Inferring the interplanetary magnetic field by observing the polar geomagnetic field.

Svalgaard (1968, 1972) and Mansurov (1969) have shown that it is possible to infer the polarity of the interplanetary magnetic field quite reliably from observations of the diurnal variation of polar geomagnetic fields. The effect is most prominent in the vertical component of geomagnetic observator...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wilcox, J. M.
Format: Other/Unknown Material
Language:unknown
Published: 1972
Subjects:
30
Online Access:http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19730028910
Description
Summary:Svalgaard (1968, 1972) and Mansurov (1969) have shown that it is possible to infer the polarity of the interplanetary magnetic field quite reliably from observations of the diurnal variation of polar geomagnetic fields. The effect is most prominent in the vertical component of geomagnetic observatories near the geomagnetic poles during several hours near noon. The interplanetary magnetic field observed with spacecraft near the earth is very similar to the mean solar magnetic field (i.e., the sun observed as though it were a star); thus the fact that observations of the polar geomagnetic field have existed without interruption since 1926 at the Danish Meteorological Institute station at Godhavn, Greenland, means that in effect the inferred solar magnetic field during five sunspot cycles is available for analysis.-