Port Stanley Observatory Monthly Magnetic Bulletin October 2009 09/10/PS
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BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Port Stanley Observatory Monthly Magnetic Bulletin October 2009 09/10/PS Jason Islands ss Island Caraca West Falkland SaundersKeppel Island Island King George Bay Mount Port Salavador Adam Queen Charlotte Bay Mount Osborne Berkley 700m Sapper Hill Sound 705m Weddell Darwin Stanley land SoundGoose Island Choiseul Falk Green Sound Port Stephens Bay of East Falkland Harbours Eagle Pa Falkland Islands ssage ©Crown copyright; Ordnance Survey PORT STANLEY OBSERVATORY MAGNETIC DATA 1. Introduction are proportional to the changes in declination (D). Measurements are made at a rate of 1 Hz. Port Stanley Observatory was installed by BGS with financial support from a consortium of oil companies In addition to the fluxgate sensors there is a proton and became operational in February 1994. precession magnetometer making measurements of the absolute total field intensity (F) at a rate of 0.1Hz. This bulletin is published to meet the needs of users of geomagnetic data. Magnetic observatory data is The raw unfiltered data are retrieved automatically via presented as a series of plots of one-minute, hourly Internet connections to the BGS office in Edinburgh in and daily values, followed by a tabulation of monthly near real-time. The fluxgate data are filtered to values. The operation of the observatory and produce one-minute values using a 61-point cosine presentation of data are described in the rest of this filter whilst the total field intensity samples are filtered section. using a 7-point cosine filter. Enquiries about the data should be addressed to: 3.2 Absolute Observations The GDAS fluxgate magnetometers accurately National Geomagnetic Service measure variations in the components of the British Geological Survey geomagnetic field, but not the absolute magnitudes. Murchison House, West Mains Road Two sets of absolute measurements of the field are Edinburgh EH9 3LA made manually once per week. A fluxgate sensor Scotland, UK mounted on a theodolite is used to determine D and inclination (I); the GDAS PPM measurements, with a Tel: +44 (0) 131 667 1000 site difference correction applied, are used for F. The Fax: +44 (0) 131 650 0265 absolute observations are used in conjunction with the E-mail: [email protected] GDAS variometer measurements to produce a Internet: www.geomag.bgs.ac.uk continuous record of the absolute values of the geomagnetic field elements as if they had been 2. Position measured at the observatory reference pillar. Port Stanley Observatory, one of the geomagnetic 4. Data Presentation observatories maintained and operated by the British The data presented in the bulletin are in the form of Geological Survey (BGS), is situated on a site at plots and tabulations described in the following Sapper Hill near Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. sections. The observatory co-ordinates are: 4.1 Absolute Observations Geographic: 51° 42.24′ S 302° 06.42′ E The absolute observation measurements made during Geomagnetic: 41° 40.92′ S 11° 25.98′ E the month are tabulated. Also included are the Height above mean sea level: 135 m corresponding baseline values, which are the differences between the absolute measurements and The geomagnetic co-ordinates are calculated using the the variometer measurements of D, H and Z (in the 10th generation International Geomagnetic Reference sense absolute−variometer). These are also plotted Field at epoch 2009.5. (markers) along with the derived preliminary daily baseline values (line) throughout the year. Daily mean 3. The Observatory Operation differences between the measured absolute F and the F computed from the baseline corrected H and Z 3.1 GDAS values are plotted in the fourth panel (in the sense The observatory operates under the control of the measured−derived). The bottom panel shows the Geomagnetic Data Acquisition System (GDAS), daily mean temperature in the fluxgate chamber. developed by BGS, which was installed in August 2002. The system operates under the control of data 4.2 Summary magnetograms acquisition software running on QNX computers, Small-scale magnetograms are plotted which allow the which control the data logging and communications. month's data to be viewed at a glance. They are plotted 16 days a page and show the variations in D, H and Z. There are two sets of sensors used for making The scales are shown on the right-hand side of the magnetic measurements. A triaxial linear-core page. On disturbed days the scales are multiplied by a fluxgate magnetometer, manufactured by the Danish factor, which is indicated above the panel for that day. Meteorological Institute, is used to measure the The variations are centred on the monthly mean value, variations in the horizontal (H) and vertical (Z) shown on the left side of the page. components of the field. The third sensor is oriented perpendicular to these, and measures variations, which 4.3 Magnetograms The daily magnetograms are plotted using one-minute values of D, H and Z from the fluxgate sensors, with any gaps filled using back-up data. The magnetograms are plotted to a variable scale; scale bars are shown to the right of each plot. The absolute level (the monthly mean value) is indicated on the left side of the plots. 