the geomagnetic field

An analytical expression is derived for the cutoff rigidity of cosmic rays arriving at a point in an arbitrary direction, when the main geomagnetic field is approximated by that of an eccentric dipole. This expression is used to determine changes in geomagnetic cutoffs due to secular variation of the geomagnetic field since 1835. Effects of westward drift of the quadrupole field and decrease in the effective dipole moment are seen in the isorigidity contours. On account of the immense computer time required to determine the cutoff rigidities more accurately using the particle trajectory tracing technique, the present formulation may be useful in estimating the transmission factor of the geomagnetic field in cosmic ray studies, modulation of cosmogenic isotope production by geomagnetic secular variation, and the contribution of geomagnetic field variation to long term changes in climate through cosmic ray related modulation of the current flow in the global electric circuit.     

The ionospheric F2-region at low geomagnetic latitudes during the geomagnetic storms of 22–26 April 1990: Comparison of observed and modeled response

A comparison between the modeled NmF2 and hmF2 and NmF2 and hmF2, which were observed by the Kokubunji, Okinawa, Manila, Vanimo, and Darwin ionospheric sounders and by the middle and upper (MU) atmosphere radar, have been used to study the time-dependent response of the low-latitude ionosphere to geomagnetic forcing during a time series of geomagnetic storms from 22 to 26 April 1990. The reasonable agreement between the model results and data requires the modified equatorial meridional E×B plasma drift, the modified HWM90 wind, and the modified NRLMSISE-00 neutral densities. We found that changes in a flux of plasma into the nighttime equatorial F2-region from higher L-shells to lower L-shells caused by the meridional component of the E×B plasma drift lead to enhancements in NmF2 close to the geomagnetic equator. The equatorward wind-induced plasma drift along magnetic field lines, which cross the Earth equatorward of about 20° geomagnetic latitude in the northern hemisphere and about −19° geomagnetic latitude in the southern hemisphere, contributes to the maintenance of the F2-layer close to the geomagnetic equator. The nighttime weakening of the equatorial zonal electric field (in comparison with that produced by the empirical model of Fejer and Scherliess [Fejer, B.G., Scherliess, L., 1997. Empirical models of storm time equatorial zonal electric fields. J. Geophys. Res. 102, 24047–24056] or Scherliess and Fejer [Scherliess, L., Fejer, B.G., 1999. Radar and satellite global equatorial F region vertical drift model. J. Geophys. Res. 104, 6829–6842) in combination with corrected equatorward nighttime wind-induced plasma drift along magnetic field lines in the both geomagnetic hemispheres are found to be the physical mechanism of the nighttime NmF2 enhancement formation close to the geomagnetic equator over Manila during 22–26 April 1990. The model crest-to-trough ratios of the equatorial anomaly are used to study the relative role of the main mechanisms of the equatorial anomaly suppression for the 22–26 April 1990 geomagnetic storms. During the most part of the studied time period, a total contribution from geomagnetic storm disturbances in the neutral temperature and densities to the equatorial anomaly changes is less than that from meridional neutral winds and variations in the E×B plasma drift. It is shown that the latitudinal positions of the crests are determined by the E×B drift velocity and the neutral wind velocity.     

What is the cause of the accelerated drift of the north magnetic pole: Jerk or reversal?

For the last 20–30 years, the drift velocity of the north magnetic pole (NMP) has increased by a factor of almost 5. It is unclear whether this is the cyclic process, according to which NMP twice changed the direction of its drift (in 1580 and 1860) and should turn once again in approximately 2140, or this acceleration is related to the effect of jerk-69, or the NMP acceleration shows the beginning of geomagnetic field reversal. Both magnetic poles have been drifting poleward (toward each other) beginning from 1860: NMP, in the Western Hemisphere; south magnetic pole (SMP), in the Eastern Hemisphere. Both poles move along the paths typical of the motion of virtual magnetic poles during reversal. The velocity of SMP drift during the period of instrumental measurements slightly decreased: from 8 km/yr at the initial stage to 4 km/yr at the present. A possible cause of NMP drift acceleration and SMP drift deceleration is discussed. It has been indicated that the NMP position can be estimated based on a change in the geomagnetic field horizontal components registered at the nearest observatories. Measurements of the NMP position, which can be performed during the next three-five years, can make it possible to answer the question whether NMP continue accelerating or starts decelerating. It is discussed whether NMP acceleration and an increase in the jerk occurrence frequency are interrelated and whether these facts points to the beginning of reversal.     

