We examine whether the solar eclipse effect is dependent on the geographic conditions under which the geomagnetic field variations are recorded. We concentrate our attention on the dependence of the solar eclipse effect on a number of factors, including, the magnitude of a solar eclipse (defined as the fraction of the angular diameter of the Sun being eclipsed), the magnetic latitude of the observatory, the duration of the observed solar eclipse at the given geomagnetic observatory, and the location of the geomagnetic observatory in the path of the Moon’s shadow. We analyze an average of the 207 geomagnetic field variation data sets observed by 100 INTERMAGNET geomagnetic nodes, during the period from 1991 to 2016. As a result, it is demonstrated that (1) the solar eclipse effect on the geomagnetic field, i.e., an increase in the Y component and decreases in the X, Z and F componenets, becomes more distinct as the magnitude of solar eclipse increases, (2) the solar eclipse effect is most conspicuous when the modulus of the magnetic latitude is between 30◦ and 50◦, (3) the more slowly Moon’s shadow passes the geomagnetic observatory, the more clear the solar eclipse effect, (4) the geomagnetic observatory located in the latter half of the path of Moon’s shadow with respect to the position of the greatest eclipse is likely to observe a more clear signal. Finally, we conclude by stressing the importance of our findings.

경기도 이천에서 2002년 7월부터 12까지 총 6개월 동안 측정된 지자기 3성분 자료를 이용하여 일별 각 성분의 스펙트럼, 지자기 전달함수의 크기, 위상, 오차 등을 계산하였다. 지자기 스펙트럼은 관측기간 동안 태양활동에 의한 무작위적 강약이 반복되는 형태를 보여주었고, 유의미한 시간적 변동은 존대하지 않았다. 지자기 전달함수의 크기, 위상, 오차의 경우, 주기 100초 이하와 주기 1000초 이상에서 부분적으로 무작위적인 경향을 확인할 수 있었으나, 시간에 따른 증감추세 없이 대체로 안정적인 값을 보였다. 이와 더불어, 전기장의 P1 0 소스(zonal harmonics) 가정을 통하여 시간에 따른 근사적인 겉보기 전기비저항의 변동을 조사하였는데, 근사된 전기비저항의 변화는 지각의 자체적인 물성 변화보다는 수평 자기장 성분의 시간적 강약에 지배적임을 확인할 수 있었다.

The geomagnetic measurements on the Korean Territory began in 1918 in the Incheon (Zinsen in Japanese pronunciation) Observatory of which the annual means of total magnetic field intensity, declination, and inclination still remain for 1918-1944. From 1970s, the National Geography Institute (NGI) and the Radio Research Laboratory (RRL) have tried independently to measure the geomagnetic field continuously. The RRL as the result of such efforts has installed 3 geomagnetic observatories, the first in Icheon and the second in Yongin in 1996, and the third in Jeju in 1997. From 1992, the Korea Institute of Geology, Mining and Materials (KIGAM) has tried also to measure the geomagnetism and as the result they have installed 2 geomagnetic observatories, one in Daejeon in 1998 and the other in Gyeongju in 2000. Nowadays, the RRL and the KIGAM collect the measured data into their own main computers by telecommunication in real time. The two institutions will cooperate in near future to link the two geomagnetic data bases so that the whole set of geomagnetic data measured on Korean Territory could be provided to the end users in Korea.

Because of the small number of spacecraft available in the Earth’s magnetosphere at any given time, it is not possible to obtain direct measurements of the fundamental quantities, such as the magnetic field and plasma density, with a spatial coverage necessary for studying, global magnetospheric phenomena. In such cases, empirical as well as physics-based models are proven to be extremely valuable. This requires not only having high fidelity and high accuracy models, but also knowing the weakness and strength of such models. In this study, we assess the accuracy of the widely used Tsyganenko magnetic field models, T96, T01, and T04, by comparing the calculated magnetic field with the ones measured in-situ by the GOES satellites during geomagnetically disturbed times. We first set the baseline accuracy of the models from a data-model comparison during the intervals of geomagnetically quiet times. During quiet times, we find that all three models exhibit a systematic error of about 10% in the magnetic field magnitude, while the error in the field vector direction is on average less than 1%. We then assess the model accuracy by a data-model comparison during twelve geomagnetic storm events. We find that the errors in both the magnitude and the direction are well maintained at the quiet-time level throughout the storm phase, except during the main phase of the storms in which the largest error can reach 15% on average, and exceed well over 70% in the worst case. Interestingly, the largest error occurs not at the Dst minimum but 2–3 hours before the minimum. Finally, the T96 model has consistently underperformed compared to the other models, likely due to the lack of computation for the effects of ring current. However, the T96 and T01 models are accurate enough for most of the time except for highly disturbed periods.

Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) satellite magnetic data are used to investigate the latitudinal variation of the storm-time meso-scale field-aligned currents by defining a new metric called the FAC range. Three major geomagnetic storm events are considered. Alongside SymH, the possible contributions from solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) BZ are also investigated. The results show that the new metric predicts the latitudinal variation of FACs better than previous studies. As expected, the equatorward expansion and poleward retreat are observed during the storm main phase and recovery phase respectively. The equatorward shift is prominent on the northern duskside, at ~58° coinciding with the minimum SymH and dayside at ~59° compared to dawnside and nightside respectively. The latitudinal shift of FAC range is better correlated to IMF BZ in northern hemisphere dusk-dawn magnetic local time (MLT) sectors than in southern hemisphere. The FAC range latitudinal shifts responds better to dynamic pressure in the duskside northern hemisphere and dawnside southern hemisphere than in southern hemisphere dusk sector and northern hemisphere dawn sector respectively. FAC range exhibits a good correlation with dynamic pressure in the dayside (nightside) southern (northern) hemispheres depicting possible electrodynamic similarity at day-night MLT sectors in the opposite hemispheres.

We statistically investigated the properties of low-latitude Pi2 pulsations using Bohyun (BOH, Mlat = 29.8°, L = 1.35) ground magnetometer data in 2008. For this 1-year interval, 582 Pi2 events were identified when BOH was in the nightside from 1800 to 0600 local times. We found the following Pi2 characteristics. (1) The occurrence distribution of Pi2s is relatively constant in local times. (2) The Pi2 frequency varies in local times. That is, Pi2 pulsations in postmidnight sector had higher frequency than in premidnight sector. (3) Pi2 power in premidnight sector is stronger than in postmidnight sector. (4) Pi2 frequency has positive correlation with solar wind speed and AE index. (5) Pi2 power has not a clear correlation with solar wind parameters. This indicates that Pi2 power is not controlled by external sources. (6) It is found that the most probable-time between Pi2 onsets is Δt ~ 37.5 min: This is interpreted to be the period between Pi2 pulsations when they occur cyclically. We suggest that Δt ~ 37.5 min is the occurrence rate of reconnection of open field lines in the tail lobe.

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute researchers have installed and operated magnetometers at Bohyunsan Observatory to measure the Earth's magnetic field variations in South Korea. In 2007, we installed a fluxgate magnetometer (RFP-523C) to measure H, D, and Z components of the geomagnetic field. In addition, in 2009, we installed a Overhauser proton sensor to measure the absolute total magnetic field F and a three-axis magneto-impedance sensor for spectrum analysis. Currently three types of magnetometer data have been accumulated. In this paper, we use the H, D, Z components of fluxgate magnetometer data to investigate the characteristics of mid-latitude geomagnetic field variation. To remove the temporary changes in Earth’s geomagnetic filed by space weather, we use the international quiet days’ data only. In other words, we performed a superposed epoch analysis using five days per each month during 2008-2011. We find that daily variations of H, D, and Z shows similar tendency compared to previous results using all days. That is, H, D, Z all three components’ quiet intervals terminate near the sunrise and shows maximum 2-3 hours after the culmination and the quiet interval start from near the sunset. Seasonal variations show similar dependences to the Sun. As it becomes hot season, the geomagnetic field variation’s amplitude becomes large and the quiet interval becomes shortened. It is well-known that these variations are effects of Sq current system in the Earth’s atmosphere. We confirm that the typical mid-latitude geomagnetic field variations due to the Sq current system by excluding all possible association with the space weather.