Roald Amundsen's contributions to our knowledge of the magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun
Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) was known as one of the premier polar explorers in the golden age of polar exploration. His accomplishments clearly document that he has contributed to knowledge in fields as diverse as ethnography, meteorology and geophysics. In this paper we will concentrate on his studi...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:b8aad7e51d454b71bb3f3865d3e774fa 2023-05-15T18:23:09+02:00 Roald Amundsen's contributions to our knowledge of the magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun A. Egeland C. S. Deehr 2011-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-2-99-2011 https://doaj.org/article/b8aad7e51d454b71bb3f3865d3e774fa EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.hist-geo-space-sci.net/2/99/2011/hgss-2-99-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/2190-5010 https://doaj.org/toc/2190-5029 doi:10.5194/hgss-2-99-2011 2190-5010 2190-5029 https://doaj.org/article/b8aad7e51d454b71bb3f3865d3e774fa History of Geo- and Space Sciences, Vol 2, Iss 2, Pp 99-112 (2011) Science Q Geology QE1-996.5 Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-2-99-2011 2022-12-30T21:31:36Z Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) was known as one of the premier polar explorers in the golden age of polar exploration. His accomplishments clearly document that he has contributed to knowledge in fields as diverse as ethnography, meteorology and geophysics. In this paper we will concentrate on his studies of the Earth's magnetic field. With his unique observations at the polar station Gjøahavn (geographic coordinates 68°37'10'' N; 95°53'25'' W), Amundsen was first to demonstrate, without doubt, that the north magnetic dip-pole does not have a permanent location, but steadily moves its position in a regular manner. In addition, his carefully calibrated measurements at high latitudes were the first and only observations of the Earth's magnetic field in the polar regions for decades until modern polar observatories were established. After a short review of earlier measurements of the geomagnetic field, we tabulate the facts regarding his measurements at the observatories and the eight field stations associated with the Gjøa expedition. The quality of his magnetic observations may be seen to be equal to that of the late 20th century observations by subjecting them to analytical techniques showing the newly discovered relationship between the diurnal variation of high latitude magnetic observations and the direction of the horizontal component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF B y ). Indeed, the observations at Gjøahavn offer a glimpse of the character of the solar wind 50 yr before it was known to exist. Our motivation for this paper is to illuminate the contributions of Amundsen as a scientist and to celebrate his attainment of the South Pole as an explorer 100 yr ago. Article in Journal/Newspaper South pole Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles South Pole History of Geo- and Space Sciences 2 2 99 112 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Science Q Geology QE1-996.5 Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
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Science Q Geology QE1-996.5 Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 A. Egeland C. S. Deehr Roald Amundsen's contributions to our knowledge of the magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun |
topic_facet |
Science Q Geology QE1-996.5 Dynamic and structural geology QE500-639.5 Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
description |
Roald Amundsen (1872–1928) was known as one of the premier polar explorers in the golden age of polar exploration. His accomplishments clearly document that he has contributed to knowledge in fields as diverse as ethnography, meteorology and geophysics. In this paper we will concentrate on his studies of the Earth's magnetic field. With his unique observations at the polar station Gjøahavn (geographic coordinates 68°37'10'' N; 95°53'25'' W), Amundsen was first to demonstrate, without doubt, that the north magnetic dip-pole does not have a permanent location, but steadily moves its position in a regular manner. In addition, his carefully calibrated measurements at high latitudes were the first and only observations of the Earth's magnetic field in the polar regions for decades until modern polar observatories were established. After a short review of earlier measurements of the geomagnetic field, we tabulate the facts regarding his measurements at the observatories and the eight field stations associated with the Gjøa expedition. The quality of his magnetic observations may be seen to be equal to that of the late 20th century observations by subjecting them to analytical techniques showing the newly discovered relationship between the diurnal variation of high latitude magnetic observations and the direction of the horizontal component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF B y ). Indeed, the observations at Gjøahavn offer a glimpse of the character of the solar wind 50 yr before it was known to exist. Our motivation for this paper is to illuminate the contributions of Amundsen as a scientist and to celebrate his attainment of the South Pole as an explorer 100 yr ago. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. Egeland C. S. Deehr |
author_facet |
A. Egeland C. S. Deehr |
author_sort |
A. Egeland |
title |
Roald Amundsen's contributions to our knowledge of the magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun |
title_short |
Roald Amundsen's contributions to our knowledge of the magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun |
title_full |
Roald Amundsen's contributions to our knowledge of the magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun |
title_fullStr |
Roald Amundsen's contributions to our knowledge of the magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun |
title_full_unstemmed |
Roald Amundsen's contributions to our knowledge of the magnetic fields of the Earth and the Sun |
title_sort |
roald amundsen's contributions to our knowledge of the magnetic fields of the earth and the sun |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-2-99-2011 https://doaj.org/article/b8aad7e51d454b71bb3f3865d3e774fa |
geographic |
South Pole |
geographic_facet |
South Pole |
genre |
South pole |
genre_facet |
South pole |
op_source |
History of Geo- and Space Sciences, Vol 2, Iss 2, Pp 99-112 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.hist-geo-space-sci.net/2/99/2011/hgss-2-99-2011.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/2190-5010 https://doaj.org/toc/2190-5029 doi:10.5194/hgss-2-99-2011 2190-5010 2190-5029 https://doaj.org/article/b8aad7e51d454b71bb3f3865d3e774fa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/hgss-2-99-2011 |
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History of Geo- and Space Sciences |
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2 |
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2 |
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99 |
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112 |
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