Spatial features of the manifestation of the geomagnetic field westward drift

The specific features of the spatial structure and time dynamics of the main geomagnetic field during the 20th century, proceeding from the present-day concepts of geomagnetic jerks have been studied. The variations, caused by global dissipation of the geomagnetic field dipole part, have been separated from the regional variations, described by nondipole spatial harmonics of the spherical harmonic expansion series. It has been indicated that the geomagnetic field westward drift manifests itself in a limited region of the Earth’s surface, forming the known Brazil anomaly. However, the drift component in the variations in the geomagnetic field morphological structures is globally found out during the considered almost 100-year period along the narrow belt around the geomagnetic axis. However, this drift is northwestward in the Northern Hemisphere, and the structures drift southeastward in the Southern Hemisphere. The detected variations of the drift nature are reflected in the variations in the integral geomagnetic characteristic, when changes in the position of the Earth’s magnetic center are considered. The direct correlation between the global geomagnetic variations of the drift nature and the trend variations in the orientation of the vector of the Earth daily rotation velocity has been detected.     

Review of the geomagnetic secular variations on the historical time scale

In view of the classification of the geomagnetic field into its axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric parts, studies of geomagnetic secular variations on the historical time-scale are reviewed. The westward drift of the geomagnetic field, which is one of the most conspicuous features of its secular variation, is examined first. The non-axisymmetric field during the past several hundred years can be well approximated by the superposition of two constant-magnitude fields, a standing and a drifting field, whose lifetimes are supposed to be longer than 1000 years. It is pointed out that the sectorial term of the non-dipole standing field is small compared with the drifting one. The lack of the n = M = 2 term of the standing field is particularly remarkable.

On the other hand, the equatorial dipole field is likely to consist of two components which are both drifting. One drifts westwards with a normal velocity and the other eastwards with a small velocity.

Besides the pronounced westward drift in an east-west direction, the poleward movements of particular foci of the secular variation are noted. This may, however, be related to the rapid growth of the axisymmetric quadrupole field.

The time variation of the dipole field is briefly examined. As far as the data on the historical time scale are concerned, an antiparallel relationship seems to exist between the variations in the dipole and the quadrupole field. As the dipole moment decreases, the magnitude of the quadrupole moment increases. Finally, characteristic oscillation periods of the dipole field are examined. Although the data are few, a 60–70-year period, a 400–600-year and a 8000-year period emerge as the dominant periods.     

Geomagnetic evolution: 400 years of change on planet Earth

Spherical harmonic coefficients of the geomagnetic field, calculated from historical observations of declination, inclination and intensity, and from archaeomagnetic inclination results, have been used to produce a film of geomagnetic change since 1600 A.D. The non-dipole geomagnetic field is found to be constantly changing: no fixed or standing non-dipole features are observed. Non-dipole foci are seen to have lifetimes of a few hundred years. The westward drift, which was an important feature of the 18th and early 19th century geomagnetic field, was less pronounced in the 17th century. The growth, evolution, decay and replacement of non-dipole foci, but not their movement are found to have been the major features producing century-long secular directional magnetic variation. Most of the low degree and order spherical harmonic coefficients have changed significantly over the last few hundred years. In particular the change in sign of the axisymmetric quadrupole around 1837 A.D. is noted. Sustained, century-long, intensity changes, however, appear to have been dominated by variations in the intensity of the centred dipole, rather than by non-dipole field fluctuations.     

行星尺度地磁异常的长期变化

为了综合反映地球表面行星尺度磁异常的展布面积、磁场极值以及磁场分布特征等多种因素及其与磁能的关系，本文用穿过各异常区的“无符号磁通量”为特征参数来表征磁异常区强度.用第八代国际参考地磁场模型(IGRF)，分析了1900年到2000年全球最大的5个磁异常区的长期变化，结果表明，在一百年中，南大西洋(SAT)、大洋洲(AUS)和非洲(AF)3个异常区的磁通量均增加了200MWb以上，欧亚异常(EA)磁通量增加幅度稍小(157MWb)，上述4个异常区磁通量增幅为30%-60%，而北美异常(NAM)的磁通量则减小了50MWb.各异常区面积虽有变化，但最大变化仅为%左右.对磁异常区的西向漂移研究表明，地球表面和核幔界面的西漂明显存在差异：地表磁场有持续而稳定的西向漂移，全球平均西漂速度为0.2°/a；但核幔界面磁场的西向漂移速度要小得多，最大不超过0.1°/a.形成这种差异的原因可能是组成地磁场的不同球谐分量有不同的漂移速度；地表磁场的西漂主要决定于占优势的低阶分量，而核幔界面的西漂则受到高阶分量的重大影响.本文指出，在把地表西漂值用作地核磁流体运动速度的典型值时必须十分谨慎.     

