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.