Geomagnetic Field Processes and Their Implications for Space Weather
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Geomagnetic Field Processes and Their Implications for Space Weather Mioara Mandea1 · Aude Chambodut2 Received: 6 November 2019 / Accepted: 15 May 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Understanding the magnetic environment of our planet and the geomagnetic field changes in time and space is a very important issue for assessing the Sun–Earth interactions. All changes in solar activity impact the delicate balance between influences of interplanetary magnetic field and of geomagnetic field. The most dynamic events eventually result in disturbances in the magnitude and direction of the Earth’s magnetic field and therefore impact our planet and its magnetosphere as a whole. The dynamics of the ionosphere and thermosphere during magnetic storms and substorms involves the heating, expansion, and composition changes at high latitudes, but also the surface-level response in terms of geomagnetically induced currents and other geomagnetic and geoelectric disturbances. Here, we provide a short overview of the current knowledge of the Earth’s magnetic field, its present shape and the way it responds to external forces. The main aim of the paper is not to present the complexity of the space weather processes, but rather to bring the attention of the geohazard community to the possible dramatic effects of space weather events. For this, the paper highlights some societal implications of space weather on our increasingly technology-dependent society, including some possible effects of geomagnetically induced currents, the disruption of satellite communications and navigation, and risks of radiation damage both in space and in aviation. Keywords Geomagnetic field · Space weather · Geoeffectivity · Geomagnetic risks · Hazards
1 Introduction A decade ago, the Eyjafjallajökull Icelandic volcano eruption (April 2010) and the resulting ash cloud demonstrated that the whole world can suffer as a consequence of natural events. One year after this event, the Tohoko Japanese earthquake and the related tsunami (March 2011) showed just how devastating a natural event could be. Another year later, a * Mioara Mandea [email protected] 1
CNES - Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales, 2 Place Maurice Quentin, 75039 Paris, France
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Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg, UMR 7516, Université de Strasbourg/EOST, CNRS, 5 rue René Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg Cedex, France
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Vol.:(0123456789)
Surveys in Geophysics
solar active region gave rise to a powerful coronal mass ejection (July 2012), with an initial speed of some 2500 ± 500 km s−1 (Baker et al. 2013). The solar eruption was directed away from Earth, but what would have happened if this powerful event had been Earthward directed? To answer such a question we need first to better understand the Sun–Earth magnetic environment, but also the intrinsic structure and variations of the core magnetic field. Space weather is a very complex concept and involves variations in the Sun, solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere. Like the terrestrial weather, space wea
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