Geomagnetic field variations as determined from bulgarian archaeomagnetic data

The archaeomagnetic determinations obtained from the collections of archaeological materials, dated in the last 2000 years are summarized. The review describes the materials used, the methodology applied, the local database organization, the principles of data processing and smoothing procedures. Errors evaluation at different levels of analysis of the experimental results are described. Special attention is paid to the archaeointensity determinations. Some rock magnetic properties studied in connection with the difficulties in the Thellier method are summarised. The curves of geomagnetic field elements variations for the last 2000 years for Bulgaria are shown. The Bauer plots, VGP path and VDM curve are also discussed, the latter confirming the general decrease in the strength of the geomagnetic field from the beginning of this era to the present. Westward drift of the geomagnetic field non-dipole part cannot be considered proved yet for the time interval 7th to 13th Centuries AD from the Bulgarian directional data.     

地磁场长期变化特征及机理分析

将地磁场的总变化分为三部分：偶极场自身变化,非偶极场自身变化及非偶极场磁斑区通过对核幔边界（CMB）层环形电流的调制来影响偶极场的变化. 本文利用国际地磁参考场模型IGRF）1900～2000计算分析了地球不同深度地磁场分布及长期变化特征,且讨论了变化的可能机制. 可以推论,地磁场西漂和倒转不仅是非偶极场引起,同时与偶极场有密切关系.     

国际地磁参考场在我国地磁基础研究中的应用

国际地磁参考场资料在我国得到广泛应用。利用国际地磁参考场资料，我国学者研究了高斯分析、地球磁场模型及其源场可能位置、重磁关系、核幔耦合、地磁场能量、地球非偶极子磁场西向漂移等。在绘制中国地磁等值图中也利用了某些国际地磁参考场资料。     

亚暴期间高纬黄昏-子夜扇区极光弧增亮与衰减及其与IMF的关系

利用南极中山站极光全天空摄相、地磁、地磁脉动数据和Wind卫星的行星际磁场IMF观测数据，分析了7个亚暴期间高纬黄昏-子夜扇区极光弧的短暂增亮现象.极光弧特征是，短暂增亮随后很快衰减，历时10-20min，基本沿着日-地方向，有明显黄昏方向运动.这些事件大都发生在IMFB_z南转之后，亚暴增长相或膨胀相期间，极光浪涌到达之前10-73min消失.相应的IMFB_x＞0，IMFB_y＜0.这种极光弧和亚暴极光不同，它们与地磁活动及Pi2脉动不相关.这7个极光弧的形态和IMF特征表明，极光弧的增亮很可能由尾瓣重联产生，很快衰减归因于IMFB_z南向条件，而黄昏方向运动受IMFB_y控制.     

地球磁场的西向漂移

西向漂移是地球主磁场长期变化最重要的特点之一，任何一个成功的地磁场起源理论都反能否合理地解释西漂作为检验标准之一。本文简要回顾地磁场西漂硬件历史，对计算西漂的各种方法和结果作了对比分析，对这些方法的物理依据，特点及局限性进行了讨论。     

Impact of the geomagnetic field and solar radiation on climate change

Recent studies have shown that, in addition to the role of solar variability, past climate changes may have been connected with variations in the Earth??s magnetic field elements at various timescales. An analysis of variations in geomagnetic field elements, such as field intensity, reversals, and excursions, allowed us to establish a link between climate changes at various timescales over the last millennia. Of particular interest are sharp changes in the geomagnetic field intensity and short reversals of the magnetic poles (excursions). The beginning and termination of the examined geomagnetic excursions can be attributed to periods of climate change. In this study, we analyzed the possible link between short-term geomagnetic variability (jerks) and climate change, as well as the accelerated drift of the north magnetic pole and surface temperature variations. The results do not rule out the possibility that geomagnetic field variations which modulate the cosmic ray flux could have played a major role in climate change in addition to previously induced by solar radiation.     

Paleointensity of the earth's magnetic field during the Laschamp excursion and its geomagnetic implications

The reversed paleomagnetic direction of the Laschamp and Olby flows represents a specific feature of the geomagnetic field. This is supported by paleomagnetic evidence, showing that the same anomalous direction was recorded at several distinct sites, including scoria of the Laschamp volcano. To examine this anomalous geomagnetic fluctuation, we studied the paleointensity of the Laschamp and Olby flows, using the Thellier method. Twenty-five samples were selected for the paleointensity experiments, and from seven we obtained reliable results. Because the paleointensity results of the Olby and Laschamp flows as well as Laschamp scoria are very similar, they can be represented by a single mean paleointensity,F = 7.7 μT. Considering that this low paleointensity is less than 1/6 of the present geomagnetic field and is more characteristic of transitional behavior, our results suggest that the paleomagnetic directions of the Laschamp and Olby flows were not acquired during a stable reversed polarity interval. A more likely explanation is that the Laschamp excursion represents an unsuccessful or aborted reversal.     