4.4 Hourly Mean Value Plots Hourly mean values of D, H and Z for the past 12 months are plotted in 27-day segments corresponding to the Bartels solar rotation number. Magnetic disturbances associated with active regions on the surface of the Sun may recur after 27 days: the same is true for geomagnetically quiet intervals. Plotting the data in this way highlights this recurrence, and also illustrates seasonal and diurnal variations throughout the year. 4.5 Daily and Monthly Mean Values Daily mean values of D, H, Z and F are plotted throughout the year. In addition, a table of monthly mean values of all the geomagnetic elements is provided. These values depend on accurate specification of the fluxgate sensor baselines. This data is provisional. It is anticipated that provisional values will not be altered by more than a few nT or tenths of arcminutes before being made definitive. © NERC 2009 PORT STANLEY OBSERVATORY ABSOLUTE OBSERVATIONS DECLINATION INCLINATION Total H H Z Z Day Time Absolute Baseline Time Inclination Field Date Absolute Baseline Absolute Baseline Observer Number (UT) (º) (º) (UT) (º) Intensity (nT) (nT) (nT) (nT) (nT) 15-Oct-09 288 09:52 3.4316 3.6567 10:03 -49.2924 28787.6 18775.2 18846.2 -21822.3 -21940.1 NB 15-Oct-09 288 10:13 3.4323 3.6600 10:19 -49.2901 28789.8 18777.6 18844.8 -21823.3 -21941.2 NB 31-Oct-09 304 15:44 3.4367 3.6367 15:53 -49.3401 28760.4 18739.3 18847.9 -21817.4 -21939.5 NB 31-Oct-09 304 15:59 3.4477 3.6367 16:08 -49.3443 28762.0 18738.8 18847.2 -21819.9 -21940.4 NB Falkland Island 2009 Declination : Absolute - Variometer (markers) and Baseline Applied (line) 219.1 5min Horizontal Intensity : Absolute - Variometer (markers) and Baseline Applied (line) 18848 20nT Vertical Intensity : Absolute - Variometer (markers) and Baseline Applied (line) -21940 20nT Total Intensity : Absolute (Proton F) - Baseline Adjusted Variometer (derived F) 31.5 20nT Temperature Inside Variometer Hut 23.1 20 C Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Falkland Islands October 2009 1 2 3 4 o D 3.44 0.50 H 18750 Z -21827 5 6 7 8 D 3.44 H 18750 150 nT Z -21827 9 10 11 12 D 3.44 H 18750 Z -21827 150 nT 13 14 15 16 D 3.44 H 18750 Z -21827 6 12 18 24 6 12 18 24 6 12 18 24 6 12 18 24 17 18 19 20 o D 3.44 0.50 H 18750 Z -21827 21 22 23 24 D 3.44 H 18750 150 nT Z -21827 25 26 27 28 D 3.44 H 18750 Z -21827 150 nT 29 30 31 6 12 18 24 UT D 3.44 H 18750 Z -21827 6 12 18 24 6 12 18 24 6 12 18 24 Falkland Islands October 2009 Date: 01-10-2009Falkland Islands Day number: 274 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 30nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Date: 02-10-2009 Day number: 275 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 10nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Hour (UT) Date: 03-10-2009Falkland Islands Day number: 276 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 20nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Date: 04-10-2009 Day number: 277 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 30nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Hour (UT) Date: 05-10-2009Falkland Islands Day number: 278 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 20nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Date: 06-10-2009 Day number: 279 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 20nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Hour (UT) Date: 07-10-2009Falkland Islands Day number: 280 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 20nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Date: 08-10-2009 Day number: 281 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 10nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Hour (UT) Date: 09-10-2009Falkland Islands Day number: 282 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 20nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Date: 10-10-2009 Day number: 283 Declination in degrees east 3.44 15min Horizontal Intensity in nT 18750 20nT Vertical Intensity in nT -21827 10nT 0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 Hour (UT) Date: 11-10-2009Falkland Islands Day number: 284 Declination