October 2005 Earth’s Magnetic Field Name _________________________
These links are available in our Blackboard course area.
Rate each site from 1 – 10 (10 is best) as to how interesting it was for you.
_____1. http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/seg/geomag/
Click on the link for "Magnetic Field Values", then click on "Compute Field Values." Enter Fremont’s zip code 68025 or enter Fremont’s latitude and longitude 41.442N, 96.494 West. Check the date to make sure the correct values are entered. The elevation above sea level on the floor of room 105 of Swanson Hall is about 1204 feet. You must convert this to kilometers before you enter the elevation value. After the field values are computed record the following (you can click on the letter to get a definition of the term):
Declination __________________ Inclination ("Dip") ________________
Strength of the horizontal component of the earth’s magnetic field __________
nt = 10-9 Teslas
_____2. http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/geomag/nmp/northpole_e.php
The magnetic poles of the earth move with time. Scroll down and look at the list of coordinates. Click on the link "Long Term Movement." The red line shows the pole position on a longitude vs. latitude plot from 1904 to 2001. What is the approximate number of degrees of latitude of movement of the North magnetic pole from 1904 to 2000?
_________
_____3. http://www.psc.edu/science/glatzmaier.html
Information on the reversal of the earth’s B field. Their numerical model of the electromagnetic, fluid dynamical processes of Earth's interior reproduced key features of the magnetic field over more than ___________ years of simulated time.
_____4. http://csep10.phys.utk.edu:80/astr161/lect/earth/magnetic.html
This site gives some background on the earth’s magnetic field and explains the magnetosphere. After you read the text and scroll to the bottom, click on the NEXT button to learn more about the Earth's aurora. Where was the camera when the leftmost photo was taken? _________________________
_____5. http://www-pi.physics.uiowa.edu/www/desai/gallery/
Scroll down. There are some very nice pictures here of auroras as viewed by an earth orbiting satellite. Prof. Clements was a minor part of a research team in graduate school at the U. of Iowa that did preliminary work on the optical design of this satellite. The last item, comet impacting earth’s atmosphere, is controversial. Most astronomers don’t think the image shows a comet.
_____ 6. http://geomag.usgs.gov/intro.html
Intro to Geomagnetism. Scroll down and read about the dynamo model of the earth’s magnetic field. What is the radius of the inner core of the earth? _________