东亚大陆磁异常的西向漂移

西向漂移是地磁场长期变化最重要的特点之一,而西漂最显著的部分是非偶极子场部分．本文以１９００-２０００年国际参考地磁场（ＩＧＲＦ）为依据,运用无线电科学中的"移动变形图案相关分析"方法对近百年来东亚大陆磁异常的漂移运动进行了分析,得到磁异常各分量漂移矢量随时间的变化．结果表明,最能代表地磁场西漂特征的Ｚ分量异常近百年来平均西漂速度为０.０７°／ａ,明显小于全球磁场西漂的平均速度０．２°／ａ．Ｚ分量还显示出０.０２°／ａ的缓慢北向漂移．详细分析还表明,东亚大陆磁异常的漂移分为３个阶段：１９００-１９３０年为较快的西漂,平均速度为０.１０°／ａ;１９３０-１９８０年为西北向漂移,平均西漂速度分量０．０７°／ａ,北漂速度分量为０．０４°／ａ;１９８０年后漂移几乎停止,并有转为东漂的迹象．     

The generation of non aspect sensitive plasma density irregularities by field aligned drifts in the lower ionosphere

A theory of the generation of plasma density irregularities with virtually no aspect sensitivity, in the lower ionosphere at high latitudes, by electron drifts aligned with the geomagnetic field, is presented. The theory is developed through fluid equations in which the destabilising mechanism involves positive feedback from electron collisional heating. When field aligned electron drift speeds exceed a few km s^–1, this effect destabilises waves with wavelengths in excess of a few tens of metres in the lower E-region, where collisional effects are sufficiently large. Furthermore, the threshold conditions are almost independent of the wave propagation direction and the unstable waves propagate at speeds well below the ion acoustic speed. The role that this new instability may play in recent radar backscatter observations of short scale irregularities propagating in directions close to that of the geomagnetic field, in the lower E-region is also considered.     

地磁平静期间磁层高能粒子非垂直地磁截止刚度研究

地磁截止刚度是定量衡量地球磁场对高能粒子屏蔽效应的参数,描述了高能粒子穿越磁层到达指定观测点的带电粒子刚度阈值.人们一直研究垂直方向上的截止刚度,但对作为方向函数的截止刚度,缺少详细研究.我们使用单粒子方法,倒向追踪粒子的运动状态,计算了近地空间不同投掷角度的高能粒子地磁截止刚度,研究发现:(1)天顶方向或者垂直方向的...     

二十世纪的地球偶极子磁场

1900~2000年的IGRF(国际地磁参考场)资料使研究20世纪中地磁场的变化规律成为可能,在20世纪中,即使从19世纪起,地球偶极子磁场发生了较大的变化,偶极矩一直保持衰减的势头,地心轴的所有3个分量都是减小的.地磁南极的位置变化在1930年左右发生大的转折,1960年起向西和向南快速移动,偶极子轴在纬度方面变化只有1°左右,经度变化在3°左右,离磁极倒转的条件差得远.     

带电粒子在中性线磁场中的运动

本文利用了小扰动方法、轨道法以及粒子的运动区域,比较系统地研究了带电粒子在中性线磁场中的运动。其结果是: 1.带电粒子的运动轨道可分为漂移轨道、波动轨道与8字形轨道三种形式。小扰动方法不能使用于中性线的区域内,在这个区域出现一个与小扰动漂移运动相反方向的运动。 2.在沿中性线方向的电场的作用下,中性线周围的部分粒子可以聚集到中性线附近。当粒子进入非小扰动区时,它们将被中性线磁场反射,并被电场加速。 3.计算出磁尾中性片的厚度为在这个区域内,大部分带正电的粒子的平均运动是沿晨昏方向,带负电的粒子的运动则相反。磁尾区出现一个等离子体中性片电流。     

不同方位甚低频电磁波衰减的初步研究*

利用2005—2010年DEMETER卫星记录NWC发射站的19.8kHz电场功率谱数据,采用统计和线性拟合等方法,研究了NWC站发射的电磁波在顶部电离层及磁共轭区激发的电场效应及其在不同方位的衰减特性。结果发现:(1)在NWC发射站上空,卫星记录电场呈椭圆状扩散分布,电场最强中心点位置相对地面人工源位置有一定偏移;(2)研究区上空电场北部衰减梯度最小,东部衰减梯度最大;(3)在其磁共轭区,南部电场衰减梯度最小,北部衰减梯度最大。综合分析认为人工源(NWC)发射的VLF电磁波传播到电离层高度后,受地磁场影响,电磁波主要沿磁力线方向传播,空间电场最强中心点位置相对发射站的位置发生偏移,向磁赤道方向倾斜,而且偏于磁赤道方向的电场衰减梯度最小。