Investigations on diurnal and seasonal variations of Schumann resonance intensities in the auroral region

Abstract

Measurements of the magnetic component of the Schumann resonance in the frequency range 6-14 Hz were performed at high latitude location (TNB Antarctica; geographic coordinates: 74.7°S, 164.1°E; geomagnetic coordinates: 80.0°S, 307.7°E; LT=UT+13; MLT=UT–8; altitude=28 m a.s.l.), during the two years 1996-1997. TNB is a particularly important observation site located in a region characterised by a high electromagnetic activity in the ELF and VLF bands. Moreover its remote location in Antarctica provides the important advantage that electromagnetic background noise is not corrupted by anthropogenic noise and that the continental lightning activity is very low. The combination of low additional anthropogenic electromagnetic radiation and low atmospheric noise in this area allows detailed investigations into wave generation and amplification in the polar ionosphere and magnetosphere not possible anywhere else in the world. This paper reports the study of the magnetic power of the 8 Hz Schumann resonance mode. For both the years considered diurnal and long-term seasonal variations were observed.

Keywords

• resonances
• ELF observations
• ionospheres